Antarctica Page #2

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We have scarcely begun

to understand our planet.

Once, these dry valleys

were full of ice.

Thousands of years ago ...

something happened

to the climate ...

and the ice that was here

disappeared.

It left behind

vast empty valleys ...

where it has probably not rained

for a million years ...

where algae grows

inside solid rock ...

and the land is so arid,

we practice experiments

designed for Mars.

And it left a mystery ...

that becomes more important

to us each day:

What makes the climate change?

Sea ice around the continent

waxes and wanes.

In winter,

Antarctica doubles in size.

The expanse of coldness affects

climate all over the globe.

But Antarctica not only

affects climate,

it also records it.

Far from civilization ...

a core drill digs deep

into the ice sheet.

Ice layers can be read

like the rings of trees.

The climate record goes back

100,000 years.

Entrapped bubbles of ancient air

ice cores tell a simple story.

When the levels of carbon dioxide

in the atmosphere change ...

so does the climate.

A day, a week, a month,

a year, a decade ...

This core came

from 466 feet down.

It's ice that fell as snow

about 4,000 years ago.

In the crystal ball of the ice,

the news from Antarctica is bad.

Methane, strontium 90, lead ...

increased carbon dioxide ...

were changing the air ...

and we're starting

to see the effects.

20 years ago, scientists predicted

that man-made chemicals ...

would thin the planet's

protective layer of ozone.

Recently, the thinning

became dramatic ...

letting dangerous

ultraviolet rays from the sun

shown here in red hit the Earth.

Nobody noticed it ...

except in Antarctica.

Here, a few scientists

doing theoretical research ...

noticed the change

in the upper atmosphere ...

and learned that man-made

chemicals were causing it.

International cooperation may

slow production of the chemicals ...

but the damage has been done.

So the research goes on ...

trying to understand what we're

doing to our world ...

trying to find out in time.

In this climate,

you must cooperate to survive.

Here, that hard truth applies

even to politics.

Antarctica is not a nation.

It is protected by a unique

agreement among many nations ...

to save the continent

for peace and science.

This treaty has lasted

for over 30 years ...

and stands as a model

for a happier world.

In 1929, 17 years

after the Pole was won,

Richard Byrd traded dogs ...

for an airplane,

and was the first

to fly over the South Pole.

He looked in awe

on the wilderness ...

that Scott and Amundsen

took months to cross.

Today, the flight

takes three hours ...

and the plane lands ...

at what seems to be

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