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Extreme Ice
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Program Overview
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NOVA teams up with National Geographic to follow researchers as they
explore one of the most important scientific questions humans have
ever faced: How fast are the world's glaciers and ice sheets
melting, and what are the consequences for humans?
The program:
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describes one photographer's odyssey to capture time-lapse
images of glaciers across the Northern Hemisphere.
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notes that while past cycles of ice ages and periods of warming
were caused mainly by shifts in Earth's orbit, the current
period of warming seems to be driven by human-produced
greenhouse gases.
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takes viewers to Alaska's Columbia glacier, where researchers
use a laser survey gun fired at reflective targets on the
glacier to determine how fast the mass of ice is traveling.
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details how scientists use seismometers to discover what is
causing the glacier's increased calving.
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reports that scientists think that in the next 50 to 100 years,
mountain glaciers almost everywhere will disappear, causing
sea-level rise and, for one-sixth of the world's population, a
loss of drinking water.
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follows several teams of scientists as they investigate the
stability of Earth's biggest tracts of ice—the polar ice
sheets in Antarctica and Greenland.
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reveals scientists' best estimate for sea-level rise over the
next 100 years.
Taping Rights: Can be used up to one year after program is
recorded off the air.
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