Think it’s cold where you are? A Nebraska Educational Television crew endured 35-degrees-below-zero temperatures when they shot Tuesday’s (Dec. 28) Nova episode, “Secrets Beneath the Ice.” Since 2005, scientists from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln have journeyed to Antarctica to drill through ice and rock to find clues to what might happen if the Earth’s atmosphere and oceans continue to warm.
Producer Gary Hochman, videographer/editor Brian Seifferlein and senior audio engineer Jim Lenertz traveled from Lincoln, Neb., to McMurdo Station on the frozen continent, landing on 26 feet of ice. Little thermometers that came with survival gear couldn’t register low enough. Cameras froze. The 24/7 daylight meant aerial photos were shot in softer light at 2 a.m.
“The goal was to tell a story that makes sense to the person at home, the viewer,” Hochman said. “We made a character out of Antarctica because our main character couldn’t speak for itself.”