Welcome to Life Noggin!

Guess what, friends?

Today we're doing something pretty special — exploring the Life Noggin north pole!

Just in time for after Christmas!

Rhombus said that he found something here that we need to check out.

Oooh I hope it's Santa!

Santa doesn't visit these parts, and i know it's after Christmas, but there's still a

chance!

Hold up, gang!

Do you see that?!

It's probably Santa!

Wait a minute… that's not Santa.

It's just a big pile of plastics!

Darn it.

I was worried about this happening.

It seems that some of the plastic waste that we're creating in the Life Noggin world

is finding its way up here.

Actually, similar problems are going on with your north pole too.

Just last year, in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, researchers from a British-led expedition

found decently-sized chunks of plastic lying around on frozen sheets of ice.

Now, we already knew that the world's oceans were being polluted by plastics and other

waste, but this was one of the most distant sightings of this type of pollution up north

— only around 1,600 kilometers from the north pole itself.

We're only really learning about this now because scientists couldn't get to the area

before because of ice in the sea blocking the way.

Not only is this pollution not cool for my polar pals, but scientists are worried that

these plastics and other trash could get dumped into the ocean as climate change causes the

ice to melt — adding to our already bad problem of plastic pollution in the ocean.

It's estimated that you humans produce about 300 million tons of plastic each year, with

around 8 million metric tons of the stuff ending up in the ocean.

That's a lot of plastic!

And these plastics can last for a long time, which is great for consumer purposes, but

really bad for the Earth's ecosystems.

We've all seen the heartbreaking pictures of turtles and other sea creatures with plastics

around their mouths or deforming their bodies.

Unfortunately, the problem extends far beyond even that when we're talking about what's

called “microplastics”.

Microplastics are super small pieces of plastic that are less than five millimeters long.

Their small size makes microplastics especially harmful to aquatic life as they can more easily

enter the animal's bodies and make their way into the food chain.

It's bad for you too, as those microplastics can even end up in your seafood.

But plastic isn't even the only type of pollution to be worried about in the Arctic,

though.

Human-made noise pollution could also be a problem, especially as the ice melts, potentially

affecting how the sound travels up there.

Certain animals, like ringed seals and beluga whales, use sound to communicate and navigate

through the dark depths of the ocean.

Narwhals even use biosonar to hunt for fish, so if humans are making a bunch of noise up

there, it could really throw things off.

Well, we really learned a lot today, but i was kinda hoping i would run into...

Ho Ho Ho!

Santa?

Santa!

You're here?

In the Life Noggin world!?

Santa: Of course!

I'm Santa!

I'm made of magic!

Blocko: How come I didn't see you last year? and how come you came so late?

Santa: ...uh...well.

Santa was really busy.

Blocko: Oh, with what?

Santa: Alright listen kid, you want your presents or not?

Blocko: Yes yes yes!

Yes yes! Gimmie the presents!

Please?

Uh, please!

Santa: Here you go!

Here you go!

Here you go! AND here you go Blocko!

This one is very special.

Blocko: Thanks Santa!

Santa: Thank YOU!

See you next year everyone!

ho ho ho!

Oh wow it's....a bag of oatmeal stapled to a cactus....

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED!

How did he know!?

Wow!

I hope you had a great holiday season, and a great year!

Thank you so much for watching, and supporting Life Noggin.

Let me know what we should talk about next year in the comment section below!

Enjoyed this video?

Check out the winter edition of Dear Blocko that we did!

Dear Blocko, can you explain flu season and why it happens?

ah, the human flu season, the time when those evil flu viruses are at their worst!

as always, my name is Blocko, this has been Life Noggin, don't forget to keep on thinking!