‘Frozen Planet II’ Recap: ‘Frozen Lands’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Five of ‘Frozen Planet II’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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Over the course of the past few weeks, we’ve talked at length about how the BBC America series, Frozen Planet II has provided us with some powerful lessons regarding what lives in the coldest regions of our world. A feat this series has accomplished by leaving no snowflake unturned when it comes to exploring what the coldest regions of our planet look like, and in doing so… they’ve started to change the collective belief we harbor, that such parts of the world are lifeless and inhospitable. Courtesy of stories that show us how life thrives in subzero temperatures and this series won’t be stopping when it comes to providing us with quality education regarding the chilliest parts of Planet Earth, as evidenced by last night’s fascinating and engaging episode, ‘Frozen Lands’.
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For this is an episode that took us into the frozen tundra of the north, another place we deem as lifeless, to show us otherwise. Since we came to learn in this story that in the dead of winter, where snow and ice covers everything… a thriving fight for survival is taking place. The kind where wolves hunt bison with impunity because they desperately need to eat and will exhaust every last bit of energy to do so, and it isn’t just the forested regions of the tundra where life is fighting hard to survive. For in the most lonesome portion of this region, where there is truly nothing but snow and emptiness, the artic fox goes about its day. Carefully traveling to conserve energy when it isn’t hunting for lemmings beneath the snow.

But where this episode truly shined… was in showing us and teaching us what these regions look like during the summertime. Which is critical since it is a place we associate as desolate, but during the brief summers in this place… unique life is everywhere to be found. For there are animals like the arctic bumblebee that actually thaw out in the summer and give rise a new hive, which was incredible to learn to say the least, and it was equally as incredible… to see life rush here. Because so many animals that have young in this short period of time, must have them ready to survive when the cold returns, and they truly offer their little ones a crash course in survival as they prepare them to thrive in a harsh place where the normalcy of the world, we know, appears for but a few weeks at a time. 

However, it is important to reiterate what this documentary pointed out about the frozen lands of the north, in that, this is a delicate ecosystem on the brink of disaster. For despite being warm for a short while up there, the permafrost remains cold and should remain just that. So that the ground that sits upon that mix of dirt and ice remains stable. Because soft ground and melting permafrost gives rise to devastation when simple grasslands are reduced to mud and of course… so that insects like mosquitoes don’t breed. Because that can cause the caribou up north to struggle to survive. Because heavy insect infestation forces them to move their herd through treacherous grounds, where their numbers can be depleted. And what is truly unfortunate… is that all of these problems and struggles can be attributed… to climate change. 

Which means once again, we have to do our part to mitigate its damage. Because we created this and it is up to us to stop it, and watching stories such as this hopefully helps with that. Since now, the arctic north is no longer an afterthought to us, or a place where we believe nothing survives. For we now know that it is a thriving and beautiful ecosystem that needs a helping hand from mankind. And hopefully we hear the message and answer it in the right manner. So those delicate foxes, and frozen turtles and every little critter in between… can see another day in a corner of the world meant just for them… while we watch in awe from afar, and once again… that lesson and those stories made for a powerful hour of storytelling. One that will stay with us for certain since we now have incredible new perspective on the tundra that waits at the top of the world. Until next time.   

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