All language subtitles for Lift.the.Ice.S01E06.The.Ice.is.a.Beast.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

[eerie music]

So we are kind of getting
a little bit closer.

Is there a closer point?
How close can we get?

Lets say a few hundred meters,

but then you got to think
how much ice is there?

Can I escape quickly?

We recommend 200 meters and
you then get a little bit time

to react when [beep] happens.

[Ella] I keep hearing
these kind of bang,

internal plumbing and dynamics

that are making those
sorts of noises.

So you can see it's
retreated almost entirely

onto land now and that
retreats been quite rapid

over the last few years.

[dramatic music]

[Ella] Oh my goodness!

[crashing]

[Andy] That's a big
one. That's a big one.

[Ella] That's
a really big one.

[Andy] Yeah. Let's roll out.

[alarming music]

I like to think of the ice
as a giant unknowable creature.

It behaves almost like
a lore unto itself.

A creature that impacts
our lives in ways

that we still don't
yet fully understand.

I'm a polar climate scientist

and I've spent a lot of
time in the Antarctic.

I'm on a mission to investigate
these frozen Goliaths

and their surprising
impact on our world.

It's hard to imagine
something this big,

just ceasing to flow.

Like any mysterious beast,

the ice needs experts
to unlock their secrets

and I'm joining them.

From bizarre,
galloping glaciers.

It's going to go
and achieve velocities

of 10 or 20 meters a day
probably, once it gets going.

[Ella] To breathing
alpine crevasses.

We are finding that the
air inside the crevasses

is actually warmer than the air

over the surface of the glacier.

[Ella] To ice that's hiding

in one of the weirdest
habitats of all.

Whoa!

[foreign language being spoken]

The work that these
researchers are doing

is really time-critical,

because our fate
is tied to our ice.

The more we lift up to
uncover its secrets,

the better chance we
have of saving it.

[dramatic music]

[gentle music]

My journey starts here,

in a small boat, in a
bay filled with icebergs,

surrounded by glaciers
acting strangely.

Typically, glaciers
move at the glacial pace

of about one foot per day,
dumping icebergs into the ocean.

But in recent years, some of
Svalbard titanic ice floats

have mysteriously started
sprinting downhill.

- Here it comes.
- Oh my goodness.

[Ella] Andy is here to
study this strange behavior.

It's one of the
unknowns of glaciology.

The surge is like a dynamic
way of saying goodbye

for some of these glaciers.

We used to want to keep
surges and climate separate.

I don't think we can do that.

I think in the '90s hardly
anything was surging.

Now everything seems to be
surging and these big surges

moving a lot of ice
from the reservoir area.

[Ella] So that's going
to build up and up and up

- and then pushes it off.
- Yeah, exactly.

That reservoir area
fills and then that surge

is driven forwards.

It was a very, and it remains
a very enigmatic process

of a lot of interest to us,

'cause the long-term
implications of a surge are harmful.

[Ella] Like studying
any large, dangerous marine creature,

a small dinghy will
only get me so far.

So, we're going to
need a bigger boat.

Svalbard is possibly the
best place in the world

to study these
surging ice beasts.

With 60% of the island
covered in glaciers,

it has the densest population
of surging glaciers

anywhere on earth.

While 1% of the world's
glaciers are surging,

here a quarter of the
glaciers are doing it.

I've got this lovely map here.

We have all these glaciers
that flow from the west

into the fjord towards the east,

and Sykorabreen has
just started advancing.

Now, this advance is not
due to a healthy growth.

This advance is due
to an instability

and the glacier is now
just suddenly accelerating.

So kind of like a frozen
river that's suddenly swollen.

Yes, decided suddenly,
wants to produce more icebergs

and put more ice in the sea.

The long-term consequences
aren't that great.

The glacier will then
be a lot thinner.

So a lot of these glaciers
are saying goodbye

with one last surge.

Glaciers play a vital role
in keeping our planet cool

and help keep extreme
weather at bay,

losing them will be a serious
problem for all of us.

And that's why Andy is
going to extreme lengths

to discover exactly what's
triggering these surges.

What are we going to
see when we get there?

We're going to be able to
see it moving, surging?

So hopefully maybe
we catch the start

of that dynamic surge.

