WEBVTT

1
00:00:04.770 --> 00:00:13.680
In 2018, NASA is dispatching two new satellite missions whose observations will include Earth’s most critically changing regions – the poles.

2
00:00:14.650 --> 00:00:20.920
They’re NASA's first new missions in 15 years that will measure how Earth's massive ice sheets are changing.

3
00:00:30.400 --> 00:00:34.090
Previously thought to be slow-moving and stable, the ice sheets covering

4
00:00:34.110 --> 00:00:39.100
Greenland and Antarctica have rapidly lost ice over the last several decades.

5
00:00:39.120 --> 00:00:44.890
As a result, scientists predict global sea level could be 1 to 4 feet higher by 2100.

6
00:00:46.040 --> 00:00:52.640
This kind of significant change could increase the rate of warming already in progress and affect global weather patterns.

7
00:00:53.800 --> 00:00:58.350
But ice sheets aren’t Earth's only frozen spots experiencing critical change.

8
00:00:58.370 --> 00:01:05.320
Ice sheets, sea ice, glaciers, permafrost, and snow cover are all showing signs of transformation.

9
00:01:05.340 --> 00:01:12.260
Collectively known as the “cryosphere”, these frozen zones help sustain stable conditions for life on Earth.

10
00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:19.870
However, rising temperatures worldwide are resulting in ice loss, global sea level rise, thawing permafrost, and more.

11
00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:29.890
This spring, NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) will launch GRACE-FO, continuing the revolutionary

12
00:01:29.910 --> 00:01:32.980
gravity measurements of its predecessor, GRACE.

13
00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:39.940
Designed to observe global surface mass changes, including land ice, sea level, and water on land,

14
00:01:39.960 --> 00:01:45.330
GRACE was the first satellite to confirm the shrinking of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.

15
00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:49.300
In September, ICESat-2 will launch and use its advanced laser

16
00:01:49.320 --> 00:01:54.550
to measure the thickness of sea ice and the changing elevation of glaciers and ice sheets.

17
00:01:54.570 --> 00:01:58.850
The mission will provide scientists with a view of how the height of the ice sheets are changing,

18
00:01:58.870 --> 00:02:01.450
to within less than an inch.

19
00:02:01.470 --> 00:02:05.650
GRACE-FO and ICESat-2 will be NASA’s newest “eyes in the sky"

20
00:02:05.670 --> 00:02:09.930
while an extensive field team of researchers collect complementary airborne and

21
00:02:09.950 --> 00:02:16.350
ground data about ice, snow, permafrost and the role the ocean plays in Earth’s frozen regions.

22
00:02:16.880 --> 00:02:22.680
Working together, these new missions and campaigns will help NASA predict how the cryosphere is changing

23
00:02:22.700 --> 00:02:25.670
and how those changes will impact the way we live.