{"id":192938,"date":"2023-09-14T08:11:29","date_gmt":"2023-09-14T15:11:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=192938"},"modified":"2025-11-20T21:37:43","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T05:37:43","slug":"rei-co-op-studios-presents-canary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/video\/rei-co-op-studios-presents-canary","title":{"rendered":"REI Co-op Studios Presents: Canary"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"cb-itemprop\" itemprop=\"reviewBody\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube-nocookie.com\/embed\/4T65f5R1x2s\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some folks read tea leaves or study the stars, others turn to predictions written in ancient texts. Scientist Lonnie Thompson, however, knows that many secrets to our climate future are in the ice. And not just any ice, but some of the oldest, most remote and most dangerous ice in the world\u2014much of it sitting at elevations exceeding 3.5 miles above sea level.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Paleoclimatology is the scientific evaluation of climate conditions during past geologic ages. It\u2019s been Thompson\u2019s area of study since 1974, when he fell in love with frozen climate histories on a research assignment in Antarctica. While there, Thompson learned that extracted ice cores contain evidence of flora and fauna, atmospheric chemicals including greenhouse gases, desert dust, volcanic ash, even viruses and bacteria\u2014all of which can help scientists recreate an idea of the meteorological conditions and patterns in the region and, from these, possibly predict its future.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was absolutely convinced there was history in these tropical mountaintop glaciers that no one was looking at,\u201d Thompson, an REI Co-op Member, told <em>Uncommon Path<\/em> <a href=\"\/blog\/stewardship\/lonnie-thompson-this-is-not-a-drill\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in 2020<\/a>. \u201cWe just had to develop the technology to work at these high-elevation, remote places and then keep the ice frozen until we got back to the freezers.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Skeptical colleagues told him it was impossible\u2014the heights were too high, the technology wasn\u2019t robust enough, the ice would melt too quickly to be studied\u2014but the naysaying only added flint to his fire. It took Thompson eight years to figure it out, but he\u2019s since led 65 expeditions investigating core drilled from tropical and subtropical ice fields in more than 16 countries using lightweight and sometimes solar-powered drilling equipment. These ice cores offer insight into how the environment adapts to natural phenomena like rising temperatures, drought, soil acidification, earthquakes and more.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout his five-decade career, Thompson has sought to better understand global climate change by drilling deep into ice on peaks like Mount Kilimanjaro (19,340 feet) and Peru\u2019s Mount Huascar\u00e1n (22,204 feet). These heights are challenging for even experienced mountaineers, and when Thompson began working as a paleoclimatologist, he hadn\u2019t considered scaling a mountain. Now, it&#8217;s likely that he\u2019s spent more time at or above 18,000 feet than any other person, living or dead.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As he\u2019s aged, health has been an increasing concern for Thompson, who is now 75 years old. On a 2009 expedition at 20,000 feet in Peru, he awoke to swelling in his lower extremities that was severe enough to force him to seek medical attention. Upon his return home, he learned he needed a heart transplant; the operation was successful in 2012, and if it slowed him down at all, it\u2019s hard to tell. In 2015, Thompson and his team drilled ice cores at 22,000 feet in Tibet, and he set a world record for the highest elevation gained by a cardiac transplant recipient.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No one knows the race against time\u2014and rising temperatures\u2014like Thompson, who has seen the ice caps melting firsthand. In the new documentary film <em>Canary<\/em>, co-produced by REI Co-op Studios, we follow Thompson into harsh terrain and face hard, but not hopeless, facts about climate change.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>CREDITS<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Danny O\u2019Malley \u2013 Director, writer<br>Alex Rivest, PhD \u2013 Director<br>Devin Whetstone \u2013 Cinematographer<br>Paul Doucette \u2013 Music&nbsp;<br>Jeff Russo \u2013 Music<br>Lee Lustig \u2013 Editor&nbsp;<br>J. Santos \u2013 Editor<br>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Featuring Lonnie Thompson, PhD&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some folks read tea leaves or study the stars, others turn to predictions written in ancient texts. Scientist Lonnie Thompson, however, knows that many secrets to our climate future are in the ice. And not just any ice, but some of the oldest, most remote and most dangerous ice in the world\u2014much of it sitting [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30740,"featured_media":193160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[637,717],"tags":[1983,795,2123,614,111,1009],"internal-tag":[2011],"class_list":["post-192938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stewardship","category-video","tag-climate","tag-climate-change","tag-home-lead","tag-impact","tag-mountaineering","tag-science","internal-tag-home-secondary"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/video\/rei-co-op-studios-presents-canary","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"REI Co-op Studios Presents: Canary","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/video\/rei-co-op-studios-presents-canary","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/video\/rei-co-op-studios-presents-canary"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/09\/Screenshot-78.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/09\/Screenshot-78.jpg?fit=1920%2C810"},"articleSection":"Stewardship","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ever Meister"}],"creator":["Ever Meister"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["climate","climate change","home lead","impact","mountaineering","science"],"dateCreated":"2023-09-14T15:11:29Z","datePublished":"2023-09-14T15:11:29Z","dateModified":"2025-11-21T05:37:43Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"REI Co-op Studios Presents: Canary\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/video\\\/rei-co-op-studios-presents-canary\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/video\\\/rei-co-op-studios-presents-canary\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/Screenshot-78.jpg?resize=150%2C150\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.rei.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/Screenshot-78.jpg?fit=1920%2C810\"},\"articleSection\":\"Stewardship\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"Ever Meister\"}],\"creator\":[\"Ever Meister\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"Uncommon Path \\u2013 An REI Co-op Publication\",\"logo\":\"\"},\"keywords\":[\"climate\",\"climate change\",\"home lead\",\"impact\",\"mountaineering\",\"science\"],\"dateCreated\":\"2023-09-14T15:11:29Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-14T15:11:29Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-21T05:37:43Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/rei.com\/p.js"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/09\/Screenshot-78.jpg?fit=1920%2C810","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30740"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192938"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":201163,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192938\/revisions\/201163"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192938"},{"taxonomy":"internal-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/internal-tag?post=192938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}