Students, this is a video introduction to the lesson on the pacific realm and the world's polar regions. I feel that this is an interesting and low stress way to end the course as these simply dive into a small number of issues concerning these two remaining parts of the world. So why do we use the term polar futures specifically as it relates to the Arctic Basin. Today, the Arctic and Antarctic circles have seen very little change in terms of transformation of the physical landscape into a human or cultural landscape. However, while little to no activities taking place in either area are contributing to climate change. And I see little, little to no. Climate change is threatening to have a major impact on these landscapes in the decades to come. And really it already has. We should also throw capitalism into the ring here because any opportunities, and I'm saying opportunities very loosely that are brought about by climate change will be seized upon by the capitalist machine. And this includes global trade and commercial shipping in the North and potentially resource exploration and extraction in both areas. Now, both of these things are not in the immediate future. However, it seems that the writing is on the wall. And global powers with a stake in either or both, the North and South realize that they need to be ready if and when the time comes, we only briefly touch on the Arctic because there is no land area and this region is largely a frozen see for most of the year, but also one that is starting to thaw in the short cool summer season. Summer season is another term I use loosely. It's not quite the summer we think about. In 2007, for the first time in history, the Northwest Passage was open for business. And while this was not an easy or obvious shipping lane for cargo ships, it is a potential time-saver and some ships did make the crossing that year. And then we saw this again a couple years later. According, across the Northern Sea Route, which is one of the five routes we addressed in the lesson. We don't really talk much about climate change in our discussion of the Antarctic, other than in the context of climate research projects that are taking place there. Although we do make note of the tremendous rise in sea level, that extensive melting of the ice sheet there could cause. Our main focus in this section of the lesson. Lesson is on the tremendous potential for scientific study in the, in, in Antarctica. The potential for future exploitation of resources that are there. And, and of course, the eye opening world-changing effect of the discovery of the ozone hole above in the atmosphere there. We do not really go too much into territorial claims in either polar region that we discuss or how those claims were and are determined. But you're going to read a lot about those specifics in the textbook chapter. The textbook is also going to lay the groundwork for the unique physical landscape of the Pacific Islands or the Pacific realm, and also provide some cultural and historical information about that region as well. In the lesson, we're going to uncover the history of these islands as basically Guinea pigs for nuclear testing, atom bombs and hydrogen bombs. And the devastation that this caused both the population there and the land. We close with a discussion of the Marshallese population and their legal attempts to recover what was taken from them as a result of these nuclear tests. And today, under agreements with the United States, the Marshallese are free to move to the United States and many have. We talked specifically about the population living in and around Spring Dale, Arkansas, which is likely a result of chain migration, which was made attractive by the areas poultry processing industry and of course, jobs related to that. The study guide in the lesson module is going to direct your preparation of the textbook material. However, I will note that the information on the Pacific Realm includes the two types of islands found in the Pacific, High and Low, as well as characteristics of an details about each of the three major sub-regions, Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia. It also covers what major islands are found in each of these sub-regions. And of course, what contributes to the economies there. As well as some information on the cultural landscape and in heritage of the population. The material on the polar regions, again, largely covers claims and the significance of those claims. Be sure you take note of the different designations for waterways. Why there is such an intense interest in these two areas. And then also what countries are expressing interest and staking claims there.