Environmental Science Name ____KEY______________
“Planet in Peril”, Episode 2
1. How much warmer is Greenland now than 10 years ago? About 8 degrees F Why is this happening? Increasing
global temperatures due to increase in greenhouse gases, primarily from burning fossil fuels
2. Why are Arctic temperatures rising more than anywhere else? Positive feedback due to Albedo effect: as white ice
melts and darker ocean covers more land, temps go up even more
3. What is a moulin? Hole in the ice caused by rushing water
4. What happens when the moulin fills with water? It provides a layer under the ice on which the ice can slide and melt
even more
5. The scientist is alarmed because the temperatures are warmer than they expected, and the predictions do not take
into account the effects of rushing water that they have found under the ice.
6. Even if we stop CO2 output right now, the atmosphere will continue to warm and ice will continue to melt.
7. On Greenland’s east coast , a new island has formed because the ice that connected the peninsula to the mainland
has melted.
8. Ice thickness has diminished by as much as 40% in the last 40 years. (I’m not sure about this one – I’m writing this key
from memory. I’ll check on it.)
9. The polar bear family group consisted of female (sow) and two cubs.
10. Why have they learned about polar bear cubs and adult males? They are smaller than they used to be
11. What do the bears eat? Why are the polar bears under nutritional stress? Polar bears hunt seals from the sea ice,
since there is less sea ice, they cannot hunt as successfully
12. The open water gap between coast and ice used to be about 10 miles, now the gap is 200 miles. Some polar bears
are drowning because it is too far to swim.
13. Sea ice loss has surpassed predictions for the year ______________________.
14. Why are there proposals to list the polar bear as endangered/threatened when its populations are not that small?
Because of the potential threat from continued global climate change
Don’t worry about the rest of the questions. You may or may not have seen that part of the video.
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