In a stunning yet very sobering series, photographer Tom Hegen takes us on an aerial journey of the Arctic Ice Sheet, as it cracks and crumbles, slowly melting into the sea. Named after the two degrees celsius mark that the Paris Climate Agreement put into place, the photos showcase the fragility of our Earth, and the way in which climate change is rapidly warming our planet.
The brilliant whites and blues of the Arctic and Greenland Ice Sheet are lovely to look at, with a myriad of patterns and shapes forming aerial paintings. But the reality of these crumbling ice sheets puts our faltering climate front and center, impossible to ignore.
We wish all the climate change deniers that still exist would pay attention (or visit) to this part of the world, to see firsthand how our human-caused warming is drastically shrinking global ice coverage. Powerful and important work. Via Behance:
The surface of the Arctic Ice Sheet is not a seamless plain of ice, it’s more like Swiss cheese, covered with thousands of seasonal rivers and lakes on the surface through which meltwater is able to flow over the ice, enter into the ice and then flowing downstream into the ocean. Surface melting also affects how much of the Sun’s energy the ice sheet reflects – known as the albedo effect: The bright white surface reflects most of the suns energy. Whereby melting ice uncovers darker land, water or ocean underneath, which then absorbs more sunlight, causing more heating and therefore a faster melting process. A vicious circle with serious effects for Weather and Eco-Systems.
All photos © Copyright Tom Hegen. All Rights reserved