In the spring of 2005, acclaimed environmental photographer James Balog headed to the Arctic on a tricky assignment for National Geographic:
to capture images to help tell the story of the Earth’s changing
climate. Even with a scientific upbringing, Balog had been a skeptic
about climate change. But that first trip north opened his eyes to the
biggest story in human history and sparked a challenge within him that
would put his career and his very well-being at risk.
Chasing Ice is the story of one man’s mission to change
the tide of history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing
planet. Within months of that first trip to Iceland, the photographer
conceived the boldest expedition of his life: The Extreme Ice Survey.
With a band of young adventurers in tow, Balog began deploying
revolutionary time-lapse cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a
multi-year record of the world’s changing glaciers.
As the debate polarizes America and the intensity of natural
disasters ramps up globally, Balog finds himself at the end of his
tether. Battling untested technology in subzero conditions, he comes
face to face with his own mortality. It takes years for Balog to see the
fruits of his labor. His hauntingly beautiful videos compress years
into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they
disappear at a breathtaking rate. Chasing Ice depicts a photographer trying to deliver evidence and hope to our carbon-powered planet.
Many people have volunteered to help Chasing Ice with the national
theatrical launch of the film this November. To volunteer please click on this link.
Almost a decade ago, someone asked me a question, “what are the
drivers of global change?” I’ve spent a lot of time over the last eight
years thinking about it, and have dedicated the last two years to
researching, writing and refining my conclusions. The result is my new
book, The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change.
We are living in a time of rapid, simultaneous and exponential
change, unlike anything the world has ever seen. From revolutionary
changes in our economy and our climate, to advances in life sciences and
the digital realm, the future holds great opportunities but also
profound challenges.
We have a choice.
Will we be swept along by the currents of technological change and
economic determinism, or will we unite behind a future that preserves
human dignity and reflects the aspirations of global citizens? Together
we have an important role to play in reclaiming control of our destiny,
but it starts with a global conversation.
While mapping the future is a risky undertaking, perhaps the only thing riskier is doing nothing.
On Jan. 13, 1888, a group of 33 men met at the Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C., to discuss a way to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge across the world. A century and a quarter later, after landmark shipwreck discoveries, stunning images from countless cultures and expeditions from the top of Mount Everest to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the National Geographic Society has expanded beyond those original founding members, but the organization’s goal of spreading geographic knowledge around the globe has remained the same.
Filled with exhilarating tales and astonishing photography, National Geographic 125 Years: Legendary Photographs, Adventures, and Discoveries That Changed the World: Epic Journeys, Landmark Discoveries, Photographs That Changed the World is an engrossing visual chronicle of the last 12-and-a-half decades through the eyes of the explorers, writers and photographers who captured it all. Readers will be able to dive deeper into the iconic yellow border and get a behind-the-scenes look into the stories that have shaped the world, including Hiram Bingham’s discovery of the lost city of Machu Picchu, the arctic explorations of Richard Byrd, Jane Goodall’s legendary chimpanzee research and the epic dives of Jacques Cousteau and James Cameron.
Laid out chronologically, National Geographic 125 Years: Legendary Photographs, Adventures, and Discoveries That Changed the World: Epic Journeys, Landmark Discoveries, Photographs That Changed the Worldexplores the history of the Society from a small group dedicated to spreading geographic knowledge of the world and all that’s in it to the international nonprofit and media company it is today. Each era of the Society’s history is highlighted, featuring the most significant expeditions, field research and photography. Personal stories from legendary explorers such as Luis Marden, who discovered the remains of the H.M.V.S. Bounty, and marine biologist Sylvia Earle, as well as writers and photographers in the field fill each chapter, along with quotes from important figures associated with the Society, including paleontologist Louis Leakey, underwater explorer Robert Ballard, geneticist Spencer Wells and many more.
The more than 600 images by world-renowned photographers from the Society’s history illuminate the legendary storytelling of National Geographic. Readers can revisit Japan with Eliza R. Scidmore’s hand-tinted images of Japanese life in the early 20th century; remember the haunting eyes of the Afghan Girl in Steve McCurry’s iconic photograph; and take a trip to the American West with images made by William Albert Allard over his 50-year career. Other featured photographers include such renowned masters as David Doubilet, Chris Johns, Emory Kristof, David Allan Harvey, Sam Abell, Brian Skerry, Paul Nicklen, Frans Lanting, Annie Griffiths, Mattias Klum, Jodi Cobb and Joel Sartore.
Angel Azul explores the artistic journey of Jason deCaires Taylor, an
innovative artist who combines creativity with an important
environmental solution; the creation of artificial coral reefs. Director of The Ecological Center in Akumal, Paul Sánchez-Navarro, illuminates facts surrounding the fragile state of the Yucatán's coral
reefs and proposes solutions to help them survive.
This fall, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology invites you to experience the Birds-of-Paradise Project
through dazzling photos and video from Cornell Lab's scientist Ed Scholes
and National Geographic's photographer Tim Laman. During an eight-year
quest, they captured images of all 39 species for the first time. This
fall, they will share their story as part of a National Geographic
Society-wide effort in collaboration with the Cornell Lab.
As this trailer shows, the opulent plumes and fantastical dances of
these 39 species astound us, leaving us with the most profound of
scientific questions: Why?
