Photograph

Plugging an upcoming lecture on the Greenhouse Effect, err Global Warming, err Climate Change by photographer James Balog, the Ragister states -- Photographers and their cameras don’t hype before noting Balog says he will “knock your socks off”.

That goes beyond hype, it reaches hyperbole status and the scientific community is united in that fact.

Balog planted 25 time-lapse cameras in Greenland, Iceland, Montana, Alaska and the Alps and for the past five years has recorded the areas’ rapidly receding glaciers.


SPOILER ALERT  --

Glaciers have been receding and growing cyclically for hundreds of years. Recent glacier melting is a consequence of coming out of the very cool period of the Little Ice Age. Ice shelves have been breaking off for centuries. Scientists know of at least 33 periods of glaciers growing and then retreating. It’s normal

Take Alaska for example, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) --  For nearly two centuries prior to 1941, Muir Glacier had been retreating.

Glacier Bay: Map of Alaska and Glacier Bay. Red lines show glacial terminus positions and dates during retreat of the Little Ice Age glacier. Green polygon outlines approximate area mapped by multibeam system in May-June 2001.

It does make me wonder how big Blalog's carbon footprint is thanks to his global treks.