Filmmaker snaps vanishing glaciers

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Chasing down the world's vanishing glaciers - CNN.comvar cnnCurrTime=new Date(1355940426000),cnnCurrHour=13,cnnCurrMin=7,cnnCurrDay="Wed",cnnIsIntl=true,clickID=212106,cnn_cvpAdpre="edition.",cnnCVPAdSectionT1="edition.cnn.com_specialreports_greenweek_t1",cnnCVPAdSectionInPage="edition.cnn.com_specialreports_greenweek_inpage",cnnShareUrl="%2F2012%2F11%2F16%2Fworld%2Fglaciers-chasing-ice-balog%2Findex.html",cnnShareTitle="Chasing%20down%20the%20world's%20vanishing%20glaciers",cnnShareDesc="",cnnFirstPub=new Date('Friday Nov 16 12:44:24 EST 2012'),cnnSectionName="world",cnnSubSectionName="",cnnPageType="Story",cnnBrandingValue="intl.go.green";cnnPartnerValue="";cnnOmniBranding="Environment",cnnAuthor="Tom Levitt, for CNN ",disqus_category_id=207582,disqus_identifier="/2012/11/16/world/glaciers-chasing-ice-balog/index.html",disqus_title="Chasing down the world\'s vanishing glaciers",cnn_edtnswtchver="edition",cnnIsStoryPage=true,cnn_metadata = {};cnn_metadata = {section: ["world",""],friendly_name: "Chasing down the world\'s vanishing glaciers",template_type: "content",template_type_content: "gallery",business: {cnn: {page: {author: "Tom Levitt, for CNN ",broadcast_franchise: "",video_embed_count: "1",publish_date: "2012/11/16",photo_gallery: "James Balog's 'Chasing Ice' "},video: {video_player: ""}}},user: {authenticated: "",segment: {age: "",zip: "",gender: ""}}};if (typeof(cnnOmniPartner) !== "undefined") {if (cnn_metadata.template_type_content === "") {cnn_metadata.template_type_content = "partner";}}var photo_gallery = "James Balog's 'Chasing Ice' ";if(typeof CNN==='undefined'){var CNN=Class.create();}CNN.expandableMap=[''];function _loginOptions(){};var disqus_url=(typeof disqus_identifier!=='undefined') ? 'http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/16/world/glaciers-chasing-ice-balog/index.html' : 'http://www.cnn.com'+location.pathname;cnnad_newTileIDGroup(['607x95_adlinks','336x280_adlinks']); EDITION:  INTERNATIONAL U.S. MEXICO ARABIC TV:   CNNi CNN en Espa?ol Set edition preference Sign up Log in Home Video World U.S. Africa Asia Europe Latin America Middle East Business World Sport Entertainment Tech Travel iReport /* STORY PAGE SPECIFIC CSS */.cnn_stryspccvrgehdr { background:#fff url('http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/mosaic/bg_speccov_hdr.gif') 0px 0px repeat-x; }.cnn_stryspcvh1 { position:relative; height:74px;background:transparent url('http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/ssi/story/3.0/banner/intl.go.green.inc/environment.jpg') 50% 0px no-repeat;overflow:hidden; }.cnn_stryspcvh2 { font:bold 10px/12px arial;color:#666;padding:0 0 2px 0; }.cnn_stryspcvh3 { font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight:bold; font-size:18px; line-height:21px; }.cnn_stryspcvh4 { position:absolute; z-index:1000; float:left;margin:30px 0 0 10px;display:inline; }.cnn_stryspcvh5 { float:right;margin:30px 10px 0 0;display:inline;text-align:right; }.cnn_stryspcvh20 { padding:0 0 2px 0; }.cnn_stryspccvrgebot { height:3px; background:#e6e6e6; }.cnn_stryspccvh6 { width:100%; height:74px; text-align:center; left:0; }.cnn_stryspccvh6 a { display:block; margin:0 auto; width:304px; height:74px; }cnnad_createAd("403539","http://ads.cnn.com/html.ng/site=cnn_international&cnn_intl_pagetype=specials&cnn_intl_position=88x31_spon_greenweek&cnn_intl_rollup=special_reports&cnn_intl_section=green_week&page.allowcompete=no¶ms.styles=fs","0","0");cnnad_registerSpace(403539,0,0);Part of complete coverage onEnvironmentPrintEmailMore sharingChasing down the world's vanishing glaciersBy Tom Levitt, for CNN November 19, 2012 -- Updated 1139 GMT (1939 HKT)if (typeof cnnArticleGallery=="undefined"){var cnnArticleGallery={};if(typeof cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList=="undefined"){cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList=[];}}var expGalleryPT00=new ArticleExpandableGallery();expGalleryPT00.setImageCount(10);expGalleryPT00.setAdsRefreshCount(3);//cnn_adbptrackpgalimg("James Balog\'s \'Chasing Ice\'", 1);.cnn_html_slideshow_metadata > .cnn_html_media_utility::before{color:red;content:'>>';font-size:9px;line-height:12px;padding-right:1px}.cnnstrylccimg640{margin:0 27px 14px 0}.captionText{filter:alpha(opacity=100);opacity:1}.cnn_html_slideshow_media_caption a,.cnn_html_slideshow_media_caption a:visited,.cnn_html_slideshow_media_caption a:link,.captionText a,.captionText a:visited,.captiontext a:link{color:#004276;outline:medium none}.cnnVerticalGalleryPhoto{margin:0 auto;padding-right:68px;width:270px}Birthday Canyon, Greenland Ice Sheet, Greenland, June 2009. Courtesy of James Balog

cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":true,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":1,"title":"James Balog\'s \'Chasing Ice\'"}Courtesy of James Balog

" border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto002" style="margin:0 auto;display:none" width="640"/>EIS time lapse cameras at Columbia Glacier, Alaska, Aug 2009. "I never really expected to see this magnitude of change. Every time we open the backs of these cameras it's like 'wow, is that what's just happened,'" Balog said. Courtesy of James Balog

cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":2,"title":""}Aerial view of meltwater on Greenland Ice Sheet, June 2010. Courtesy of James BalogcnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":3,"title":""}Aerial view of pancake ice, Ilulissat Isfjord, Greenland, March 2008. Courtesy of James Balog

cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":4,"title":""}Courtesy of James Balog

" border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto005" style="margin:0 auto;display:none" width="640"/>"Ice diamond," J?kuls?rl?n, Iceland, Feb 2008. Courtesy of James Balog

cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":5,"title":""}Courtesy of James Balog



" border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto006" style="margin:0 auto;display:none" width="640"/>Greenland Ice Sheet, Greenland, July 2008, Silt and soot blown from afar turn into black "cryoconite," absorb solar heat and melt down into ice. Courtesy of James Balog



cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":6,"title":""}Close up of an iceberg, Mendenhall Glacier, Alaska, Sept 2010. Courtesy of James Balog

cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":7,"title":""}Courtesy of James Balog" border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto008" style="margin:0 auto;display:none" width="640"/>"In the past one million years, the peak of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere has been 280-290 parts per million (ppm). We're now at 395 ppm and adding more every year. It's gone beyond natural and is affecting the entire world," Balog says. Courtesy of James BalogcnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":8,"title":""}cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":9,"title":""}Courtesy of James Balog

" border="0" height="360" id="articleGalleryPhoto0010" style="margin:0 auto;display:none" width="640"/>James Balog, director of the Extreme Ice Survey, at minus 30 degrees F, Disko Bay, Greenland, March 2008. "What we need is a greater political and public understanding of the immediacy and reality of these changes. I believe that this film can help shift public perceptions by telling people a story that is real and happening now," says Balog. Courtesy of James Balog

cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList.length]={"currentPicture":false,"x":0,"y":0,"pos":10,"title":""}HIDE CAPTIONJames Balog's 'Chasing Ice'<<<12345678910>>>Event.observe(window,'load',function(){if(typeof(cnn_adbptrackpgalimg) == 'function' && typeof(cnnArticleGallery) != 'undefined'){cnn_adbptrackpgalimg(cnnArticleGallery.currentImageList[0].image,"James Balog's 'Chasing Ice' ");}});STORY HIGHLIGHTSNew documentary captures glacial ice retreating at sixteen different locations around the world"Chasing Ice," by U.S. photographer James Balog, recorded glacier melt since 2007 Balog's cameras have captured nearly one million images for the project Balog hopes film will "shift public perceptions by telling people a story that is real and happening now"

(CNN) -- The melting glacial ice in places like the Alps, Greenland and the Himalayas is a dramatic visual document of how our planet's climate is changing.

