WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.600 --> 00:00:03.520 Welcome. This is Marcia for Radio E and to day 2 00:00:03.799 --> 00:00:07.559 I will be reading National Geographic Magazine dated January twenty 3 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:11.000 twenty five. As a reminder, Radio Eye is a reading 4 00:00:11.039 --> 00:00:14.359 service intended for people who are blind or have other 5 00:00:14.439 --> 00:00:18.600 disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material. Please 6 00:00:18.679 --> 00:00:23.000 join me now for the first article titled The Clues 7 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:31.679 of the Arctic Caves by Battatarji. An intrepid climate scientist 8 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:36.600 ventures to unexplored caves in northern Greenland where surprising evidence 9 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:42.000 of the past could provide new insights into our warming future. 10 00:00:42.759 --> 00:00:45.880 The helicopter landed on top of the cliff, its blades 11 00:00:46.039 --> 00:00:50.479 chopping the cold air. Stepping out, Gina Moseley breathed deeply 12 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:53.960 and took in the commanding view of Greenland's barren landscape. 13 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:57.039 To the south, a frozen lake stretched out for miles, 14 00:00:57.079 --> 00:01:00.840 eventually giving way to brown and gray plateaus, interrupted by 15 00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:03.719 the white flash of glaciers in the distance. In the 16 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:07.040 other direction, some five hundred sixty miles beyond the horizon, 17 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:10.760 was the North Pole. The only other human presence was 18 00:01:10.760 --> 00:01:15.000 the helicopter pilot and the other passengers. Moseley's life partner 19 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:20.280 and this story's photographer Robbie Shown and technical climbing specialist 20 00:01:20.359 --> 00:01:25.120 Chris Blakely. The weather was mild, just above freezing perfect actually, 21 00:01:25.519 --> 00:01:27.959 but Moseley knew that storms could blow up at a 22 00:01:28.000 --> 00:01:32.159 moment's notice, bringing dangerous winds and dense fog. In such 23 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:35.680 a case, they'd had to leave immediately or risk being 24 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:39.000 stranded in one of the world's most remote and forbidding environments. 25 00:01:39.560 --> 00:01:42.719 They were poised on the edge separating potential disaster and 26 00:01:42.760 --> 00:01:46.959 sublime discovery. For more than a decade, Moseley, a British 27 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:52.239 paleoclimatologist and caver, had envisioned this moment, hoping to be 28 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:57.359 part of the first team to set foot inside the 29 00:01:57.599 --> 00:02:02.120 wolf Land Cave w O w u L eight, one 30 00:02:02.159 --> 00:02:04.920 of the most isolated caves on Earth. She dreamed of 31 00:02:05.359 --> 00:02:08.439 collecting samples that would open a new window into Greenland's 32 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:13.120 climate history. She'd first glimpsed a cave in a grainy 33 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:17.439 Cold War era reconnaissance photo, its gaping entrance set high 34 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:21.000 in a sheer rock wall, resembling an ancient fortress. The 35 00:02:21.039 --> 00:02:25.159 picture had instantly captured her imagination, But what had planted 36 00:02:25.159 --> 00:02:28.639 the hook firmly in her imagination was the knowledge that 37 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:30.759 no one had been able to set foot inside it. 38 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:34.719 For fifteen years, she'd obsessed over the same questions, how 39 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:37.759 big was it, how deep did it go? What scientific 40 00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:41.199 treasures did it hold. Moseley had a bold plan to 41 00:02:41.319 --> 00:02:45.080 explore the wolf Land Cave and others like it, and 42 00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:49.840 bring back rock specimens from inside. These mineral deposits could 43 00:02:49.879 --> 00:02:53.800 reveal what Greenland's climate was like hundreds of thousands, or 44 00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:57.280 even millions of years ago. More than a window into 45 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:01.280 the past, these samples might help scientists pred what future 46 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:04.840 warming in the world might look like. She'd run various 47 00:03:04.919 --> 00:03:09.639 gauntlets to get here, logistical, financial, professional, emotional, But now 48 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:12.560 all that remained was to repel toward the mouth and 49 00:03:12.680 --> 00:03:16.039 see what no human had ever seen. After the helicopter 50 00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:19.599 flew off, a deep silence fell, and Blakely began rigging 51 