Name: ______Class: ______Date: ______
Frozen Planet
On Thin Ice
The Arctic
1. How much faster is the Arctic warming compared to the rest of the world?
2. Why does an underweight mother pose such a risk for its offspring?
3. Explain why sea ice is so vital to polar bears hunting their prey.
4. What specific impact has global warming had on polar bears?
5. What change in the sea ice have the native Inuits observed over the last few decades?
6. How has the decrease in sea ice extent been measured? Sea ice thickness?
7. When is the Arctic predicted to see open ocean?
8. What impact has Arctic warming had on walruses?
9. Who stands to benefit from the loss of Arctic sea ice?
10. Bowhead whales have traditionally populated the frozen Arctic seas. Now, Orcas are moving in. What advantage did the bowheads have over the orcas when the sea ice extent was greater?
11. What is the albedo effect? What surfaces have the greatest albedo?
12. Surface lakes of glacier meltwater are shown overflowing into channels, which then pour down moulins. What happens to this water? Why is this bad for the glacier?
13. What impact would the melting of the Greenland glacier have on sea level?
Antarctica
14. How have the glaciers in South Georgia Island changed since Ernest Shackleton’s traverse in 1916?
15. The Antarctic peninsula is the area most affected by climate change, with a 3°C increase in temperature so far. Circle it on the map.
16. How has the loss of ice on the peninsula affected penguin colonies?
17. How much of a sea level rise would result if the Antarctic glaciers were to fully melt? Is this likely to occur?
18. Why are ice shelves so important in maintaining glaciers?
19. How much is the sea level actually expected to rise by the end of the century, due to melting ice in both the Arctic and Antarctic?