The rapid changes Greenland is experiencing is one of the reasons photographing Greenland has been so high on my priority list.
Greenland has a huge impact on global climate and sea levels, like Antarctica.
Visit my blog this weekend for more updated information on Greenland.
Find out about my Greenland workshop / cruise here.
Find out about my Antarctica workshop / project here.
Gary Braasch’s large-scale color photographs from the book “Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming is Changing the World” ( a book called “essential reading for every citizen” by Al Gore ) are currently on exhibit.
A companion exhibit for kids, parents and school groups, “How We Know About Our Changing Climate” will highlight how scientists study climate change and how youth can learn to be citizen scientists. Includes kids taking action, in the films “Young Voices on Climate Change,” produced by Lynne Cherry
The opening is tonight November 18.
The exhibit runs from November 12 – March 15, weekdays 8-5 at …
American Association for the Advancement of Science
1200 New York Avenue NW
Washington DC 20005
Find a preview and and the book here.
Read Gary Braasch’s insights on global warming here.
Sat., Sept. 26, 2009, 8 pm, Planet Green Network airs A Sea Change.
A Sea Change documents an extremely pressing issue, acidification of the world’s oceans. It’s an often overlooked aspect of climate change. Essentially, it’s getting harder and harder for marine life to form shells because the oceans are rapidly becoming more acidic. The point of no return is projected by scientists to be less than 50 years away.
Look for Planet Green content on cable, Direct TV, and more. It’s the first & only 24-hour eco-lifestyle TV network. A Sea Change airs as part of Planet Green’s “Reel Impact” series. They’re in terrific company: also airing are An Inconvenient Truth, Who Killed the Electric Car, and No-Impact Man.
Tell your friends. Email your representatives. The oceans aren’t on the table at the upcoming summit COP-15. That needs to change.
Find out more about this issue at worldchanging.com.
Michael Morrison is fascinated with how our world works, the nature of awareness and perception, the experience of wonder and beauty, and the central role humanity now plays in Earth’s evolution—and the future of Civilization. With a scientific background, his passion lead him to earn the first degree in Earth System Science at the University of New Hampshire and serve as the Scientific Coordinator for the Greenland Ice Sheet Project Two (GISP2), which produced a detailed, 100,000 year history of climate—a history that revolutionized our understanding of climate. His research activities have taken him to the the South Pole, the Transantarctic Mountains, Mt. Erebus, Alaska, The Himalayas, and the highest point on the Greenland Ice Sheet. He is anticipating an ice coring expedition to the Andes in 2010.
Though he loves and values scientific discovery, he finds that the beliefs at the core of our behavior are intriguing and stubborn beasts, not always responsive to simple facts. He believes creative expression is central not only to meaning and joy in life, but to the trajectory Civilization will take moving forward from here. Following belief, creativity, circumstances, and the digital revolution in imaging, Michael now offers fine-art digital imaging and printing services in Santa Fe, New Mexico and is co-authoring a book of photographs and stories from research expeditions with Dr. Paul Mayewski, a world-class climate scientist and the Chief Scientist of GISP2.
“Graphs, tables, and didactic discourse are important, but are not fully able to reach our collective conscious on the level called for by our time in history. This is the domain of creativity—playful, beautiful, surprising, and innovative—it reaches deep into our psyches, dreams, and motivations. Into our beliefs …”
Read more here about his personal experiences, what he’s learned, and his thoughts on what we can do.
Read More
On June 5, 2009, Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s powerful new movie was released. A non-commercial venture this movie is free to everyone with an internet connection. It breaks the mold. The message is timely, succinct, and powerful.
The opening lines say it all. “Listen to me. Please. You’re like me. Homo sapiens. A wise human. Life. A miracle in the universe appeared 4 billion years ago and we humans only 200,000 years ago. Yet we have succeeded in disrupting the balance that is so essential to life. Listen carefully to this story, which is yours, and decide what you want to do with it.”