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:24.439 ropes as the others prepared their gear. Many years before 52 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:27.520 she had ever heard of the Greenland Cave, Moseley had 53 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:30.800 fallen in love with subterranean worlds. She was twelve on 54 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:33.960 a family camping trip in Somerset, England, when her mother 55 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:37.840 took her to explore her first cave. I absolutely loved it. 56 00:03:37.879 --> 00:03:40.960 From the very first moment, she says, she remembers walking 57 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:43.919 through a forest and just disappearing underground and away from 58 00:03:43.960 --> 00:03:47.159 the world above. As a teenager, she would save the 59 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:50.840 money she earned from delivering newspapers after school so she 60 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:55.039 could spend it on summer caving adventures. Every cave has 61 00:03:55.080 --> 00:03:58.560 its own personality, Moseley says. Every cave is different. Some 62 00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:01.719 are wet, some are dry, are deep, some are shallow, 63 00:04:02.199 --> 00:04:06.159 some vertical, some horizontal, and so every experience is different. 64 00:04:06.199 --> 00:04:10.599 It's new every time. Eventually, her love of caves led 65 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:14.560 her to a doctorate in paleoclimate science at the University 66 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:18.240 of Bristol. During her undergraduate studies, she had discovered that, 67 00:04:18.319 --> 00:04:21.519 in addition to being fun to explore, caves are time 68 00:04:21.560 --> 00:04:26.000 capsules containing data about past climatic conditions in the form 69 00:04:26.040 --> 00:04:31.360 of mineral deposits accumulated over thousands of years. These deposits 70 00:04:31.399 --> 00:04:34.439 are formed as water drips into the cave or flows 71 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:38.199 through it, leaving behind tiny amounts of minerals that accrete 72 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:44.160 over time to grow into sealactites, salagmites, and sheet like flowstones, 73 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:50.639 collectively known as spiliothems. These structures provide an archival record 74 00:04:50.720 --> 00:04:54.240 of the region's past climate, each layer of deposited mineral 75 00:04:54.319 --> 00:04:58.519 having captured information about the temperature from the time of 76 00:04:58.600 --> 00:05:02.040 its creation. When evening in two thousand and eight, at 77 00:05:02.040 --> 00:05:05.399 a gathering of the university's caving society at a local pub, 78 00:05:05.879 --> 00:05:10.199 Moseley ran into Charlie's Self, a lifelong caver and speleologist, 79 00:05:10.680 --> 00:05:12.920 Self told her about a sight in Greenland that he 80 00:05:13.079 --> 00:05:17.439 desperately wanted to visit, the Wolfland Cave. It was photographed 81 00:05:17.480 --> 00:05:21.079 in nineteen fifty eight by two American geologists flying a 82 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:26.480 reconnaissance plane over northern Greenland in the jealous Great Grainy image. 83 00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:29.360 The entrance appeared to be quite large, and there was 84 00:05:29.360 --> 00:05:32.399 no telling how deep it went. Moseley knew some mountain 85 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:36.360 caves could contain miles of passageways, but given the Wolfland 86 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:40.680 caves isolated cliff face location, no one had ever explored it. 87 00:05:41.319 --> 00:05:44.000 Moseley was hooked like a child to a fable. I 88 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:46.560 just kind of lit up because I couldn't even imagine 89 00:05:46.680 --> 00:05:49.720 that there were caves in Greenland, she says. A few 90 00:05:49.800 --> 00:05:52.360 days later, her self handed her a folder that contained 91 00:05:52.360 --> 00:05:57.759 the geologists reports maps, another information he'd collected over the years, 92 00:05:57.800 --> 00:06:01.519 as he tried to solve the logistic challenges of launching 93 00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:05.319 an expedition. The optimal time a trip could be attempted 94 00:06:05.399 --> 00:06:08.600 was during a brief summer window, but the closest landing 95 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:12.480 strip was about thirty miles away, over treacherous mountain terrain, 96 00:06:12.680 --> 00:06:16.279 offering little shelter, and in the region named after the 97 00:06:16.360 --> 00:06:22.360 nineteenth century Sweetest explorer thorieled Wolf. The weather was highly unpredictable, 98 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:26.319 threatening to trap a team for potential weeks on end. 99 00:06:27.079 --> 00:06:29.879 Moseley made photocopies and stuck the papers in a drawer, 100 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:32.279 but she couldn't put them out of her mind. I 101 00:06:32.360 --> 00:06:35.279 kept the whole thing very secret, Moseley says. I didn't 102 00:06:35.279 --> 