So we're going about
two hours away to see

some of these surging glaciers
that Andy was talking about

and I'm hoping it
will help me kind of,

get my head around
what's going on here.

It sounds a bit like
these surging glaciers

are quite specific
to this region.

It seems a bit like
uncharted territory.

There's only so
much you can learn

by observing these
beasts from the outside.

The answers to these
glaciers ailments

are likely lurking within them.

[ominous music]

So Andy, this is
pretty spectacular.

What exactly are
we looking at here?

It's a very well
established surface channel

taking water down into the ice.

So this kind of
raging torrent of water

- is cutting all the way down?
- Yeah, it is.

At first it's cutting
down along its core

and it plunges down in a
series of steps all the way.

But if we say have
a surge for example,

and destroy its drainage
network, like this.

Water would still be
entering the system,

but not being able to escape,

maybe even lifting the
ice off the bed in places

and then it goes and the ice
starts to melt along the bed

and it slides and you
have a rapid flow.

Let's take this
chunk of glacier

that Andy and I are standing on.

As the sun heats the surface,

meltwater pours into
the guts of the glacier.

It carves a warren of
huge underground rivers,

burrowing through the ice.

When things are normal,

water usually drains safely
into Norway's famous fjords.

But if the glacier
starts to surge,

these drainage tunnels
can be destroyed.

Excess meltwater starts to
build up under the glacier.

Like the tires on
a hydroplaning car,

this water lifts the
ice off the rock.

Without that friction,

the glacier can travel up to
100 times faster than normal.

[loud boom]

[loud boom]

So we also keep hearing
these massive booms,

which sounds almost like
thunder, off in the distance.

We're right at low tide now,

so you can probably expect
the most carving around now

because there's the
least amount of buoyancy.

I don't know if you
can make it out,

but you can see a line
along the waterline,

and that line is sort of
where the water's eaten away

at the glacier by melting it.

Andy might have helped
solve part of the mystery

of these galloping glaciers.

The more we know about their
erratic behavior, the better.

[crashing]

Because the fate of
these colossal ice floats

could actually have
far-reaching effects.

It's easy to feel like it's
important while we are here,

but why should it matter
to anyone who, you know,

lives somewhere else on the
other side of the world?

The world needs
that kind of the cold

and reflective,
ice-covered Arctic

to really dampen global change.

Especially in the North America,

you get those extreme
sudden chills.

That's all caused
by the Arctic vortex

being kind of destabilized.

So a nice cold, stable
Arctic helps keep

the mid-latitudes in good order.

We're deep in
polar bear country,

so Andy takes first
watch as I try

and rest up ahead of tomorrow.

We are hiking a few
hours inland to a site

where he's working to
diagnose another symptom

of this retreating ice.

So it's half 10 at night.

It's incredible to kind of
put that all into context

and see the big picture of
Arctic change for myself,

right in front of me like that.

It was absolutely mind-blowing.

So I'm really excited
to see what Andy

has in store for me tomorrow.

I mean, what the
hell is a pingo?

Can't wait to find out!

[tense music].

Glaciers have many habitats

from the planet's
poles to its peaks.

But virtually all of them

share one common
feature, crevasses.

Cracks that almost look
like glacial gills.

And one team halfway
across the world

believe that crevasse
play a bigger role

in a glacier's health
than we thought.

Yeah, nice.

Driving up the road this
morning, you're just like,

"What have I forgotten?
Have I forgotten anything?"

You kind of still thinking
like weight is a big thing

because you've got to fly
it up in a helicopter.

You need it to be robust
because the weather

can be quite severe at times.

[Paul] So what's
going to the hut?

The food and the
personal packs.

And some of the electronics.

See if that'll close.

Let's just see if it'll close.

Oh yep. Easy.

[Ella] Heather's
glaciers aren't

galloping down the mountain,

instead they're losing
too much weight.

It's believed something more
than just climate change

might be at work.

One of the key things
I study as a glaciologist

is this concept of mass balance,

which essentially like
the health of the glacier.

So one of the things
we are thinking about,

how much is the glacier gaining?

How much of the ice and snow
is melting out is water.

[haunting music]

[blades whirring]

[Ella] But this is far
from a simple checkup.