Tim Laman, rain forest biologist affiliated with
Harvard University, is one of the most accomplished wildlife
photographers in the world. From the rain forest canopy to the coral
reef depths, Laman documents the biodiversity of Earth’s richest realms
and is a regular contributor to National Geographic magazine. Laman
holds a Ph.D. from Harvard.
Edwin Scholes, a Ph. D. ornithologist and
biodiversity video curator at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, has
studied birds of paradise for more than a decade and is a leading
authority on their behavior and evolution.
Exploring the evolutionary tree of life is now as easy as navigating
an online map, thanks to a new interactive website called OneZoom, which went live on Tuesday 16 October. The launch is accompanied by an explanatory article in the 'Cool Tools' series of the open access journal PLOS Biology.
All living species on Earth descended from a common ancestor that
lived in the distant past. Since Darwin, biologists have struggled to
draw a 'tree' showing important details about the many known living
organisms and how they are related to one another. However, even
relatively small trees have been challenging to visualize without huge
sheets of paper or multiple computer screens.
Now OneZoom, which was partly inspired by the zooming technology of
online map viewers, makes it possible to start with a broad view of life
on earth, then zoom in on any point to explore incrementally smaller
categories of life, using intuitive mouse actions.
Dr James Rosindell, from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial
College London, conceptualized and programmed OneZoom in collaboration
with Dr Luke Harmon, from the Department of Biological Sciences at the
University of Idaho.
"OneZoom gives you a natural way to explore large amounts of complex
information like the tree of life," explained Dr Rosindell. "It's
intuitive because it's similar to the way we explore the real world by
moving towards interesting objects to see them in more detail."
The traditional tree of life is generally drawn by starting with a
thick trunk that represents the first life on earth. The trunk then
splits into large boughs for different categories of life, such as
plants and animals, then ever-smaller branches for groups such as
insects, fish, birds and mammals. The amount of information the tree can
show is usually constrained by the size of the paper it's viewed on,
but Dr Rosindell saw a way to overcome this problem, taking advantage of
the unlimited space in the digital world.
"We're still looking at data on the screen in ways that can easily
be printed on paper and that's a serious visual constraint. In fact
it's no longer necessary to restrict ourselves in this way because we
now mostly view the information on a screen only. OneZoom embraces this
by laying out the data in an exciting, interactive way that could not be
captured on printed sheets" he said.
OneZoom looks initially like a tree, with trunk, branches, twigs and
each species represented by a coloured leaf. As you travel along the
trunk towards the first branches, it's easy to zoom in and out, pan
around, and explore the evolutionary links between different species of
organism, as though they were roads on a map. By zooming in on each
subgroup of organisms more details about them are revealed, such as the
degree to which their members are threatened with extinction, along with
links to more information, and soon photographs.
Currently the OneZoom site only features the tree of mammals, but
this includes over 5000 species that are arranged in closely related
groups and colour-coded to indicate extinction risk. Dr Rosindell aims
to complete the next stages of the project over the coming years. This
will involve growing the scope of OneZoom and refining its content as
more data becomes available from international research projects, such
as the Open Tree of Life Project.
"After decades of study, scientists are probably only a year away
from having a first draft of the complete tree of life. It would be a
great shame if having built it we had no way to visualise it," Dr
Rosindell continued.
Dr Rosindell hopes that OneZoom will be used by scientists to help
uncover new patterns in nature, to teach people about the evolution and
diversity of life, and to help make attractive and engaging displays for
venues such as zoos and museums.
Professor Joel Cracraft, Curator in charge of birds at the American
Museum of Natural History in New York, added: "This will revolutionize
how we teach and understand the Tree of Life. It is an invaluable tool
for communicating the grand scope of life's history to children as well
as adults.".
"The problem of visualizing an evolutionary tree for millions of
species is a challenging one. OneZoom provides a creative solution that
will be of great utility, especially for web-based representations of
the Tree of Life," said evolutionary biologist Professor David Hillis,
at the University of Texas at Austin.
Humpback Whales often become entangled in marine debris and fishing gear. While many reports of courageous rescuers that disentangle whales often makes the evening news, Northern Wake documents the work being done to prevent the problem in the first place.
The full documentary of Northern Wake will begin production Spring of 2013. Lou Douros filmed this sneak preview in August with director of photography, John Northrup. The guerilla funding for the film was provided by the generous backers:
The Oceanic Preservation Society (OPS) is launching a bold mission called The Heist, which will serve as the climax of its next documentary about the thousands of species that are blinking out before our eyes. It's estimated that half the species on the planet could disappear by the end of this century. But not if the OPS can help it.
The team that infiltrated The Cove is back to hatch a plan even bigger and bolder than the last. They are "bringing the sights and sounds of species on the brink of extinction to the front of the world stage, in an event that will forever change what it means to take action for the planet. Departing from the confines of a traditional documentary, the film will capture the drastic measures necessary for initiating cultural change while inspiring millions of viewers to join our mission."
The Oceanic Preservation Society needs backers to make this happen, but if you can't make a pledge, join their team by signing up for their newsletter, joining them on facebook or on twitter, and telling your friends about The Heist.
NATURE takes an intimate look at the snowy owl, a bird made popular by Harry Potter's faithful companion, Hedwig. "Snowies" stand out for their magical beauty, intelligence and charm. Viewers discover that these strikingly beautiful Arctic owls have a range of skills far more impressive than those required of magical messengers. It premieres Wednesday, October 24, 2012, on PBS.
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