00:06:38.000 go around telling people in my discipline. I thought if 103 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:41.680 I spoke too soon, I might lose it. Earlier that year, 104 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:44.959 on a university caving trip to Crete, she found herself 105 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:47.920 in a group led by Robbie Schoene, who was there 106 00:06:47.959 --> 00:06:53.279 with the Sheffield University Speleological Society. While the others struggled 107 00:06:53.279 --> 00:06:56.000 to find new caves shown in, Moseley's team had great 108 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:59.720 success when shaft gave way to another cave after cave. 109 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:03.560 In the evening, they'd return to base camp completely thrilled. 110 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:06.319 Most of the others were sunburned because they'd spent the 111 00:07:06.360 --> 00:07:10.199 whole day on the surface, Shown recalls, and we'd be 112 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:12.879 telling them great tales of the big caves that we've found. 113 00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:16.279 Their shared love of caves proved to be the starting 114 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:19.720 point for a romantic relationship a year later. It wasn't 115 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:22.839 until several months after they became a couple that Moseley 116 00:07:22.959 --> 00:07:25.560 fondly pulled out her green Land folder and placed it 117 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:28.639 on the table in front of Shown. He was intrigued. 118 00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:31.920 By this time. He'd worked as an assistant to photographers 119 00:07:31.920 --> 00:07:37.000 on some ambitious caving adventures, including exploring large underground river 120 00:07:37.079 --> 00:07:40.639 systems in Papua New Guine and understood what it took 121 00:07:40.680 --> 00:07:44.040 to execute a high stakes expedition. But the wolf Land 122 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:47.399 Cave was something else. I always thought that it's just crazy, 123 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:50.120 it's just too big a project to pull off, he recalls. 124 00:07:51.319 --> 00:07:54.079 Scientists are eager to learn about climate history because it 125 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:58.319 holds clues to the planet's future. Earth has experienced extreme 126 00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:02.519 changes in climate throughout its existence. See sawing between two 127 00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:07.040 fundamentally different states, one hot and one cold, referred to 128 00:08:07.120 --> 00:08:12.040 as greenhouse and ice house. Earth, respectively. Scientists agree that 129 00:08:12.079 --> 00:08:15.800 there were probably four major ice house periods time in 130 00:08:16.480 --> 00:08:20.439 Earth's history with permanent, large scale ice cover before the 131 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:23.319 one that began about two point six million years ago 132 00:08:23.639 --> 00:08:28.040 and continues to day. Within any ice house period, there 133 00:08:28.079 --> 00:08:32.240 are relatively colder and warmer times when glacier's advance or retreat, 134 00:08:32.639 --> 00:08:37.159 known as glacial and interglacial periods. Before the last glacial 135 00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:41.120 period ended about eleven thousand, five hundred years ago, much 136 00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:44.000 of North America in continental Europe was covered in ice. 137 00:08:44.519 --> 00:08:47.759 We want to understand that these past climates better, says 138 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:52.960 Christo Buidzart, a climatologist at Oregon State University. How does 139 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:56.240 the ocean interact with the atmosphere on these long time scales? 140 00:08:56.759 --> 00:09:00.759 How sensitive are the ice sheets to temperature change? If 141 00:09:00.759 --> 00:09:03.279 we add an x amount of carbon dioxide, how much 142 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:08.240 warming would we see? Globally? Greenland and Antarctica hold special 143 00:09:08.279 --> 00:09:12.919 places in the hearts of paleoclimatologists. That's because both locations 144 00:09:12.919 --> 00:09:16.200 have ice that hasn't melted for hundreds of thousands of years, 145 00:09:16.639 --> 00:09:22.559 providing an uninterrupted climate record. Ice cores drilled from ice 146 00:09:22.600 --> 00:09:26.360 sheets in Greenland have helped researchers reconstruct the history of 147 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:30.080 its climate dating back about one hundred thirty thousand years, 148 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:34.600 but the ice record there doesn't go any further. When 149 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:37.480 Moseley heard about the cave in Greenland, she knew that 150 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:40.080 one way to push beyond the one hundred thirty thousand 151 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:44.480 