Arthus-Bertrand says, “It’s time to believe what we know.”
Belief leads to action.
What will you do?
Find lots of ideas here.
Find organizations here.
See Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s TED talk here.
Find out more about / watch HOME here.
Jim Balog’s Extreme Ice Survey breaks new ground photographically.
I visited one of the locations featured in this video recently, Jokullsarlon – Iceland’s glacial lagoon, where I saw changes, and heard of even bigger changes from people who have lived there a lifetime and studied it closely. 40 years ago the ice went to the sea. 30 years ago the lagoon became more visible. Twenty years ago it retreated more. Ten years ago the lagoon was half as long. Today the area is experiencing more dramatic change. Things always change, but glaciologist provide data that things are changing faster than ever today. Fascinating! It’s worth paying attention to.
Find more climate change resources here.
Get priority status in my 2010 Iceland workshop.
Email info@johnpaulcaponigro.com.
Gary Braasch has photographed climate change more extensively than any other photographer. His book Earth Under Fire is a definitive work on the subject.
Find out about Gary Braasch here.
Find out about Earth Under Fire here.
Gary and I have been talking at length on many subjects. Here’s the second installment of our conversations.
John Paul Caponigro
What recommendations do you have for the average citizen to start taking a more active role with respect to these issues? What would you suggest to other photographers to increase the effectiveness of their advocacy efforts?
Gary Braasch
The people I met on my climate change documentary project really mean something to me. Beyond all the scientists and local guides, at this point those who mean the most are the ones who are living with the change but did not cause it … Read More
Gary Braasch has photographed climate change more extensively than any other photographer. His book Earth Under Fire is a definitive work on the subject.
Find out about Gary Braasch here.
Find out about Earth Under Fire here.
Gary and I have been talking at length on many subjects. Here’s the first installment of our conversations.
John Paul Caponigro
Tell me about climate change. And tell me about your book – Earth Under Fire.
Gary Braasch
In June 1997 I was stuck in a cold tent on the Alaska tundra with fellow nature photographer Gerry Ellis. We had come to photograph caribou and other tundra animals, but for these weeks, anyway, we saw very little. But while we read our books in the tent and talked of life and photography, we also chatted about the major issues in nature and conservation. What were we going to do in coming years: what locations, what species, what issues were going to be the most important to photograph?. And also, who was going to hire, publish and pay us for this? Read More
We need to shift our focus away from politicians to scientists – the real experts. I’ve encountered professional scientists, from climatologists, geologists, glaciologists and biologists, to name a few, who have shared data that indicates the polar regions are undergoing rapid change and this heralds dramatic global changes. Though there’s debate about why things are changing, how much they’re changing, how fast they’re changing, and whether we’ve seen this kind of change before, I have yet to meet a single scientist who debates that climate change exists. The scientific communities understanding of climate change is advancing at a very rapid rate; old models and predictions are continually being updated based on better and better information. There is growing concern in the scientific community. We need to make funding relevant scientific research to get more high quality information one of our highest priorities.
Publicly, the debate has shifted from “Does climate change exist?” to “How much does man contribute to climate change?”. We need to seriously consider another very practical issue, whether climate change is influenced by man, a little or a lot, given that it exists, “What are we doing to prepare for climate change?” Climate always changes. And climate changes human history.
Find information from the experts here.
Find what you can do to help right now.
Antarctica is a place of stunning grandeur. Furthest south. Most isolated. Coldest. Windiest. Highest. Driest. Lowest biotic diversity. No indigenous cultures – ever. Largest ice mass. Triples in area seasonally. Produces 90% of the earth’s iceberg mass. Contains 68% of the world’s fresh water. Global climate regulator. Global climate indicator. Global territory for scientific research. It’s simply fascinating!
Read more about it here.
Find out about my exhibit here.
Stay tuned daily for more resources.
Get priority status in my Antarctica 2011 workshop.
Email info@johnpaulcaponigro.com.