The provided text offers a comprehensive overview of the critical role of ice in Earth’s climate system, discussing its influence on global weather patterns and the historical evidence of past ice ages gleaned from geological records. It examines climate change and its consequences, detailing the unequivocal warming observed across various scientific records and addressing the ideological opposition, or "trenches of denial," to the idea of anthropogenic climate change. Furthermore, the source provides a detailed historical narrative concerning polar exploration, including Captain Cook's secret mission to find Terra Australis Incognita and the Cold War-era military and scientific activities in the Arctic, before shifting to address modern geopolitical tensions driven by melting Arctic sea ice.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.