year old record was to look for spiliothems, which can 152 00:09:44.519 --> 00:09:48.240 stretch back several hundred thousand years. But it wasn't until 153 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:51.399 five years later, after she'd begun a research position at 154 00:09:51.480 --> 00:09:55.960 Innsbruck University, that she began seriously thinking about making the trip. 155 00:09:57.480 --> 00:10:00.200 The wolf Land Cave still seemed out of reach, but 156 00:10:00.279 --> 00:10:03.159 among the papers that self had given Moseley was a 157 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:07.399 nineteen sixty article authored by William Davies and Daniel Crinsley, 158 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:11.559 the same geologists who had photographed northern Greenland from the air. 159 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:14.639 The men had been able to explore other caves on 160 00:10:14.679 --> 00:10:19.039 the more accessible northeastern side of Greenland. What most excited 161 00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:22.320 Moseley was the authors mentioned of a flow stone deposit 162 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:27.440 four inches thick formed of coarsely crystalline calcite on the 163 00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:31.600 floor of one of the caves, topped by stubs of stalagmites. 164 00:10:32.360 --> 00:10:36.519 This was proof that the caves contained spiliothems that could 165 00:10:36.600 --> 00:10:39.559 be brought back and studied in the lab, and since 166 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:43.799 no one had ever constructed a cave based climate record 167 00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:46.879 of Greenland, it would be an important contribution to science. 168 00:10:47.080 --> 00:10:51.120 But first she had to get there. Researching polar out fitters, 169 00:10:51.159 --> 00:10:54.720 she found an explorer named Clive Johnson. She explained she 170 00:10:54.759 --> 00:10:58.159 wanted the cheapest trip she could get. He stripped out helicopters, 171 00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:01.039 which was a big cost, mose says, but that meant 172 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:03.679 the group would have to make a punishing track across 173 00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:10.279 rugged terrain carrying all their gear. The new figure seemed unattainable. Determined, 174 00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:13.840 Mosely applied for small grants and reached out to potential donors. 175 00:11:14.440 --> 00:11:16.879 In the end, a total of fifty nine individual and 176 00:11:16.960 --> 00:11:21.960 institutional sponsors, including the National Geographic Society, provided the funds 177 00:11:22.039 --> 00:11:25.879 she needed, about one hundred twenty five thousand dollars. On 178 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:29.399 July twenty nine, twenty fifteen, Moseley in shown, along with 179 00:11:29.480 --> 00:11:32.600 three others, boarded a plane from a Danish military base 180 00:11:32.960 --> 00:11:36.080 and flew to an air stripped next to Centrum Lake 181 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:40.159 in northeast Greenland. Along with their camping gear and rations. 182 00:11:40.200 --> 00:11:43.440 The group had brought along an inflatable boat and an 183 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:46.960 outboard engine. The plane flew off, leaving them to chart 184 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:51.519 their course through the Brown Arctic wilderness. After crossing the lake, 185 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:54.639 the expeditioners set up base camp and then began a 186 00:11:54.679 --> 00:11:57.799 three day trek to the valley where the caves were located. 187 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:00.960 Most team members had put in one of physical training 188 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:04.600 to prepare for this arduous hike. Each had taken courses 189 00:12:04.600 --> 00:12:07.200 on how to defend themselves in case they ran into 190 00:12:07.240 --> 00:12:09.919 polar bears, including the best ways to set up a 191 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:13.360 camp and how to use flares and rifles a last resort. 192 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:17.559 What they weren't ready for was the mosquitoes, relentless clouds 193 00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:19.919 of them. At one point, I counted more than two 194 00:12:19.960 --> 00:12:23.559 hundred bytes on my arm, Mosley says. They also weren't 195 00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:26.600 prepared for the scale of the landscape. There's nothing to 196 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:29.320 give a sense of proportion shown, says. You see a 197 00:12:29.399 --> 00:12:31.799 river and think it's just a short walk, but it'll 198 00:12:31.799 --> 00:12:34.600 take half a day to reach it. They ended up 199 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:38.279 documenting twenty six caves, including several that had not been 200 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:44.279 explored previously, and collected sixteen spieliothem samples. They treked back 201 00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:47.200 to camp over two days, with their backs nearly bursting 202 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:50.240 with pieces of flow stones. I got this little video 203 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:53.039 of Gina with my phone shown, says she can barely 204 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:56.559 walk because she's got this massive rocksack full of samples. 