Angela Neal Grove

Photojournalist, Speaker, World Traveler | Keeping a Finger on the Pulse

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Planet in Peril: Climate Change Through My Lens

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Climate Change through my lens; melting Mer de Glace glacier, Chamonix France
Mer de Glace Glacier, Chamonix France: thick blue waves of ice inspired the name, Mer de Glace. Once one of the most impressive sights in the Alps. Now, due to climate change, all that remains is a thin layer of melting ice covered in rubble and dust.

Planet in Peril: Climate Change

The NASA numbers are in for Climate Change, 2016 was the hottest year ever. On Friday it tops the agenda at the World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland. But what does climate change look like?

Traveling three continents in 2016 I photographed disturbing scars on some of the planets most beautiful sights. From the Alps, to Okavango Delta in Africa to Yosemite in California this is what I saw.

Climate change through my lens
History of the Mer de Glace. Left: an image of the choppy ice waves in 1915. Middle and left all that remains.

 

Planet in Peril: Climate Change Through My Lens; Image of a dried up waterhole in the Okovango Delta region of Botswana. Rainfall has been less, wildlife seek water elsewhere and tourism is down. //Photo: A.N.Grove
Seen from above the Okavango Delta, Botswana, a dried waterhole. Much of Africa suffers from continued drought. At the most extreme is population hunger and death. As crops wither and wildlife encroach on precious water sources there is mass migration as young and strong head to Europe seeking a better life.

 

Climate change through my lens
Three Brothers, Yosemite. An iconic view marred by a patch of brown dying trees. California has 70 million dead trees. Drought has weakened ponderosa and sugar pines which have become a target for bark beetle which kills the trees

 

Planet in Peril: Climate Change Through My Lens; Image of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Kenya with just a thin topping of snow. Most of the glaciers on the mountain have already melted. //Photo: A.N. Grove
This was Mount Kilimanjaro, with just a thin topping of snow, on my last visit to East Africa. The snows and glaciers which once topped the the mountain inspired Hemmingway’s book and subsequent movie The Snows of Kilimanjaro   For a personal view and more read my post, The Snows of Kilimanjaro

Call To Action

Changes to our Planet are accelerating. The Earth we bequeath to our children and grandchildren is in peril.

What to do? On the international scene support the The Paris Agreement signed November, 2016 it was a groundbreaking start. At home there are small daily habits and changes which make a huge difference, check out Real Simple Magazine. Read and be aware;  the American Natural History Museum is an excellent resource for everyone.

Raise awareness. This is what I have attempted to do by recording climate change through the lens of my camera.

Planet in Peril: Climate Change Through My Lens. Image of retreating glaciers taken in Switzerland near Zermatt
Europe’s retreating glaciers cause alarm. Image taken in the shadow of the Matterhorn at Zermatt, June 2016. Hiking down from the slopes of the Matterhorn I was shocked to see this valley – all that was left after the glacier had retreated.  Possibly 50 years ago this was filled with ice. It was a disturbing sight.

 

 

 

 

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