Ice and Fire

In the closing episode of the Permafrost Thaw season, we hear stories of landscape change that have long-sustained and been observed by Native people in Alaska's Kuskokwim River area. We hear their stories of adaptation, including managed retreat of buildings away from rapidly eroding riverbanks. We are reminded of ways in which permafrost thaw relates to distant, global populations. topics a...

In this episode, we learn the Yup'ik term for climate change-induced catastrophic land collapse, which occurs due to permafrost thaw, erosion, and flooding: Usteq . We hear several definitions of the term, utilized by researchers and the government, and learn how these land changes are impacting communities in Western Alaska, in real-time. topics and purpose: the long observed changes to the...

In this episode, we breathe and feel our human connection to the short carbon cycle. Long-sequestered carbon stores from deep underground -- as oil reservoirs or within frozen permafrost -- are brought to the surface by human activity, and then converted into greenhouse gases. These gases, like CO2 and methane (CH4), float into Earth's atmosphere, circulate, and trap heat -- causing the plane...

In episode four we learn about carbon stored within woolly mammoth bones and ancient plants, long held within the walls of the the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory's permafrost tunnel located near Fairbanks, Alaska.  Forty thousand years ago permafrost trapped microbes, rock, and sediment when water froze around it all. The ground ice also captured ancient plants and mammal bo...

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 metabo...

In episode two we drill into the soil profile to learn about soil layers in northern landscapes. This shows us how deep permafrost is, and the impacts to people as the soil profile changes and permafrost thaws.  topics and purpose: soil layers in northern regions are impacted by global warming; temperature records and increases, impacts of permafrost thaw on local and global levels terms defined:...

As global temperatures increase due to anthropogenic climate change, a myriad of impacts result for people and the planet. In this podcast, we share the ramifications of cryosphere change (melting/thawing water from solid ice) as the planet warms.  In the first episode of season two, we introduce the topic of permafrost thaw, which will be explored throughout this season. In northern latitudes and...

In the last episode of the season, we dissect Robert Frost's 1920 poem, Fire and Ice , over a tent poetry session. This involves grappling with climate anxiety, and recognizing the role of personal behaviors in perpetuating the climate crisis. Please fill out our survey to share your thoughts or ideas for next season.

In the last full episode of the season, we travel to the Greenland ice sheet and hear from a researcher who collects data at the face of tidewater glaciers, studying the turbulent zone where freshwater meets and mixes with seawater. This episode emphasizes the transition of solid ice into liquid freshwater, occurring globally, due to increasing temps, and shares why loss of the frozen reservoir ma...

In episode five we hear what makes tidewater glacier habitat an acoustic refuge, and why glaciers are important to other species in the ecosystem. We also discuss One Health connections, how Traditional Ecological Knowledge has allowed us to track the rate of melting tidewater glaciers, and close with the cascading ramifications of glacier habitat loss to living organisms. topics and purpose: One...

In mini-episode four, we listen to part of the glacier travel story shared in the book Do Glaciers Listen?  for a second time. Frank Olive from the University of Alaska Fairbanks shares risk mitigation strategies, like roping up to avoid injury during crevasse falls. topics and purpose: safety, why we rope up for travel on snow-covered glaciers terms defined: crevasse, snow bridge

In episode three we hear from Judy Ramos in Lingít Aaní. She tells us about the history of glacier travel in the region, and about the Spirit of the Glacier. topics and purpose: Indigenous people in Alaska and Canada have been traveling on glaciers for hundreds to thousands of years, oral stories in the region about glaciers, historic glacier advance and retreat impacted communities, Spirit of the...

In episode two of the Ice and Fire podcast, we are atop the Kennicott Glacier in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park with Dr. Eric Petersen and his field team. topics and purpose: audio capture of glacier melt occurring in real-time, continue place-based themes from the surface of a glacier, connect listeners with field research and techniques, share how glacial retreat is measured and how rapidly re...

​ In this introductory episode of season one of the Ice and Fire podcast, hear from your host, Theresa Soley, as she shares her unexpected interest in glacial ice. topics and purpose: geological history and glacier change, an introduction to characters, scene-setting: Wrangell Mountains Center in McCarthy, Alaska – the end of the road and Wrangell St.-Elias National Park; visualizing the presently...