What is beneath the world’s largest ice sheet? Compiled by the British Antarctic Survey and made from “millions of new measurements, including substantial data sets from NASA’s ICESat satellite and an airborne mission called Operation IceBridge,” this animated map of the changing Antarctic Ice Sheet reveals the bedrock terrain below with a level of detail never seen before.

Read more about decades of data: Peeling Back the Ice of Antarctica by Wired’s Adam Mann.

From the chopping of ice chunks high on the Mount Chimborazo to hearing firsthand about this family’s traditions, The Last Ice Merchant (El Último Hielero) is an engaging documentary about a man’s dedication to hard work and a way of life that has changed. (And the subtitles are at a good pace for reading out loud to younger kiddos.)

Twice a week for over half a century, Baltazar Ushca has hiked up the slopes of Mount Chimborazo, the tallest mountain in Ecuador, to harvest glacial ice that covers the highest altitudes of this dormant volcano. In the past, up to forty ice merchants made the journey up the mountain to mine the ice; today, however, Baltazar works alone. Even his brothers, Gregorio and Juan, both raised as ice merchants, have retired from the mountain to find more steady work.

Excellent storytelling by director Sandy Patch. The kid(s) should definitely see this. 

There are more documentary clips and more ice in the archives.

Marine scientist and Stanford PhD student Cassandra Brooks narrates a two month long time-lapse view from an ice breaker — a specially-designed ship with “a strengthened hull, an ice-clearing shape, and the power to push through sea ice.”

Cassandra joined the Nathaniel B. Palmer research vessel in the Ross Sea, Antarctica, to track the phytoplankton bloom and study organic carbon in the waters as the seasons shift from summer to autumn. She’s also exploring the balance between the region’s fishing industry — Antarctic toothfish are caught here and later sold on the market as “Chilean sea bass” — with the conservation of this remote and celebrated ecosystem for scientific study.

via National Geographic’s Ocean Views.

More videos from Antarctica are in the archives. 

With a pack of impatient dogs barking that they’re ready to go, travel through Greenland on a dog sled, a mode of transport that is thousands of years old.

Premier Automne, a short film by French studio Je Regarde, is beautiful and emotional journey that explores nature’s balance: life, death, and the seasons.

Abel and his skeleton puppies live in an eternal winter. Apolline and her summer puppies frolic in the green. Keepers of their own seasons, they first encounter each other with curiosity before they both realize how different their worlds are, and how their worlds respond to each other. 

This story sparked a lot of discussion in our house, and the simple last scene has become an instant favorite. If you want to see how the animation was made, there is also a Premier Automne: Making Of video that shows some beautiful detail.

More nature, more seasons, and more animation in the archives.

via UFunk.net.