Documentary Analysis: The Blue Planet

The US government’s National Snow and Ice Data Center has reported that in the last 25 years the amount of ice that continues to cycle through the arctic every year, has seen a significant 30% drop, along with 2 square kilometers less ice forming since September. This number is even higher than it was just in 2012, when this trend started to become alarming.

Arctic ice caps are melting, causing many animals to find either a new habitat or new food, which are both extremely challenging. For example, in Document A, sea lions

Kathy Conlan is an expert in understanding the weird and wonderful world of marine creatures that live deep under the Arctic ice. She specializes in marine benthic biology and amphipod systematics. Kathy studies how human and natural changes affect marine life in the Arctic and Antarctic, the effects of pollution on marine life as well as global warming. She is past chief officer for Life Sciences in the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and is a judge for SCAR’s Martha T. Muse Prize for Science and policy in Antarctica, represents Canada for the Canadian Committee on Antarctic Research, taught at Huntsman Marine Science Centre and Students On Ice, mentors university students and gives speaches and “Show and tells” at the museum.

Reindeer mosses and lingonberries are the producers of the tundra’s food chain (Naik, 2013) . The primary consumers, arctic hare and reindeer, can’t get their energy directly from the sun so they depend on the producers to obtain the energy they need. The arctic fox is the secondary consumer because they prey on arctic hares but also eat berries. The snowy owl, polar bear, and arctic wolf are the tundra’s tertiary consumers. Snowy owls eats the arctic hare and and arctic fox. Arctic wolves eats the arctic hare, arctic fox, and reindeer. Arctic wolves have been known to prey on snowy owls because unlike regular owls they build their nests on the ground. This brings a disadvantage to the snowy owl since it is now more accessible to prey. The last tertiary consumer in this biome is the polar biome. The polar bear consumes the arctic fox, arctic hare, and sometimes the reindeer. Because nothing are predators to the arctic wolf or polar, they die a natural death. When these organisms die they decompose and become nutrients to the producers of this biome. This allows the entire process to be started over again and is important to maintain the ecological balance of the

2The Inuits have to understand the natural patterns of the wild life so...so it is easier to hunt prey like seals,caribou, and walrus Because there is ice that can expose them. But global warming is disrupting these patterns.

As important as it is, Arctic coastal sea ice plays a vital role in dynamics of the coastline, covers stretches of open water which serve as important biological habitats, and serves as a platform for a broad range of activities by residents and industries (Druckenmiller et al., 2009). Sea ice is also important because it is used as a platform for harvesting seals and whales in spring, transport of personnel and supplies to camps, and as a network of trails (Druckenmiller et al., 2009). Dangerous effects of climate change include “ice breakouts” which are when large chunks of ice that whalers are using as working areas break off of the main ice blocks and take whaling camps out to sea (Druckenmiller et al.,

The polar bear lives up in the Arctic region where global warming and climate change are melting the ice caps that the bears thrive on. They use the ice as a platform from hunting and rest. The random pocket holes in the ice, where the seals pop up at, is where the polar bear catches its prey. With this reduction of ice, “the abundance of seals, and increases the amount of energy and time needed for hunting, leaving less energy for reproduction” (Endangered Species and Habitats).

Organisms can live in harsh environments without being prone to danger. The Arctic includes the world's smallest ocean being the Arctic Ocean, as well the world’s largest island, Greenland. In regards to the Arctic, its ocean is covered in floating sea ice throughout the year. The climate of the Arctic varies a lot during the seasonal changes. In the months in the winter season, the sun doesn’t pass the horizon in the Northern Arctic, which in result the temperature significantly be depleted in some areas to -60 degrees Celsius, but to differentiate, during the warmer months of summer, temperatures can cause some areas of the Arctic to melt, due to temperature reaching of 20 degrees Celsius. In the Arctic, the Environmental conditions vary