The glacier is changing
faster than expected

and to find out why,

they'll need to perform
a battery of tests.

[haunting music continues]

New Zealand is home to
just under 3000 glaciers.

And on the south island lies
the largest of them all,

the Tasman Glacier.

Its water sustains a surrounding
ecosystem and communities

and helps provide hydroelectric
power for the area.

[Heather] Having come
to see the glaciers

as a very small child and
not just that one time,

but that regular revisiting
as I was growing up.

Throughout my life, I've watched
it change as I have changed

and you could hear the
popping and the cracking,

so that you knew it was moving.

And I just love the
dynamics of glaciers,

how they do change.

That's what I think really
inspires me about glaciology.

[Ella] The latest
models reveal this glacier

is melting seven times faster
than it was 20 years ago.

This will be home for Heather

and the team while they
search for answers.

Cozy, quiet and offering
unparalleled views

of their research subject.

[Heather] This is the third
field season for this project

and what we're doing
down there this year

is trying to understand
the crevasses

at the very top of the glacier.

How they influence the rate
that the glacier is melting.

So just before you head out
it's always good just to,

you know, just think about

what our main objectives
are down there today.

Don't let me to forget to do
the snow depth and snow density

and I'll do some
temperature checks.

So I've got that kit
in my pack already

and I've got the laptop.

Awesome. Cool.

Great. Okay.

Thanks Heather.

[Heather] When you're
working somewhere like this,

you've got to have
the right team.

You got to have people with the
right skills and experience,

but you also got to have people
that, you know, you trust

and that you get along with.

My hat goes on,
it becomes serious.

[Heather] Having people
that are like multi-skilled

is really handy 'cause there's
always challenges up here.

Morning mountains.
Rumble. Rumble.

[edgy music]

[Heather] When you're
working this area,

in the accumulation area,
you are always going to be,

you know, roped up.

We don't even step far from
the hut before, you know,

you got harnesses on,
you got your ice ax,

your crampons, you
got your ropes on.

Good. Yo, I think that's good.

We're good. Okay.

[edgy music continues]

[Ella] First task, find a
suitable crevasse to study.

[Heather] Okay.
I'm just going to

poke my nose out
to that last one.

Paul, do you want to cross over
the rope just a little bit?

Just step over. Thank you. Cool.

[Ella] These gaping
chasms are found

on virtually all glaciers.

Ice is brittle and as it
moves over the landscape,

it gets pulled apart creating
crevasses as deep as 160 feet.

But it's hard to find answers
up here on the surface.

If they're truly to understand
this dramatic weight loss,

Heather will have
to look deeper.

[Heather] My primary
objective here is to look

at how the crevasses
are influencing

the melt rates in this area.

It's nice, very complex
sides but it's very small.

Yeah, we've got a snow
bridge in this one,

so that's not going to work.

They're really
challenging places to work

'cause they change
from day to day.

Crevasses, that's a dynamic,

the glacier's moving all
the time so you know,

you might step across a
small crevasse one day,

come back a couple
of days later, that might be much larger.

This is the other
side Heather of...

So just a little bit
of tension there Tim.

[tense music]

Yeah, this is good. Yep.

Yeah, I reckon that'd be good.

I reckon we string this one up.

Great. Okay.

Untwist and we
might see it. Cool.

So my hypotheses, I guess,

is that we've been
underestimating melt rates

up here in the accumulation area

because we haven't been
taking into account

the role that these
crevasses play

in actually being
able to trap heat.

Crevasses is in the wintertime,

get covered in
snow and filled in,

but as you can see
here during the summer

that snow cover melts
off and they get exposed.

[Ella] Naturally glaciers
don't like warm air

and if this one's been
showing strange symptoms,

the first thing to do,
just like a patient,

is to take it's temperature.

These strings of
temperature probes

are like supersized thermometers.

Heather just needs to get
them inside the giant beast.

[Heather] So this is
what's going to dangle down.

And then what I'm
going to have to do is,

I actually have to attach
this temperature sensor

to the metal band at the top.

So we'll just get that
across to you, Jane.

Put it down on the surface.

[gentle pulsating music]

We'll kind of try and get
some width measurements,

meter by meter as we go down.

