(upbeat music)
(speaking foreign language)
We're about to land in Antarctica,
a mysterious and unexplored continent.
Here we are.
We're stopping for a little bit
to see what the scientists are up to.
My name is Rosario Jimenez Gili.
I'm a filmmaker and science communicator.
Please join me on this journey.
Antarctica is a very precious continent
to the scientific community
for being both a remote, unexplored land
and a place to study signs relating to climate change.
Thanks to the Chilean Antarctic Institute
and the research center Dynamics of Marine Ecosystems
of High Latitudes, I'm luck enough to accompany
a group of scientists during the expedition known as ECA55.
We're right in front of
the recently-christened iceberg, Oscar.
We'll be staying at King George Island,
at the Chilean research station Julio Escudero,
on the shores of Fildes Peninsula.
We're having lunch as Escudero Base.
They made potato pie.
How's the food, guys?
Are you having a good time in Escudero Base?
Sure.
I saw firsthand what was required
of scientific research, as well as all of the human aspects
that are required for an expedition to Antarctica.
That, less than a month.
Less than one month?
Wow.
And will it eventually melt?
(delicate piano music)
Antarctica, the inhospitable white continent
that we see today was once a land of lush,
subtropical forests full of palm trees, ferns and conifers.
Forests began to gain a foothold in Antarctica
298 million years ago, during a period known as the Permian,
when the weather turned warmer
and the glaciers of the Ice Age began to recede.
In more recent eras, fossils have revealed
the existence of others forests of ferns and conifers,
home to the majestic dinosaurs who roamed
during the beginning of the Jurassic Period.
(dinosaur growls)
(bright music)
How these forests, similar to ones
we see in today's temperate zones,
survived in the polar winter's darkness
is a mystery scientists have not been able to solve.
Pangea was a supercontinent that formed
during the end of the Paleozoic and early Mesozoic Eras.
(mysterious music)
Formed by the movement of tectonic plates
300 million years ago,
it united all the continents into one.
100 million years later, it began to fracture and disperse,
creating the continents we see today.
35 million years ago, the Southern Ocean is formed,
when South America separates from Antarctica,
allowing the merger of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans
through Drake Passage.
Here, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is born.
One of the most important marine currents
is the Antarctic Circumpolar Current,
which carries water around Antarctica.
Since there's no continental barrier in this region,
we can say it's the only current
that circumnavigates around the entire planet.
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current
is the current responsible
for connecting the major ocean bodies:
the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans,
flowing eastward in a clockwise direction.
This current is generated by wind,
and it's by far the most intense current on the planet.
Very deep water is formed, known as Antarctic bottom water.
This water mass, when it's in contact with the atmosphere,
achieves a type of equilibrium, balancing CO2
and balancing other greenhouse gases.
When this water ultimately sinks,
it then takes those gases from the atmosphere
and carries them to the ocean floor.
As a result, it mitigates global warming
and slows increases in atmospheric CO2.
This is already my sixth day in Antarctica,
and I must admit, it's the first
that I'm really enjoying it.
There were several groups of scientists
studying different aspects of climate change,
from marine biology, glaciology,
and oceanography, among other subjects.
(upbeat music)
I'll start sharing my experience
with a group of physical oceanographers,
where I was lucky enough to embark on the Carpooch,
a vessel belonging to the Chilean Antarctic Institute.
(moving string music)
Planet Earth, perhaps mistakenly known
as planet Earth, is mainly covered by water.
Around 70% belongs to the oceans,
and the Southern Ocean is one of them.
My name is Andrea Pinones.
I am an oceanographer and a professor
at the Austral University of Chile in Valdivia.
And in recent years, I have been dedicated
to studying the oceanography of the Southern Ocean.
This year, I started my own research project,
taking measurements of the currents
within the oceanic circulation of Maxwell Bay.
We're about to board a ship called Carpool
and see firsthand the research of Andrea Pinones
and her team, as we spend the night at see.
So, tomorrow we have to try to leave at dawn
at around four in the morning
so we can take CTD measurements.
CTD is an instrument that measures ocean salinity,
temperature, and depth.
I'm Oscar Pizarro, and I'm an oceanographer.
The vessel will travel
within 15 measuring points within Fildes Bay,
starting at the furthest point from the coast,
near the passage of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.
(speaking in foreign language)
It's my first time
doing this type of measurement here in Antarctica,
and I always like new challenges, so I'm excited to be here.
The CTD takes measurements
of conductivity, temperature, and seawater depth,
and also has sensors that measure oxygen and fluorescence.
This allows us to understand how the surface
of waters of the bay are being oxygenated and nourished,
allowing for the existence of algae and other organisms
responsible for producing photosynthesis.
With this survey we'll know how bodies of water change
and how currents move water
from other regions of the Antarctic.
The observations that we're taking
will help validate the circulation model
that we're studying.
Once we know that the model works,
that the simulations and projections are correct,
we can then use that model to see
the effects of climate change.
We can see how the model changes due to the wind
or air and ocean temperatures,
giving us insight about the future circulation.
(gentle music)
The Southern Ocean is the first link
that sustains life on this continent.
Microorganisms, algae, and different types of animals
live in this ecosystem, all connected and affected,
in one way or another, by climate change.
Understanding more about marine currents
and their importance in the oxygenation of the planet
gives us new insights on how to care for our ecosystem
and the critical role played by the sea
in the balancing of our planet.
(upbeat music)