205 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:01.279 Their hand hard work paid off. A radio chemistry analysis 206 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:04.080 of one sample showed that it was formed between five 207 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:07.519 hundred thirty seven thousand and five hundred eighty eight thousand 208 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:11.840 years ago. Since the creation of spiliothems requires the drip 209 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:14.879 or flow of water, the very existence of the sample 210 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:19.200 analyzed by the researchers indicates that Greenland was wetter and 211 00:13:19.279 --> 00:13:23.720 warmer back then. Moseley led two more Greenland expeditions to 212 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:27.360 other caves in twenty eighteen and twenty nineteen. With each 213 00:13:27.399 --> 00:13:32.480 punishing trip and a glowing collection of spiliothems, she was 214 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:35.840 traveling back in time and creating a detailed archival record 215 00:13:35.879 --> 00:13:40.440 of Greenland's paleo climate. Still, the wolf Land Cave loomed. 216 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:42.759 I couldn't get it out of my head, Moseley says. 217 00:13:43.159 --> 00:13:46.399 But accessing it would require more funds and more planning. 218 00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:49.159 She'd need a helicopter, and there would need to be 219 00:13:49.320 --> 00:13:53.879 an advanced trip to cache aviation fuel Finally, in July 220 00:13:54.120 --> 00:13:56.600 twenty twenty three, after the birth of the couple's daughter, 221 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:00.679 weeding out pandemic lockdowns and raising about four hundred thousand 222 00:14:00.759 --> 00:14:04.679 dollars from more than a dozen supporters, including an award 223 00:14:05.039 --> 00:14:10.399 from Roelix's Perpetual Planet Initiative. Moseley's shown in their three 224 00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:13.840 members of their expedition team took off from Iceland and 225 00:14:13.879 --> 00:14:17.639 flew to wolf Land, about thirty miles from the large 226 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:21.600 cave and a cluster of others they'd identified. The team 227 00:14:21.639 --> 00:14:24.120 planned for the helicopter to fly them back and forth 228 00:14:24.120 --> 00:14:27.480 from base camp to the rock formations, allowing them to 229 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:30.840 explore the whole area. For that to happen, the weather 230 00:14:31.000 --> 00:14:33.799 had to hold. On the first day of exploration, the 231 00:14:33.879 --> 00:14:36.799 visibility was good. It felt like a dream, Moseley says. 232 00:14:37.159 --> 00:14:39.879 As the helicopter approached the cliff, they could see the 233 00:14:39.919 --> 00:14:43.720 mouth of the cave again without any familiar objects for 234 00:14:43.799 --> 00:14:47.799 scale reference. The opening didn't seem that big. Blakely, the 235 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:53.840 technical climbing specialists remarked, well, that's an anti climax. Blakely 236 00:14:53.879 --> 00:14:56.519 and Showne headed out to scout the site. Once atop 237 00:14:56.600 --> 00:14:59.759 the cliff, Blakely built an anchor point and began repelling 238 00:14:59.799 --> 00:15:02.960 to cave entrance. He had been gone for some time 239 00:15:03.000 --> 00:15:05.519 when Shown heard him shout for more rope. He had 240 00:15:05.519 --> 00:15:09.559 one hundred fifty meters shown thought. Shown came down after him, 241 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:12.559 wondering how Blakely could possibly have run out of rope. 242 00:15:12.919 --> 00:15:15.559 He looked down and saw Blakely. I saw how small 243 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:19.000 he looked in comparison to the cave entrance Shown recalls, 244 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:22.279 and I thought, oh, my goodness, this is a giant cave. 245 00:15:23.080 --> 00:15:26.320 The pair returned with the exciting news. With great anticipation, 246 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:28.799 four members of the team ventured out and down the 247 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:32.799 cliff to the entrance. Together, they finally stepped inside. It 248 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:35.639 felt as if they had walked into a cathedral. The 249 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:38.759 cave ceiling was at least one hundred thirty feet high. 250 00:15:39.159 --> 00:15:42.240 Birds nesting inside the caves soared high above their heads. 