wisewords Ice Chaser James Balog’s Dramatic Images
Document Climate Change by Christine MacDonald
N
ational Geographic photographer James Balog says
he was skeptical about climate change until he saw it happening firsthand. Watching once-towering glaciers falling into the sea inspired his most challeng- ing assignment in a storied 30-year career—finding a way to photograph climate change.
In exploring Balog’s Extreme Ice Survey, a breathtaking photo- graphic record of vanishing glaciers, and his award-winning documentary, Chasing Ice, Natural Awakenings asked about the challenges he faced to bring this dramatic evidence of climate change to a world audience.
How did seeing gla- ciers shrink, “before your eyes,” move you to endure some- times life-threat- ening conditions to get these images on record? I fell in love with ice decades ago as a young mountaineer and scientist. I loved to get up before dawn and hike out on a glacier in Mount Rainier
or one in the Alps, watch the light come up and hear the crunch of the frozen ice underfoot.
On a trip to Iceland early in the proj-
ect, I was looking at these little diamonds of ice that were left behind on the beach
after the glaciers broke up. The surf had polished them into incredible shapes and textures. Walking the beach, you’d realize each one was a unique natural sculpture that existed only for that moment be- fore the return of high tide stole it away. Nobody would ever see it again. That was an amazing aesthetic and metaphysical experience.
I realized that I wanted people to share this experience, to see the glaciers disappearing. This visual manifestation and evidence of climate change is here, happening right before our eyes. It is undeniable.
Why do these photos and videos help us grasp the scale of Planet Earth’s climate changes already underway? When people encounter Extreme Ice Survey images, their response is typically immediate and dramatic. It is the first step toward caring about a distant landscape most will never experience in person, en- abling them to connect the dots between what happens far away and the rising sea levels, extreme weather events and other climate related issues closer to home.
What can an everyday person do to help underscore the global scientific consen- sus and urgency of addressing global warming?
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