So we'll sort of do
a start and stop.

So go down a wee way
just to see if I can get

a tape measure across and
just do that a few times,

just to kind of capture
that size of crevasse.

So everyone all good?

- Yep? Yes ma'am.
- Cool. Okay, great.

[Paul] Coming down now team.

[gentle pulsating music]

- Tell me how far I can go.
- Okay, a little bit more.

Yep, hold it there.

At one meter depth,

we are 1.35, Paul.

- Copy.
- Okay.

- Lowering.
- Lowering.

[Heather] No, you
can't see the bottom.

Well, this temperature
string is like 13 meters, so

and it curves underneath,
it curves away from us.

Yep, it's perfect.
It's free-hanging.

No twists. Beautiful.

[light orchestral music]

When you get down
into the crevasse,

you see that really
hard packed glacial ice

and it's a really
truly blue color.

[light orchestral
music continues]

The walls aren't smooth,

they've got all these bits
sticking out and icicles.

Really complex shapes and things

and so they've got this
really sort of rugged beauty.

Yep. She's still logging.

Woohoo! Thank goodness.

[Ella] In the
last three years,

Heather has measured nine
crevasses using this method.

And what we've been finding
over the last two seasons

of field work is essentially
the most action if you like,

in terms of the heat and heat
exchange is actually happening

in the sort of
upper five meters,

the upper part of the crevasse

that the sun
actually penetrates.

[Ella] So this is a really
important piece of the puzzle.

Without enough
snow to cover them,

the sun can hit
the crevasse walls

creating a 16-foot
layer of heat,

but that isn't enough to account

for the huge
increase in melting.

So something else
must be driving

that heat layer deeper
into the crevasse.

You can sort of start to
see all this convection cloud

rolling over from
the West Coast.

The forecast is
for deteriorating conditions but yeah,

hopefully it holds a bit
out until tomorrow morning.

[Ella] While this shift in
the weather is a challenge

for the expedition team, it
also reveals a vital clue.

Without the snow cover,

the crevasses are
exposed to the elements.

Gusts of wind can blow

over the uneven
surface of the glacier

and the surface roughness
creates turbulent airflow,

which grabs the layer of warm
air above the snow surface

and pushes it deeper
into the crevasse.

[Heather] This
means that they're

sort of, keeping more
heat in the glacier

than we previously realized.

[Ella] If this
theory is correct,

it may explain why the glacier

is melting faster than expected.

[dramatic music]

Without a protective
blanket of snow,

the layer of heat
created by the sun

is at the mercy of the elements.

Harsh weather conditions
and gusts of wind

can push that heat into
the heart of the glacier

where it can do more damage.

[gentle flute music]

So, what if we lifted
all of the remaining snow

from the surface?

As climate change intensifies,

the Tasman Glacier may
receive less and less snow.

[gentle flute music continues]

And without it, the
vicious cycle of warm air

being pushed into the crevasse

and accelerating melt
rates, will continue.

And though the future looks
bleak, there might yet be hope.

[gentle flute music continues]

[Heather] What we
are learning here

is going to be relevant
to all alpine glaciers.

We're probably underestimating
the amount of melting

in this upper part
of the glacier

with the current
models that we have.

[somber music]

The people that do the modeling

are regularly trying to estimate

how much the sea levels
are going to increase.

And so the results
of this will help us

improve those models.

[somber music continues]

[Ella] This is why research
like Heather's is important.

Up to 680 million
people globally,

could be at risk
of sea level rise.

Optimistic models suggest
places like New York City

may see around a foot of
sea level rise by 2100,

leading to seasonal floods
that damage low-lying areas.

[somber music continues]

But more extreme estimates
place that number

as high as almost 10 feet,

which could lead to
large scale damage,

loss of life and
mass evacuations.

Figuring out which future
is more accurate is vital.

Even if Heather's research
improves accuracy by 1%,

it could save lives.

Sea level rise has
been a popular subject

among climate scientists.

But as it turns out it
isn't just our oceans

that are swelling.

[Andy] We'll go there first.

It's a nice spot.

[Ella] It's day
two of our expedition

to explore the strange
behaviors of Svalbard's ice.

