The Big Melt Our World

More bulletins throughout the night. A world of ice transformed into

slush. The Arctic has melted to a record extent. Scientists are

stunned. It is amazing as a scientist. It is unprecedented.

polar wildlife is having to cope. But the implications could reach

far from over. The global weather may be disrupted. Such is the scale

of change. It is now beyond doubt that the Arctic is under Chiari

extraordinary change. In the past decade, scientists who specialise

in this region have been changing their assessments of what will

happen. At the end of the century, we thought we would not see ice in

the summer. Now they say it could happen much sooner. We are

investigating to try and understand Our journey takes us to a group of

islands in the High Arctic. This is the last of four flights from

London. Below us is a remote and mountainous land. Through the

clouds, we can see the glaciers. Their surfaces are scarred by

crevasses. Our destination is the frontline of arctic science. A

research station built as Paula central. Researchers are finding

huge change. We have come to witness it. This is the sound to

get when you arrive over millions of fragments of ice. Some of the

pieces look small enough to hold. Some are the size of boulder. Some

are miniaturised bricks. -- ice boat. This is where the ice splits

away and falls into the ocean. We see the process for ourselves. It

is a spectacular sight. Vast sections of the glacier break apart,

right in front of us. We have to keep a safe distance. The ice can

fly a long way. This glacier has retreated so far and so fast that

the maps had to be changed. The Land Rover on the right was thought

to be connected to the land on the left. But when the ice finished, it

was revealed to be an island. How diagnosis area well. He worked on

the BBC's television series frozen planet. The can see the -- you can

see the difference every year. This used to be closed last winter, now

it is will open. This year it has been nice free around the islands.

I have stopped looking at them. There is nothing to study. It is

just water. There is evidence of change all around us. The

international director of the Norwegian Polar Institute says you

cannot miss it. Tell us how this area has changed in recent years?

You can seal the soil picking up. This was a solid piece of ice. It

has increased by half a metre, maybe more. It has been melting

away. Quite dramatically, I must say. It is something you see in all

the clays used. -- last years. Overall, you're in a sport giving

signs in an area that is going to a dramatic change. Yes. We are seen

change. We are seeing accelerated change. The greatest transformation

is out at sea. A cross the expense of the Arctic Ocean, this summer

has triggered a record-breaking melt. This is a Norwegian ice-

breaker. Part of a major international effort to investigate

what has happened. The retreat of the Arctic ice has become one of

the most urgent scientific questions of our time. Every summer,

massive swathes of frozen ocean not. Ice is breaking up in a heavy swell.

Windy winter comes, the waters will freeze again. But the past 30 years

have seen the steady decline. We know that from satellite pictures.

But there is other data as well. A helicopter lifts a hi-tech centre

in the air. When the instrument is suspended below the helicopter and

flown over the eyes, it emits an electromagnetic signal. This

provides a crucial measurement for how thick the ice is. It is an

indicator of how long it might last. All signs point to rid getting

thinner and weaker. The results the to be defied. That is done the old

fashioned way - a drilling. Teams go out onto the ice. They after the

most accurate data they can get. It is tough and hazardous. But vital

to building a picture. During a break, the ship calls in at the

research station. It is a chance to get on board and speak to the

scientists. These are cautious people. They do not jump to

conclusions. The latest findings are explained. This is a record low.

An extent that amazed all scientists. You can compare it to

2012. It is much lower, even in the last. Much lower. It is amazing as

a scientist. This is unprecedented. It is truly amazing. It is a

dramatic change in the system. does it represent? What is

happening? You are losing sea ice volume. It is becoming thinner. It

is manifested in what we see here. If the fitness goes down to zero,

the sea ice disappears. So the milk is far faster than predicted.

Computer models have underestimated how rapidly things can change. The

Arctic is warming faster than any other region on earth. The reason

for that is when the race of the Sun Land on the bright white

surface of the ice, most of the energy is reflected back into space.

But when the ice retreats and melts, does raise fall in on the darker

surface of the ocean. That is warming the ocean. It is melting

the ice. A vicious cycle begins. It is an acceleration of this dramatic

trend. The ice is sculpted into extraordinary shapes. Warm water

and warm air take their toll. It will not vanish overnight. There

will always be freezing conditions during the polar winter. But the

days when the sun is here might be clear of ice and it is getting

closer. It is a greater change than we could have imagined. Even ten

years ago. It has taken us by surprise. We are trying to

understand the system. We mustered just our feelings. -- must adjust.

The little settlement plays a pivotal role in Polar Research. It

is run by Norway. In its heart is a statue of a famous Norwegian. It is

the first man to the south pole. Now his gaze is joined by another

set of eyes. Those of a Chinese line. China is one of a dozen

countries with an outpost here. There is growing international

interest in the Arctic. Footholds in the name of science. This

community, which is now dedicated to science, began life as a mining

town. There is coal in these mountains. For much of the last

century it was extracted and then ferry towards the shore line. It

was waiting for a break in the ice. It is ironic that a place that was

founded on the extraction of fossil fuels is now devoted to tracking

their effect on the atmosphere. This place is all about data. Hard

facts gathered care for Italy. Every day, a weather balloon is

launched. -- gathered carefully. This is standard procedure.

