Ice and Fire
Listen to climate change in Alaska through place-based narrative.
Ice and Fire is a podcast that uses audio storytelling to share cryosphere change as the global climate warms. The cryosphere is all of Earth's frozen surface water including frozen freshwater lakes, glaciers, permafrost and sea ice -- frozen saltwater.
It only takes a small temperature increase for water to melt or thaw from solid into liquid form, yet a cascade of impacts result when we lose ice to fastly flowing liquid.
Season one emphasizes the significance of glacier melt, and connects listeners to distant glaciers rapidly responding to anthropogenic climate change through dialogue with researchers, traditional knowledge-bearers, and by sharing audio of ice-melt in real time.
Season two, available now, is all about permafrost thaw.
Ice and Fire
microbes reawaken
In episode three of Ice and Fire, we hear about a microbial reawakening of microscopic life that was frozen into permafrost, often for thousands of years. These small life forms spring back when permafrost thaws. Though individually tiny, microbial communities -- composed of bacteria, fungi, and archaea -- have substantial impact to Earth, including the greenhouse gases they emit when they metabolize and perform cellular respiration.
topics and purpose: the significance of microbes to the atmosphere and global warming as permafrost thaws
terms defined: microbes and microbial communities
notes: Check out Dr. Romanowicz's website to read more about microbes and their significance to permafrost thaw. Learn more about the Permafrost Pathways Program, part of the Woodwell Climate Research Center, here.