And Andy is taking me to a place

where the very
ground we walk on,

offers a clue that
something isn't right here.

These are what we
call ice-wedge polygons.

And what exact
significance do they have?

Yeah, if you've got
permafrost, you've got polygons.

So polygons are a sign that
you have permafrost present.

The form of the polygon
can maybe tell you

something about change.

So you might notice these
ones are quite high centered

and it's dry in
the central parts.

So maybe it's a sign that this
permafrost is warming here

and there could be
some degradation

of the permafrost occurring.

Here I'm seeing a
number of things

now escaping out of the system.

[Ella] Warming
temperatures are disturbing

the slumber of the
ice below the surface.

Ice that has been keeping
something dangerous at bay

for thousands of years.

[Andy] Yeah, look, you
can see all the gas already.

[haunting music]

[Ella] Oh wow, yeah,
there's bubbles everywhere.

Almost looks like it's raining.

Yeah, it looks
like it's raining.

This is interesting.

This gas is coming from
beneath the permafrost

and as that permafrost
then perhaps degrades

or other processes are allowed

to force that gas
through the permafrost

and these are the signs of
that gas actually escaping now.

[ominous music]

[Ella] Andy has
been monitoring

this formally frozen
site for years.

And his methods range
from the ultra high tech

to the beautifully
simple and effective.

We can just put a simple
gas trap over the top.

We've actually got an
inverted funnel here.

It's a perfect tool
for catching the gas

and then you can just draw
the gas out with the syringe.

So, find a way of
not falling in.

[both laugh]

Now that bit of string
that's covered in mud,

is what you need to
drag this into position

and it'll go along
those two lines.

[Ella] So, I'm grabbing this?

[Andy] That's the one.
It's a bit tangled, I know,

[Ella] Let's
not fall in. Okay.

[water splashing]

[Andy] Just wait a sec.

When you're comfortable,
just pull and this will go.

Give it a good tug
and I'll send it off.

There it goes.

[haunting music continues]

[Ella] It was a bit harder
than I was imagining it.

[Andy] Yeah, continue.

I think that's perfect.

Okay and then I'll
suck the air out

and it'll straighten up and
then it'll start collecting gas.

So I just need to do
some fine tuning now.

Pulling on that one, lifts that.

Yeah, now we can
start trapping gas.

That's perfect.

That's the job done. Thanks.

- It's brilliant
- My job here is done.

[haunting music continues]

Tons of gas coming
out there. Look at that.

[Ella] The natural
world produces many gases,

but there's a simple test
to narrow down the suspect

that we have here.

[ominous music]

I'll just try and shelter
it. You get it going.

- Nice!
- Definitely methane.

It's so clean that gas, that
you could barely see it,

but you heard it, yeah?

Definitely heard it.

Looked a bit like the
flame of a gas cooker.

[Andy] Yeah, same stuff.

[Ella] Coming straight
out of that lagoon.

So methane's obviously the
bad boy of climate change,

but also CO2 of course.

The bubbles are, there's
a lot of methane.

It's not entirely methane,
but there's no oxygen.

So quite unusual really.

So methane and probably the rest

is dominated by carbon dioxide.

[Ella] Across
our frozen realm,

methane gas has been
safely locked away

for thousands of years.

It's mainly created by
microbes munching their way

through organic
material in the soil.

And when unleashed
into the atmosphere,

this greenhouse gas
is up to 80 times

more potent than carbon dioxide.

And how much are
we talking here?

From this small area?
About a ton of year.

Just from this little area?

[Andy] Yeah, from that tiny
little part of that lake.

[Ella] But our methane
mission doesn't stop there.

Andy tells me there's
a more explosive way

that methane can escape
its permafrost prison.

[edgy music]

Well, here we are.

I brought you to the
summit of Lagoon Pingo.

[edgy music continues]

You can clearly see, you
know, it's a land form.

It's been pushed up.

The land is elevated
by about eight meters

around the rest
of the old seabed.

What is a pingo?

So imagine you've
got groundwater rising

through permafrost.

If they freeze on the way,

the expansion can heave
up the sediment above it

and then form this hill.

So a pingo is a hill that
forms in permafrost country.