Gathering readings so that any change can be properly measured. So

the consequences can be assessed. Tiny sea creatures are under a

microscope. One major research effort looks into the ecology of

the Arctic Ocean. The scientists want to know exactly what clubs

here. How every level of the marine One experiment involves a

collection of cramps. This study is into everything that lives on the

seabed and insight of the sediment. Much of the Arctic ecology is still

not known. This is a real chance to get a close look at it. Two German

research students here for the summer explain what they are

investigating. Basic work to understand what is going on down

there. If you can understand what is lying on down there, you can

detect changes and you can measure how climate change or view the

warming of the water, icebergs growing or whatever, has an effect

on the species and the composition of these species. This one should

go back in the water. (LAUGHS). Higher up the food chain, a bearded

seal rise on an ice floe for this animal is having a harder time with

less eyes. Others are doing better. It is a complicated pattern. And at

the top of the food chain, a poll that they filmed by the Norwegian

scientists. Polar bears need the ice so they can hunt seals. How

they might hunt and a doubt find out major questions. The impact of

the warming will reach far beyond the Arctic. It could even affect

the patterns of the weather. Compare the average summer not to

how much ice is left at the end of this summer. That is bound to have

repercussions and could even affect the jet stream, shifting its path,

meaning wetter summers for Britain and other disruptions elsewhere.

What we found was that in circumstances where the Arctic sea

ice the juices in summer, and if they are warmer than average

temperatures on the surface of the ocean, these will lead to heavy

storms across the UK in summer. That leads to cooler summers. The

connection between C Rice, water surface temperature, the

composition of the jet stream is complicated. But we believe it will

lead to a cooler summer. It is early days for the signs. There is

a lot of researchers do not understand. But the role of the jet

stream is known to be crucially important. The idea that Arctic

melt could shift it is being taken seriously. The past summer in

Britain was notorious. Storm after storm have made this the wettest

summer for a 100 years. The consequences were serious with

widespread flooding and damage to farm land. The reason for this was

that the jet stream was further south than usual. Where it flows

really matters. At the same time, the US was baking in a series of

record-breaking droughts and heatwaves. Fields dried up and

crops were ruined. Global food prices started to rise as a result.

This was the opposite of Britain's weather but the jet stream was all

they to blame, this time, flowing too far to the north. The effects

of this change could be widespread. The entire atmosphere is connected.

And the weather systems as we know them will shift with the wind. The

wind is controlled by the temperature distribution on the

surface. When there is no vice in the Arctic, -- ice in the Arctic,

that change will influence wind systems and where the weather

systems eye. That means northern Europe, Scandinavia, will probably

get more precipitation. Southern Europe, the Mediterranean, will

become drier. The scientists are assessing the consequences of the

big melt. They are also investigating its probable causes.

One part of the research is to investigate what is in the air -

the greenhouse gases involved in climate change. To do that, they

have set up right on top of this mountain to get away from any

possible sources of local pollution. To get up there, we have to use of

contraption - a miniature cable car. This is one of the most

exhilarating minds up this side of any mountain. It will get us up to

the top of the mountain where the laboratory is installed. The view

from up here is stunning. Fiords and glaciers. Slightly slowing as

we approach the destination. Here, there is some of the most sensitive

equipment you can get. It is part of a network of monitoring stations

around the world. We know that the sea ice is retreating, glaciers

like this one are shrinking and the Arctic is warming. But what is

causing all of this? Clearly, natural factors are at work. There

are cycles through the ocean currents and the output of the Sun.

But scientists are sure that on top of those, mankind is definitely

having an effect. They say they know that because of what they are

finding out here. His master gathers air and measures carbon-

dioxide and other greenhouse gases building up in the atmosphere. --

this measuring device. Inside, the instruments measure the levels of

greenhouse gases. This is done the same way around the world and the

results are brought together to produce a definitive picture. Here

it is. This shows an obvious rise in carbon dioxide year after year.

We always have warm years and cold years and natural variations but it

is quite evident now that because of the man-made emissions, there is

a huge impact on the global temperature change. Including in

the Arctic? Especially in the Arctic. This does mark a shift in

scientific opinion. The evidence of a human hand in Iraq to change,

according to more and more researchers, is becoming more

common. -- Arctic change. There is more evidence that the changes we

see are being caused by mankind. The patterns in the changes are

consistent with what the models say that greenhouse gas warming should

give. And it is increasingly difficult to explain these changes

has just coincident. A keen wind heralds the end of

summer. Temperatures will come at once the poll that night approaches.

During the filming of this programme, we have been filing news

reports that have resulted in a range of reactions. People who say

that global warming is a hoax have accused me of scaremongering. I am

guided by the facts. The evidence gathered out on these waters by

some very diligent scientists. What they are finding out points in one

unmistakable direction - that the Arctic ice cap, a permanent feature

of the planet throughout human history, is now set to become a