As Earth’s surface temperature rises, the ocean also becomes hotter which results in an increase in sea level and decrease in Earth’s ice. “The oceans have absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 700 meters of ocean showing warming of 0.302 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969” (“Climate Change: How Do We Know?”). Since greenhouse gases are trapping energy from the sun, the oceans absorb more heat which ultimately increases surface temperature. Oceans are able to absorb large amounts of heat energy because water has a greater heat capacity than air. As oceans become warmer, the frozen water on Earth melts at an accelerated pace. The thickness of Arctic Sea ice has dramatically declined throughout the last several decades. “Arctic sea ice

The cryosphere refers to the frozen water part of the Earth system including the frozen parts of the ocean, such as waters surrounding the Arctic. Recent studies show that the cryosphere is generally in a poor state, and scientific agreement stated that average global temperatures will continues to increase over the next century. This means that the existing risk to these climatically sensitive areas is increasing. In the past 20 years, the amount of summer sea ice in the Arctic has decreased dramatically, and could even disappear completely within the next hundred years. Evidence shows that some of these depletions in the cryosphere are human-induced, specifically the fragmentation of sea ice when oil tankers break through the frozen waters to make a passageway. This fragmentation leads to global sea rise and habitat destruction for large predators such as polar bears and seals, in addition to other Arctic wildlife.

It contains an expanse of tundra with many marshes and lagoons with rivers situated between foothills of the Brooks Range and the wide, icy waters of the Beaufort Sea. Environmentalists said that this area “is the most biologically productive part of the Arctic Refuge for wildlife and is the center if wildlife activity.” The importance of these resources is not measurable. The Arctic is home to such animals as caribou, polar bears, grizzly bears, musk oxen, whales, wolves and snow geese. This area is full of wildflowers and contains water of excellent, unpolluted quality and quantity. The Arctic Ocean costal plain is an area critical to the survival of many birds and mammals (‘Alaska Wild’).

The polar bears are losing sea ice for their habitation. Polar bears live in countries around the Arctic Circle, these areas included Canada, Alaska, Greenway, and Norway. There are 19 identified populations of polar bears living in four different sea ice regions across the Arctic. The Artic surrounds the North Pole however, the ice is melting and darkening of the artic. There is supporting evidence about air pollutions and how the greenhouse effect is affecting the polar bears environment. Polar bears will eventually only have one last stronghold left for them and even then, researchers do not know how long that one will even last. The last stronghold for them are small islands in the middle of Canada called the Artic Archipelago. This is

The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is the biggest terrestrial mammal in the Arctic. He is also considered as an animal with a circumpolar or broad distribution in polar regions. The conservation status of bear remains problematic, according to the global warming that is happening now. If further managements are not implanted, polar bear population`s will disappear in the future. The polar bears live in the Arctic, an ocean surrounded by land. The Arctic has a very low species diversity and polar bears the first animal into the food chain. Also, the Arctic has cold winters which are not suitable for some aquatic species. With global warming and interglacial period, the ice and snow began to recede about 20.000 years ago. The rate of ice loss has

First, the Arctic Ocean with its surrounding waters of ice and snow and mammals. It’s not a popular place sure because of the weather, but there is beauty in it. These images and video will show you the animals that live there and how they

The Arctic is an ocean, enclosed by several continents, including Alaska, Russia, Norway, and Greenland. Expeditions are usually undertaken between the months of April and September, when the sea ice has sufficiently melted to allow ships to pass. Some scientists define the Arctic by temperature and include all high-altitude locations, with an average summer temperature below 10 degrees Celsius. Other scientists define the Arctic by location. The North Pole, the northern-most point on Earth, has six months of unbroken daylight, and six months of unremitting night. The Arctic is the region south of the North Pole, and north of the Arctic Circle, and at these latitudes, the duration of incessant days or continuous nights, are shorter. The Arctic’s singular location, climate, and surrounding lands are unique. Following are descriptions of some of the matchless wonders you may expect to see on an Arctic expedition cruise.