Our ongoing quest to explore and come to terms with the Arctic is presented in the context of the crucial role that ice plays in the north. Ice is to the Arctic as trees are to the rainforest. It is the underpinning of the ecosystem, the foundation upon which the animals and plants of the north depend. In this documentary, viewers meet an ice scientist who lives and works with the Inuit, blending their traditional knowledge with modern scientific methods. Viewers travel to the town of Churchill, Manitoba, the polar-bear capital of the world, where the people have turned a feared predator into a revered asset. Scientists join an expedition of beluga biologists who are monitoring the migration patterns of these ice-dependent whales. Underlying all these stories are the changes that are quickly overtaking the people and animals who have adapted over thousands of years to this land of ice and snow.