Ice Stories

During the last week of March 2008, scientists released some troubling pictures of the Wilkins Ice Shelf collapsing. This large area of ice runs along the western edge of Antarctica. The loss added up to about 160 square miles of ice—more than twice the size of Washington D.C. Most experts agree that the cause may be global warming.

For years, Antarctica, the Arctic, and other places where ice lives year-round have generally remained undisturbed by humans. These areas have served as key research sites for understanding the planet's history of climate change.

In this week's lesson, you will explore these icy areas to discover how scientists are examining the Earth's climate patterns, past and present. You will also travel to Antarctica to get a closer look at where scientists do their research.

Ice Changes

Visit the American Museum of Natural History's Science Bulletins site. Here, you will watch two videos for an overview of how Earth's icy areas have changed over time. Begin with looking at fluctuations of the Arctic region's Sea Ice, 1998-2007. Select your bandwidth to play the video. In the first half, the satellite data shows how the ice cover shrinks from winter to summer. In the second half, you will see comparisons of ice cover from 1979 to 2006. What percentage of ice is there today compared to 1979?

Next, check out Melting Glaciers: Clues to Climate Change. In this feature, you will learn about how scientists extract and examine glacier ice cores to study the Earth's climate history and modern trends. About how many years ago was the ice cap in Ecuador as small as it is today? What kinds of clues are contained in the ice cores? How do scientists use this data to draw conclusions about how and why the planet's climate has changed in the last century?

Antarctica Tour

Now travel to PBS to uncover Warnings from the Ice. On the Stories in the Ice page, read the text and then click open the Ice Core Timeline. What have these ice cores specifically revealed about our Earth's changes? For some fast facts about the southern pole region, review the Antarctic Almanac.

Travel to Virtual Antarctica for a brief overview of this icy area. At this ThinkQuest site, click Start at the top-left and hike through the interactive introduction, visiting each of the key sites listed and making sure to look at the reference map at the top-right to see where each spot is located. When you have visited each place, take the Quiz.

Click Enter the rest of the website, and read the introduction. Continue through the module, starting with Terra Incognita. In this section, explore the Ice Sheets, Glaciers, Dry Valleys, etc. Browse through the other modules, including the Sub Antarctic Islands, Exploration history, Human Presence in the region, and Life on Antarctica. How does this region compare with what you know about the Arctic?

Next, take a virtual tour of two research stations in the Antarctic, to see where scientists live while they work here. First visit the Virtual Antarctica view from Mawson Station. When you Enter, a panorama vista will begin moving. Click on the 360-tour to pause the pan around the area. You will see rectangles on your view. Click one to get a closer look at that structure. You can also tour through the sites from the List of features. How do you think the materials for these structures got here? What purpose does each structure serve?

Now visit NASA's Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica (LIMA) to see more Faces of Antarctica. Begin by taking the Flying Tour of the McMurdo Area, one of the continent's most famous research stations. Afterward, Meet Antarctica to download and print more detailed fact sheets. Also make sure to uncover some Antarctic Mysteries.

If you have time, tap into the USGS Atlas of Antarctica. Launch Viewer to tour the interactive map of the continent. Use the right-hand side menu to add and remove data layers, such as satellite imagery and boundary lines.