251 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:45.960 There was a turquoise icy pool near the entrance. Mostly 252 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:49.679 says The floor was strewn with huge boulders the size 253 00:15:49.720 --> 00:15:52.360 of cars. At the back of the cave, they observed 254 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:56.559 several passages high up and large hoar frost crystals covering 255 00:15:56.600 --> 00:15:59.960 the walls. Impressed as she was by the mammoth's size, 256 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:04.480 Moseley also had reason to be disappointed there were no speliothumbs. 257 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:07.120 Even if any had formed in the past, they were 258 00:16:07.240 --> 00:16:09.799 likely to have been crushed by the boulders that covered 259 00:16:09.840 --> 00:16:13.960 the floor. There were, however, the other caves to explore 260 00:16:13.960 --> 00:16:16.720 in the vicinity, but bad weather slammed shut the window 261 00:16:16.759 --> 00:16:20.559 of opportunity. Low clouds and strong winds, combined with fog 262 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:23.720 and snow, made it risky to fly the helicopter. The 263 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:26.039 team had to wait hoping for the weather to turn. 264 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:28.879 We spent a lot of time sitting around a base camp, 265 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:32.519 drinking cups of tea and dreaming about what we could 266 00:16:32.519 --> 00:16:35.960 be doing if, Moseley says. But the weather did lift, 267 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:39.600 allowing two teams to explore the other nearby caves. Moseley 268 00:16:39.639 --> 00:16:43.200 and Shone discovered one that had several passages with walls 269 00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:46.519 covered in ice and ice crystals. Shown was preparing to 270 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:50.120 photograph it. One Blakely, rigging ropes to another cave, called 271 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:54.679 on the radio he'd spotted spiliothumbs. Mosey and Shown raced 272 00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:56.840 to collect what would prove to be the only cave 273 00:16:56.919 --> 00:17:00.399 samples they'd bring back from the trip. What's the thing 274 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:04.079 about expeditions? To unknown places. Shown says, you never really 275 00:17:04.119 --> 00:17:07.119 know how they're going to turn out, but you also 276 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:10.000 never really know where science will lead you. Several months 277 00:17:10.039 --> 00:17:14.160 after returning from wolf Land, dating analysis came back for 278 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:18.039 the handful of Spiliothum samples they were about to collect 279 00:17:18.359 --> 00:17:21.839 able to collect in twenty fifteen. In twenty nineteen, the 280 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:25.279 dating methods Moseley's lab normally uses can go back only 281 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:28.319 about six hundred thousand years, but she'd found a lab 282 00:17:28.359 --> 00:17:31.079 in China that used a method that could go much 283 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:35.319 further back in time. According to their analysis, samples collected 284 00:17:35.319 --> 00:17:39.559 in twenty fifteen in twenty nineteen are several million years old, 285 00:17:39.720 --> 00:17:43.200 a stunning result. The samples grew during a time when 286 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:48.960 atmosphere carbon atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were either similar to today 287 00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:52.000 or where they're protected to be going projected to be 288 00:17:52.039 --> 00:17:56.200 going in the near few decades to centuries, Moseley says, 289 00:17:56.240 --> 00:17:59.839 her voice rising with enthusiasm. Study of the twenty twenty 290 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:03.200 five three specimens continues, and Mosey is hopeful that they 291 00:18:03.240 --> 00:18:06.960 too will reveal deep insight into Greenland's past. But the 292 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:10.920 twenty fifteen and twenty nineteen results are thrilling, Perhaps a 293 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:13.640 thrilling as climbing down a cliff face to reach a 294 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:16.880 cave no one has ever entered before. It's a world 295 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:22.240 where the atmosphere, the composition resembles the present. We can 296 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:24.759 learn a lot about the state of the Arctic climate 297 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:28.160 under those conditions to better inform ourselves about the future. 298 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:32.599 She says. That's exciting, but perhaps also terrifying. But pushing 299 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:35.599 herself and pushing the science into the unknown is just 300 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:38.799 where Moseley wants to be. Perched on the edge of discovery. 