Okay, so you said that
the kind of groundwater

and gas is forcing the pingos up

into this really
classical dome shape.

Does any of that actually end
up escaping to the atmosphere?

[Andy] Yeah,
it's quite common.

There's pingos across large
parts of the Arctic and Siberia

and there's some very
explosive gas releases there.

The gas accumulations near
the surface of the permafrost

in Siberia result in
explosive emissions.

[Ella] Actual explosions?

[Andy] Large sort
of gas craters forming

with very smooth walls,

where the gas has been
sitting in the permafrost

near the surface for some time,

building up and then
suddenly being released.

[Ella] Explosions are so rare,

they've never been
captured on camera.

However, this is
what we might see.

In Svalbard, it can take
decades for pingos to form.

But in Siberia it's
believed they can grow

in just a few years.

[daunting music]

Inside, it's believed
that an ice cap forms

beneath the permafrost.

[daunting music continues]

If the area around
the mound has thawed,

it allows gases like methane
to build under the ice cap.

[daunting music continues]

The pressure builds until the
mound eventually explodes,

like a permafrost pimple.

Explosions can fling debris
up to 3000 feet away.

Above the high tide line.

Our ice is misbehaving.

Galloping glaciers
and exploding pingos

leave me wondering about
what the future holds.

But as we head back to the ship,

Andy reveals that
this ominous outlook

may have a silver lining.

If you've got a
tidewater glacier

that's retreating
like a kilometer every sort of few years,

then you've got a whole
new area of sea floor

that's unknown and gases
are being brought out

and are escaping to the
atmosphere as a result.

[gentle piano music]

This is a biological
hotspot near the glaciers

or some distance away.

Hopefully this is
a sort of place

where you'd see a high primary
production from plankton.

[gentle piano music continues]

[Ella] Plankton are the
tiny microscopic plants

and animals that
form the cornerstone

of all the ecosystems
in the Arctic.

[gentle piano music continues]

But it's the plants or
phytoplankton among them,

that we have to thank for
almost every breath we take.

Like plants on land, they
take in carbon dioxide,

but these guys produce up to 80%

of the oxygen in our atmosphere.

But what do tiny
phytoplankton have to do

with retreating glaciers
and methane bubbles?

This gas release
from the sea floor

actually pushes
nitrogen-rich bottom waters

up to the surface and
allows this, sort of,

phytoplankton to bloom off that.

The phytoplankton are
able to photosynthesize

and sort of compensate by
drawing down CO2 and growing,

instead of just
being a net source.

Almost kind of counteracting
the negative effects

of that methane release.

Okay, let me break this down
as it's pretty striking stuff.

As these glaciers retreat,

they expose methane pockets
that release bubbles.

As they rise to the surface,

they carry up nitrogen-rich
phytoplankton food

from the sea floor.

With a hefty dose of
sunlight and plenty to eat,

a feeding frenzy is
triggered at the surface.

[whimsical music]

As they bloom, phytoplankton
absorb massive amounts

of carbon dioxide from the air,

[whimsical music continues]

making the surface of this
ocean a massive carbon trap.

And it looks like these
blooms are able to absorb

more carbon than is
released by the methane,

bubbling up from below.

[whimsical music ends]

There's a lot of
cool things going on

with these gas emission sites

that we need to get
into and discover.

I guess ice is something
like a beast unto itself.

It has this huge power to
change the environment.

It seems the more
we learn about ice's

strange habits and behaviors,

the more we realize how
much we actually rely on it.

But Svalbard's
spectacular glaciers

don't deserve to hog
all of the limelight.

Sometimes it's the shy ones

that have the greatest
ability to surprise us.

Being a glaciologist

is exciting to find ice
deposits underground.

It's another world.

It's really interesting
because what you cannot see

on the surface,

most of the time you
can find in the cave

and the dynamics are not so
fast like on the surface.

So you can find a
lot of interesting things about the past.

[haunting music]

[Ella] Francesco
and Renato are heading

to the mountains
outside of Venice.

Somewhere below this landscape,

a rare form of glacier
has been discovered.

[haunting music continues]

They're here with an
expert team of cavers

and piles of
scientific equipment

to try and figure out
how the ice got there,

what impact it has and
how long it has left.

