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[Snow machine engine]

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♪

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[The Call of Science]

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[Operation IceBridge /
Greenland]

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[Joe MacGregor] I am looking out
over this beautiful landscape

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that is covered in snow.

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I realize that it won't
always be that way

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for the rest of my lifetime.

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And I felt sad because
this is a landscape

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that is an integral
part of the Earth.

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Life as an Earth scientist
means understanding

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the planet that we live on, and,

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especially in the context
of climate change,

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understanding where that
planet is headed.

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So, for a glaciologist
that means

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understanding where
ice is headed.

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I try to understand how
glaciers in Greenland

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and Antarctica flow, how they
have changed in the past,

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how they're changing presently

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and how they will
change in the future.

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That ice flow can vary over
time and can have significant

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consequences for the Earth
systems around it and hence

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also societies that are
dependent on either the water

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that those glaciers
release or the sea levels

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that those glaciers
can influence.

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When you are flying over
these polar regions,

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it's a alien world.

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And when you're standing on
the ice in these regions,

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it can also feel
incredibly desolate

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but also liberating
at the same time.

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The biggest
scientific question

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that I'm pursuing
right now is,

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"What is going
to happen to these

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two remaining large ice sheets
in Greenland and Antarctica,

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in the coming centuries?

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Are they going to
retreat dramatically?

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Are they going to collapse?

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Or are they going to be
relatively unaffected

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by a changing climate?"

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That's the question.

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On board IceBridge airplanes
we have a laser that can

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very precisely measure the
elevation of the surface.

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That allows us to
monitor the health

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of glaciers and ice sheets.

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We have ice-penetrating radars

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that send out radio
frequency pulses

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and reflect off of
layers within the ice.

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From that, we can learn
about the structure

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of the ice below us,

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how thick the ice is,

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and about the properties
of the rock below.

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It takes a large, concerted
effort like Operation IceBridge

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to go out there and,
not only make the repeat

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measurements that we need to
understand changing ice,

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but to go out and learn
new things requires

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a steady focus on the
act of exploration.

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NASA, in my view, seeks to do
things both technologically

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and scientifically that have
never been done before.

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We're learning something about
the ice and the rock and the

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Earth system in these places
that no one ever knew before

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and so you really feel like
not only do you have the

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potential to leave your
mark as a scientist

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but you're contributing
to the greater good.

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We don't know if we can stop
the changes that we've seen,

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but what I do know is that if
we can, it will require us to

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learn a lot more about what is
going on in the polar regions,

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and to go out there,
"boots on the ground,"

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explore what's going
on as scientists.

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[CORAL Mission / Oahu, Hawaii]

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[Michelle Gierach] Coral
reefs, they're sometimes dubbed

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"the rainforests of the sea"

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and I think that's true.

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They actually house a quarter
of all the oceanic fish species.

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The COral Reef
Airborne Laboratory,

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otherwise called
the CORAL mission,

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is a three-year
investigation to use

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state-of-the-art airborne as
well as in-water measurements.

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We're looking at a portion of
the world's reef system to

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assess the condition of these
threatened ecosystems and

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relate how they're changing
to their environment.

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The instrument that flies
aboard the aircraft is

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observing light that's reflected
from the ocean surface.

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What the instrument is
actually able to do

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is break down that
light into profiles.

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So, just like you or I have
unique fingerprints

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the instrument's actually able
to discriminate the different

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sort of unique fingerprints of
coral, algae, and sand.

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We have an in-water team to
validate what we're seeing

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from the instrument itself.

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[Splash]

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Our current understanding
of coral reefs

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is really only about .01 to 1%
of reefs worldwide.

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That's extremely small.

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We know they're threatened,
but do we really understand

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how that all works together,

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how their condition
changes with respect to their

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environment of global
climate change?

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That's really what we're
trying to do for coral;

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providing this unique data set
and then looking at those

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different conditions--how is
it changing with respect to

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increasing ocean acidification,

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increasing ocean temperatures.

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I am a soon-to-be-parent.

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I want to provide my child
with an Earth system

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that I grew up with, that I
know, that I love,

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that isn't so
dramatically different

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that certain species and
certain ecosystems

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are no longer there
and that it's viable for life.

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It's great when you find
what you expected,

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but I love when what I
assumed is not what I find.

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That's what drove me
to science--

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just the intrigue
of it, the mystery.

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It's what keeps me going.

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[MacGregor] There are
thousands of scientists

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at NASA, at JPL and other
institutions around the globe

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who have dedicated their
careers to better understanding

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the Earth as it is,

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and developing models that
can help us project

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what the future of
the Earth is.

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That is a personal commitment
from each of those scientists

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that you can't easily
walk away from.

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When you are a
scientist you want to

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understand the world as it is,

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not the world as you
wish it were.

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[Gierach] Though I'm
an oceanographer,

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clearly the ocean,
the atmosphere, the land,

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the cryosphere--we're all
connected as the Earth system.

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We're all impacting
one another.

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We really need to have

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a better understanding
of that interworking.

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[MacGregor] NASA continually
wants to move forward,

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not only our understanding of
Earth but, of course,

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the moon, the solar system,
worlds beyond that.

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We want to learn
the new things

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and I'm very glad to
be a part of that.

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[NASA/ Jet Propulsion Laboratory