Earth ID: 10907

NASA Discovers Massive Phytoplankton Bloom Under Arctic Sea Ice

Released on June 7, 2012

Scientists have made a biological discovery in Arctic Ocean waters as dramatic and unexpected as finding a rainforest in the middle of a desert. A NASA-sponsored expedition punched through three-foot thick sea ice to find waters richer in microscopic marine plants, essential to all sea life, than any other ocean region on Earth.

The discovery is the result of an oceanographic expedition called ICESCAPE, or Impacts of Climate on EcoSystems and Chemistry of the Arctic Pacific Environment. The NASA-sponsored mission explored the seas along Alaska's western and northern coasts onboard a U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker during the summers of 2010 and 2011. The finding reveals a new consequence of the Arctic's warming climate and provides an important clue to understanding the impacts of a changing climate and environment on the Arctic Ocean and its ecology.

Credits

Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Kayvon Sharghi (USRA): Video Editor
Kayvon Sharghi (USRA): Narrator
Kayvon Sharghi (USRA): Producer
Kevin Arrigo (Standford University): Scientist
Karen Frey (Clark University): Scientist
Kayvon Sharghi (USRA): Writer

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Under-ice footage courtesy of Karen Frey (Clark University)

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10907

This item is part of this series:
Narrated Movies

Goddard TV Tape:
G2012-061 -- NASA Discovers Massive Blooms Under Arctic Sea Ice

Keywords:
SVS >> Earth
SVS >> HDTV
SVS >> Phytoplankton
SVS >> Phytoplankton Blooms
SVS >> Sea Ice
DLESE >> Narrated
NASA Science >> Earth