1
00:00:04,770 --> 00:00:08,980
In 2018, NASA is dispatching two new satellite missions 

2
00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:13,680
whose observations will include Earth’s most critically changing regions – the poles.   

3
00:00:13,700 --> 00:00:14,630


4
00:00:14,650 --> 00:00:17,550
They’re NASA's first new missions in 15 years that will 

5
00:00:17,570 --> 00:00:20,920
measure how Earth's massive ice sheets are changing.

6
00:00:20,940 --> 00:00:30,380


7
00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:34,090
Previously thought to be slow-moving and stable, the ice sheets covering 

8
00:00:34,110 --> 00:00:39,100
Greenland and Antarctica have rapidly lost ice over the last several decades. 

9
00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,430
As a result, scientists predict global sea level could be 

10
00:00:42,450 --> 00:00:44,890
1 to 4 feet higher by 2100.

11
00:00:44,910 --> 00:00:46,020


12
00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:48,310
This kind of significant change could increase the rate 

13
00:00:48,330 --> 00:00:52,640
of warming already in progress and affect global weather patterns. 

14
00:00:52,660 --> 00:00:53,780


15
00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:58,350
But ice sheets aren’t Earth's only frozen spots experiencing critical change. 

16
00:00:58,370 --> 00:01:02,500
Ice sheets, sea ice, glaciers, permafrost, and snow cover 

17
00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:05,320
are all showing signs of transformation. 

18
00:01:05,340 --> 00:01:07,470
Collectively known as the “cryosphere”, 

19
00:01:07,490 --> 00:01:12,260
these frozen zones help sustain stable conditions for life on Earth. 

20
00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:14,520
However, rising temperatures worldwide 

21
00:01:14,540 --> 00:01:19,870
are resulting in ice loss, global sea level rise, thawing permafrost, and more. 

22
00:01:19,890 --> 00:01:21,980


23
00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:26,640
This spring, NASA and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ)

24
00:01:26,660 --> 00:01:29,890
will launch GRACE-FO, continuing the revolutionary 

25
00:01:29,910 --> 00:01:32,980
gravity measurements of its predecessor, GRACE.

26
00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:36,350
Designed to observe global surface mass changes, 

27
00:01:36,370 --> 00:01:39,940
including land ice, sea level, and water on land, 

28
00:01:39,960 --> 00:01:42,180
GRACE was the first satellite to confirm 

29
00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:45,330
the shrinking of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. 

30
00:01:45,350 --> 00:01:45,980


31
00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:49,300
In September, ICESat-2 will launch and use its advanced laser 

32
00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:54,550
to measure the thickness of sea ice and the changing elevation of glaciers and ice sheets.

33
00:01:54,570 --> 00:01:58,850
The mission will provide scientists with a view of how the height of the ice sheets are changing,

34
00:01:58,870 --> 00:02:01,450
to within less than an inch. 

35
00:02:01,470 --> 00:02:05,650
GRACE-FO and ICESat-2 will be NASA’s newest “eyes in the sky"

36
00:02:05,670 --> 00:02:09,930
while an extensive field team of researchers collect complementary airborne and

37
00:02:09,950 --> 00:02:16,350
ground data about ice, snow, permafrost and the role the ocean plays in Earth’s frozen regions.

38
00:02:16,370 --> 00:02:16,860


39
00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:19,830
Working together, these new missions and campaigns will help 

40
00:02:19,850 --> 00:02:22,680
NASA predict how the cryosphere is changing 

41
00:02:22,700 --> 00:02:25,670
and how those changes will impact the way we live. 

42
00:02:25,690 --> 00:02:32,432