301 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:43.359 High Arctic Caving Greenland hosts some of the world's northernmost 302 00:18:43.400 --> 00:18:47.119 caves and one of its most unforgiving environments. In twenty 303 00:18:47.160 --> 00:18:50.000 twenty three, a team of scientists launched a mission into 304 00:18:50.039 --> 00:18:54.319 its icy, unexplored cliff side caverns to search for spaleothums, 305 00:18:54.480 --> 00:18:59.759 layered mineral deposits holding clues to Earth's earliest climate history. 306 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:04.480 Next article The truth about Dry January by Rachel Fairbank. 307 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:07.160 What happens when you quit alcohol for a month is 308 00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:10.559 more sobering than you might think. Every year, millions of 309 00:19:10.599 --> 00:19:13.079 people across the world pledged to give up alcohol for 310 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:17.359 a month during what many call now Dry January. The 311 00:19:17.400 --> 00:19:20.119 tradition started over a decade ago in the United Kingdom, 312 00:19:20.160 --> 00:19:22.839 and by twenty twenty four, more than twenty percent of 313 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:26.960 Americans were participating. Others are taking breaks from alcohol later 314 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:30.359 in the year thanks to a similar movement called sober October. 315 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:34.480 Such month long challenges may be appealing because they represent 316 00:19:34.519 --> 00:19:37.480 a different kind of resolution. Instead of committing to a 317 00:19:37.720 --> 00:19:42.279 complete lifestyle change, people can experiment with how sobriety feels. 318 00:19:42.680 --> 00:19:44.759 Then they can reflect on whether it makes sense to 319 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:49.680 quit or modify their alcohol consumption to state the obvious. 320 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:53.200 Research clearly shows many benefits to cutting down on your 321 00:19:53.240 --> 00:19:57.440 overall alcohol use. According to the World Health Organization, no 322 00:19:57.559 --> 00:20:00.640 level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health. But 323 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:03.519 does a single month without it make a meaningful difference 324 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:06.599 in your life? The answer is yes. There are several 325 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:11.119 ripple effects to consider. Alcohol harms are bodies in many ways. 326 00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:13.880 The most prominent effects are on the liver, but there 327 00:20:13.880 --> 00:20:17.240 are secondary effects on other organs such as the heart, 328 00:20:17.440 --> 00:20:22.480 gastro intestinal tract, pancreas, and brain. The severity of the 329 00:20:22.519 --> 00:20:26.799 impacts depends on how much you consume, which influences how 330 00:20:26.839 --> 00:20:30.599 long alcohol stays in your bloodstream. Blood alcohol levels are 331 00:20:30.599 --> 00:20:34.960 a major factor that damages the organs, says Paul Thomes, 332 00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.279 a researcher who studies treatments for alcohol damage at Auburn University. 333 00:20:40.079 --> 00:20:43.839 As Thombs explains, the liver first breaks alcohol down into 334 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:50.680 a acidtelehyde, which is highly toxic and unknown carcinogen. In turn, 335 00:20:50.799 --> 00:20:54.920 the acetelehyde gets broken down very quickly into a less 336 00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:59.440 toxic chemical called acetate. However, if this process gets delayed 337 00:20:59.480 --> 00:21:03.000 or disrupt because of either high blood alcohol levels or 338 00:21:03.079 --> 00:21:08.119 another underlying factor, such as medications that interfere with liver metabolism, 339 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:12.799 then stealhyde can build up in the body. How long 340 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:15.839 the toxic molecules are being accumulated in the cells and 341 00:21:15.880 --> 00:21:21.200 tissues determines the degree of damage, though says, Heavy alcohol use, 342 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:24.160 often defined as consuming five or more drinks a day 343 00:21:24.200 --> 00:21:27.440 for men or four or more drinks a day for women, 344 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:31.279 has been associated with long term health problems, including high 345 00:21:31.319 --> 00:21:35.880 blood pressure, heart disease, liver disease, and an increased risk 346 00:21:35.960 --> 00:21:40.839 of developing certain types of cancer. Such continual consumption can 347 00:21:40.880 --> 00:21:43.920 also weaken the immune system and impair proper functioning of 348 00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:47.240 the brain. Even moderate alcohol use, no more than one 349 00:21:47.319 --> 00:21:50.480 drink a day for women, two for men, increases overall 350 00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:54.039 risk for chronic disease. What's less clear, though, is just 351 00:21:54.119 --> 00:21:57.359 how quickly the body can recover when a person stops drinking. 