[haunting music continues]

I went to the
Zingarella the first time,

about 15 years ago.

And there was a huge ice
deposit that was blocking

the passage for about
70 meters of thickness.

And then it was discovered
a passage through the ice,

which was going beyond this plug

and entering a
huge cave chamber.

And that was very mysterious.

So now we will go there to
understand how thick it is

because when the plug
will start cracking,

it'll change completely the
internal climate of the cave,

then the ice deposit will
disappear very, very soon.

[foreign language being spoken]

[Ella] But this isn't your
typical scientific expedition.

To reach their destination,
Francesco and Renato

must descend 200 feet
into the upper chamber.

Something that brings its
own set of challenges.

This is not just
a caving expedition

because we need to
do a lot of science.

So there is a lot of equipment

that we have to
bring down the cave.

I think there are more
than 500 meters of ropes

and it's quite heavy.

[pulsating music]

We rigged everything to be
ready to pull up any person

because if someone get exhausted

then we need to be quick
to solve the situation

because that is
a very cold cave.

[foreign language being spoken]

[pulsating music continues]

[eerie music]

[eerie music continues]

[foreign language being spoken]

[Ella] Despite
the inherent risks,

the team have repelled
down into the glacier

because the best way to gauge
the severity of the problem

is to examine it themselves.

[foreign language being spoken]

[Ella] This large cavern
is only the upper chamber.

The glacier they're
now standing on

is suspended almost 200 feet

above a much bigger
chamber below.

It's indeed a huge deposit,

this big snow cone coming here

and then you pass from melting
snow to the real ice surface.

[ethereal music]

[foreign language being spoken]

I'm amazed at this environment

with rocks which are blinking.

[Ella] It's not just
remarkable for its beauty

because these sparkling walls

perform a very
important function.

Ice is essential
to life on earth.

You know, billions of
people around the world rely

on melting glaciers for their
drinking water supplies.

But this ice cave might be

conjuring up water
out of thin air.

[gentle music]

Oh wow! This is
crystals of ice.

[gentle music continues]

The warm air from the
outside is entering the cave

and it condensates on the walls

and this water then flows
down to the springs.

So this is bringing a lot of
water inside the cave system

and it's not just a
infiltration of rain,

it's really coming from the air.

Which is quite astonishing
because you think always

that the water coming from the
spring, it's just rain water.

[gentle music continues]

[Ella] Underground
ice behaves differently

to its topside cousins.

A colder temperature
in the chamber

draws in warm air
from the outside.

Like a glass of ice
water on a hot day,

the warm air condenses
into tiny water droplets

on the cold cave
walls and freezes.

Over time, this
captured fresh water

makes its way into the aquifer.

This process produces about 10%
of the region's fresh water.

That's more than
double what we get

from this glacier's meltwater.

[gentle music continues]

The loss of this reclusive
freshwater condenser

could have a huge impact
on the communities

and wildlife in the region.

So Francesco and
Renato need to work out

how much ice has been lost.

[foreign language being spoken]

So we are at the bottom
of the medium chamber.

So just below us
there is a big void,

but we do not know how
thick is the plug now.

I've been here 10 years ago

and there was much
more ice than now.

[Ella] This ice plug
is constantly melting,

so Francesco has found a way

to eavesdrop on it
while he is away.

[foreign language being spoken]

[water trickling]

[foreign language being spoken]

[water gushing]

[foreign language being spoken]

[Ella] Having heard
the glacier melting,

they now need to measure
how much it's changed.

The team have carried down
the best tool for the job,

Ground Penetrating Radar.

[foreign language being spoken]

In places like this, the
problem with this kind of sled,

which is not really nice to
carry onto this heavy backpack

and so on, is that
the shape of the ice

is not really flat all the time.

So you have some slope
and some unconformities.

[foreign language being spoken]

This is just preliminary
data of course.

It seems that a lot
of ice already melted.

I would say just between
10 and 15 meters.

Probably 15 meters, yeah.

The problem is that
ice is melting very fast

and faster and
faster year by year.

So far it's like
a cork in a bottle.

But instead of going
up, it'll go down.

And then, poof!

[tense music]

Very soon this environment
will change dramatically

and we will not have any
more the opportunity to do

what we are doing now.

So, could be a matter of
years, maybe a decade,

maybe two, we
don't know exactly.

[tense music continues]

[Ella] With the ice
thickness measured from above,

it's time to investigate
the deeper chamber below.

[foreign language being spoken]

[foreign language being spoken]

[foreign language being spoken]

[gentle pulsating music]

[Ella] To really
understand this weird corner

of the cryosphere,

the team must make the
perilous 200 foot descent

to the lowest part
of the cavern.

[gentle pulsating
music continues]

Venturing into an area
that's rarely been explored.

Woo!

Whoa! Woo!

[foreign language being spoken]

[ethereal music]

Zingarella is a peculiar cave

because has never been
visited very frequently

because this big chamber
below the ice plug

has been always considered a
kind of a very dangerous place.

[ethereal music continues]

Being down here for the
first time is really amazing.

You just cross the the ice plug,

then you reach this huge
cavern here with block of ice

fallen from up

and this cone-shape pavement

and it's really an
amazing environment.

[foreign language being spoken]

[foreign language being spoken]

It's looking to you.

It's making the photos.

[Ella] This 3D laser scanner
fires millions of points

throughout the cave to
produce the most precise map

of this chamber ever created.

It even includes the size

and shape of the
ice suspended above.

This could help them
monitor the health

of the glacier in
the years to come.

The scanner that we did here

and the GPR we performed
will be a kind of match

because we will match
these different datas

to fit all the
geometry of the cave

and we will understand the real
volume of this environment.

[Ella] The laser scanner
reveals that this chamber

is 260 feet long
and 160 feet high,

it's the size of a cathedral.

This data is a huge
win for the team.

But there is still one mystery

that Francesco is keen to solve.

How did this ice get here?

[foreign language being spoken]

This is a small chamber
on the side of the big one.

There is some wood.

But here I see something
really strange.

Looks like wood,
but it's not wood.

Something else 'cause it's hard

and with a very strange shape.

I think these are crystals,
cryogenic calcite.

It is precipitation
of calcium carbonate

in a lake which is freezing.

And when it is freezing,
then you get this crystals.

So that means that here there
was all water, freezing.

So this is very interesting

because we can also
date this stuff.

We can have an age when
the lake was freezing.

[foreign language being spoken]

The presence of
cryogenic calcite suggests,

without any doubt, that there
was a larger mass of ice.

[Ella] Cryogenic
calcite is the key

to this glacier's
bizarre origin story.

A story that can only be
told by lifting the ice.

[gentle music]

During the Little Ice
Age about 700 years ago,

temperatures plummeted
and snow built up

in the mouth of the cave.

[gentle music continues]
[wind whooshing]

Just like a glacier, layer
upon layer of snowfall

eventually turned to ice.

[gentle music continues]
[wind whooshing]

It's weight drags it down
deeper into the cave system

where it completely
fills the space with ice,

allowing the conditions for
cryogenic calcite to form.

[electronic music]

Centuries go by and
there's less snowfall

to replenish the glacier.

The sun's heat melts
the ice from above

[electronic music continues]

and warm air
generated by the cave

melts the glacier from below.

Thanks to climate change, this
glacier's days are numbered.

[foreign language being spoken]

[gentle music]

So it's a matter for
us to act as a scientist

and not have fear to come here

and to try to get
the most information.

It's demanding, it's risky,
but it's worth, for sure.

Thanks to this attention
which is coming from

the topic of global warming
and disappearing of glaciers.

Then you can show to the people

a place that was
impossible to see.

People can realize
that we have to change

and better our way of
dealing with nature.

[somber music]

[Ella] This planet is
home to one of the strangest

and most powerful entities
we've ever encountered.

I set out to uncover the
weird displays of behavior

from our ice, but as it draws
dramatic attention to itself,

we're also learning
more about it

than we ever thought possible.

All across the cryosphere,

we are seeing the thawing ice
revealing its secrets to us.

We're seeing a huge
amount of uncertainty

and changes that are happening
really, really rapidly.

But I think there are
some glimmers of hope.

The more we lift up to
uncover its secrets,

the better chance we
have of saving it.

And by extension, us.

[majestic music]

[dramatic music]