The mighty collision of two glaciers 鈥� Kongsbreen and Kronebreen 鈥� in Svalbard, Norway, is captured in a woven patchwork of black and white images taken by the in 1967 (main picture, top). Nearly six decades later, a striking panorama of the same site reveals the dramatic ice loss in the Arctic due to climate change (main picture, bottom).
鈥淚t was difficult to witness because it was such a stark change from the archive photos,鈥� says , the photographer who captured the most recent shot of the two glaciers. 鈥淵ou get a sense of how it has been and how it should be 鈥� it鈥檚 a completely different landscape now.鈥�
The sharp contrast between the two panoramas demonstrates the disproportionate impact of rising temperatures in the Arctic. The region is warming more than twice as quickly as the rest of the planet in a phenomenon called Arctic amplification. This is largely due to the loss of sea ice, which becomes increasingly vulnerable to melting as it continues to dwindle. This August was the warmest ever recorded in the Svalbard region, says 脜slund.
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鈥淚 hope these photos serve as a reminder for people that we can all do something to collectively try to turn this tide around,鈥� says 脜slund. 鈥淲e have a global responsibility to slow climate change. I don鈥檛 think it is too late.鈥�
