Glaciers reveal their icy secrets

Few places are as starkly emblematic of our planet's fragility as the frozen expanse of Antarctica. 

Beyond the icy beauty, scientists have discovered that its glaciers are dynamic, vital components of Earth’s climate system. 

Scientific expeditions to the remote region have revealed that as our oceans warm, the subsequent impact on glaciers will have profound implications for coastal cities, weather patterns, and even the air we breathe. 

Sydney film director and climate advocate Liz Courtney spoke with The Zero Planet ahead of the Sydney screening of her new film, Antarctica - The Giant Awakens (view trailer below).

Courtney, who worked with a scientific research team based in Antarctica, said the film aimed to shed light on the longer-term impact the increasingly unstable, icy landscape has on the rest of the world.

"Understanding this white, monolithic, silent place can be difficult for people living 12 thousand kilometres away, but it actually has the potential to raise sea level by three metres plus."

"It tells the story about why Antarctica really matters and why it could be the cornerstone of the entire planetary system and probably the biggest existential threat to climate change this century,” Courtney said.

“Understanding this white, monolithic, silent place can be difficult for people living 12 thousand kilometres away, but it actually has the potential to raise sea level by three metres plus.”

To illustrate this, the film centres around two key scientific research programs. The first is a global study that samples air microbes as they move along the ‘atmospheric rivers’ of moisture that are capable of changing natural wind patterns.

“We have microbes latching onto those moisture bubbles and are being carried to very far-flung places,” Courtney said.

The second area of research examined the salinity and temperature of Antarctica's water.

“Obviously down in Antarctica we have very rapid glacial melt happening, so we wanted to plot along our course the different temperatures and salinity we were measuring, particularly up close to some of the major glaciers there under threat because of warming oceans.”

Courtney hopes viewers of the film will be challenged to reconsider their relationship with the distant icy wilderness and sharpen their understanding of the looming threats posed by glacier melt.

“It’s not the silent frozen land anymore, it’s something that has woken up and its moving, so the film is all about bringing awareness and education to people about this place that seems so far away and yet actually has an impact on the entire climate system.”