For U.S.-based environmental photographer James Balog, it is a vision he has spent more than six years trying to record and preserve.

After an assignment for National Geographic in Iceland in 2005, he was shocked by the changes taking place and wanted to find a way to capture what was going on, in the Arctic and glaciers elsewhere around the world.

The result has been a new documentary film, "Chasing Ice," based on 36 time-lapse cameras looking at 16 different glaciers in locations in Alaska, Bolivia, Canada, France, Greenland, Iceland, Nepal, the Rocky Mountains and Switzerland. Each camera has been taking a photograph every half-an-hour during daylight, producing almost one million pictures in total.

Balog says putting the documentary together has changed his initial skepticism about climate change.

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At one point in the film, Balog is shown looking at the memory card he has just removed from a camera and saying: "This is a memory of a landscape. A landscape that is now gone and will never be seen again in the history of civilization."

Watch: CNN special 'Secrets in the Ice'

Of all the places he has filmed, it is the Arctic that has attracted most attention in recent years. In September this year, the ice cap fell to its lowest extent on record. It grows each winter but is retreating further and further every summer, according to data collected by the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center. The summer ice extent has declined by 13% each decade since the ice was first monitored in 1979.

"What we've seen has been a complete shock. I never really expected to see this magnitude of change
James Balog, photographer and filmmakerClimate scientists have previously predicted the Arctic could lose almost all of its ice cover in the summer months by 2100. However, the recent accelerated ice losses have led some to believe that date could come much sooner.

While accepting that glacial ice melting has happened many times before in human history, Balog says what he is documenting now can no longer be considered a natural process.

"What we're seeing is a much more accelerated rate of change, especially in the past 40 years or so and that has clearly been traced by scientists to the impact of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions into the atmosphere."

"In the past 100 years, the atmosphere has accumulated 40% more carbon dioxide in it than had been seen in the peak over the past one million years.

"So, in the past one million years the peak of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere has been 280-290 parts per million (ppm). We're now at 395 ppm and adding more every year. It's gone beyond natural and is affecting the entire world," he says.

Balog, who lives in the Rocky Mountains near Boulder, Colorado, believes the economic and technological solutions to mitigate the impact of climate change already exist.

"What we need is a greater political and public understanding of the immediacy and reality of these changes. I believe that this film can help shift public perceptions by telling people a story that is real and happening now," he says.

0Comments »PrintEmailMore sharingvar OB_permalink='http://edition.cnn.com'+location.pathname;var OB_langJS='http://widgets.outbrain.com/lang_en.js';var OB_widgetId='AR_1';var OB_Template="cnnedition";if (typeof(OB_Script)!='undefined'){OutbrainStart();}else{var OB_Script=true;var str="cnnad_createAd("494906","http://ads.cnn.com/html.ng/site=cnn_international&cnn_intl_pagetype=mmst&cnn_intl_position=607x95_adlinks&cnn_intl_rollup=world&page.allowcompete=no¶ms.styles=fs","95","607");cnnad_registerSpace(494906,607,95);cnnad_createAd("717300","http://ads.cnn.com/html.ng/site=cnn_international&cnn_intl_pagetype=mmst&cnn_intl_position=336x850_rgt&cnn_intl_rollup=special_reports&cnn_intl_section=green_week&page.allowcompete=no¶ms.styles=fs","850","336");cnnad_registerSpace(717300,336,850);Part of complete coverage on Environment Drought-hit trees face race to adapt November 30, 2012 -- Updated 1823 GMT (0223 HKT)New research is showing that a large majority of tree species around the world are operating on the brink of collapse.Trying to agree a Kyoto 2.0 November 26, 2012 -- Updated 1617 GMT (0017 HKT)On December 11, 1997, nations signed the Kyoto Protocol in a bid to tackle climate change. 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