352 00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:00.359 The effects are going to be different for different place people, 353 00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:04.079 depending on how long they have been consuming alcohol, says 354 00:22:04.400 --> 00:22:08.759 sch Shazad Merwat, a liver disease specialist with the University 355 00:22:08.799 --> 00:22:12.240 of Texas Health System. Most of the research on abstaining 356 00:22:12.279 --> 00:22:15.519 from alcohol is focused on heavy drinkers, but it's generally 357 00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:18.400 good news. Within weeks, the liver can start to reverse 358 00:22:18.440 --> 00:22:22.160 the damage done in most early stages of alcohol related 359 00:22:22.200 --> 00:22:26.039 liver disease, which starts with the accumulation of fat, then 360 00:22:26.119 --> 00:22:31.960 progresses to chronic inflammation, scarring, and ultimately cirrhosis. The liver 361 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:37.160 has an enormous regenerative capacities, says Carrie Mints, a psychiatrist 362 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:40.799 and medical director the Harris House Foundation. The first three 363 00:22:40.839 --> 00:22:45.519 stages are reversible. During abstinence from alcohol, a patient may 364 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:48.839 be able to halt the progression of cirrhosis to live longer. 365 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:53.359 Although the condition is irreversible, there are other immediate gains. 366 00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:56.319 In a twenty eighteen study of ninety four moderate to 367 00:22:56.359 --> 00:23:00.799 heavy drinkers who gave up alcohol for a month. Researchers 368 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:06.880 found that participants experienced improvements in insulin insulin resistance, blood pressure, 369 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:10.119 and weight loss, while their peers who continued to drink 370 00:23:10.279 --> 00:23:13.200 did not. The benefits of a dry January may be 371 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:17.200 greatest for the heaviest imbibers, but even in lighter drinkers 372 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:21.720 you can have noticeable health effects. Mintz says. For instance, 373 00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:25.039 researchers have found that some people develop healthier skin and 374 00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:28.880 resolve stomach issues. Alcohol has been shown to disrupt the 375 00:23:28.920 --> 00:23:34.279 microbial composition of the gut, a condition called dysbiosis, and 376 00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:37.680 damage to the lining of the intestines, causing some contents 377 00:23:37.720 --> 00:23:40.839 to spill over into the bloodstream in the gut. This 378 00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:45.839 dysbiosis can be reversed, but not completely, even after three 379 00:23:45.880 --> 00:23:49.160 to five weeks. Tomes says, it takes a longer time 380 00:23:49.240 --> 00:23:52.759 to restore the gut microbiome and the damage caused to 381 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:55.839 the gut. A month without drinking can improve your well 382 00:23:55.880 --> 00:23:59.039 being in other ways, too. Alcohol use can contribute to 383 00:23:59.079 --> 00:24:02.839 poor sleep, to press or anxiety, says Stephen Tait, a 384 00:24:02.839 --> 00:24:08.160 physician at Stanford University who specializes in addiction medicine. For 385 00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:11.759 some regular alcohol consumption may also be an attempt to 386 00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:16.359 self medicate underlying sleep or mood disorders. By giving it 387 00:24:16.440 --> 00:24:18.759 up for a month, they have the chance to unentangle 388 00:24:19.079 --> 00:24:23.559 whether alcohol is causing or masking such health issues. It 389 00:24:23.559 --> 00:24:26.680 can be very insightful, Tates says in his experience, a 390 00:24:26.720 --> 00:24:30.559 defined period of sobriety can also help people better understand 391 00:24:30.599 --> 00:24:34.519 their relationship with alcohol, including whether their consumption has gotten 392 00:24:34.599 --> 00:24:37.839 out of control. It's sometimes hard to realize when you 393 00:24:37.880 --> 00:24:40.920 slip into an addiction, Tate says. It's tricky to know 394 00:24:41.000 --> 00:24:43.920 where that line is, and sometimes people don't realize it 395 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:49.240 until they're already across it. Researcher are now finding that 396 00:24:49.319 --> 00:24:52.839 some dry January participants will adopt better habits even after 397 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:56.599 their month long experiment is over. Many of the participants 398 00:24:56.640 --> 00:25:00.759 tracked in the UK study reported drinking significantly last six 399 00:25:00.759 --> 00:25:04.519 months after they abstained for a month. A larger survey 400 00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:07.000 of more than eight hundred fifty adults who took part 401 00:25:07.359 --> 00:25:11.279