Over the last two decades, the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets have been losing mass, glaciers have continued to shrink almost worldwide, and Arctic sea ice and Northern Hemisphere spring snow cover have continued to decrease in extent.
IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (2013)
Celebrating Glaciers is a global campaign to raise awareness, educate and activate the general public in responding to retreating ice, changes in the global hydrological cycle and a changing climate. Through events combining art, science, and nature, Vox Naturae will celebrate glaciers, and their importance to our very existence.
Ice and seasonal snow currently account for up to 33% of the Earth’s total land surface and play a crucial role in making Earth hospitable. They help in cooling the planet by reflecting sunlight and by setting the background temperature of the atmosphere and the world’s oceans. Snow and glaciers contribute to the water supplies of hundreds of millions of people and are, for some communities, the only source of water during dry periods. Without ice, oceans would flood coastal zones around the globe putting the lives and homes of billions and a substantial fraction of global economic activity in severe jeopardy. Whole ecosystems, cultures, and industries are entirely dependent on ice and snow cover that is now retreating or changing at a rapid rate around the planet.
CELEBRATING
Ice is a dynamic entity that communicaties with the rest of the world. It is telling us about changes of great importance to all of humanity. Sadly, few hear its warning because the world of ice is remote and so many live isolated from nature.
We will be inspiring people around the world with the message from ice throuhe the Celebrating Glaciers campaign. It will be launched by placing an actual iceberg in New York City. This will give people far displaced from glaciers an opportunity to touch, see and feel a natural heritage that is rapidly disappearing. The icebergs will be sustainably harvested, coming primarily from the glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón in Iceland where icebergs float before drifting to the ocean where they rapidly melt. Other events are being designed in collaboration with partners around the globe.
The attention generated by the arrival of the iceberg and other events celebrating glaciers, will be harnessed by initiating a series of artistic and public education programs on ice, climate change, and water resource stress. Through our partnerships with Skype in the Classroom, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), National Geographic Kids, and several world-renowned museums we will engage millions of students around the globe throught an environmental curriculum, currently in development with the support of leading international experts, scientists and conservationists.
EVENTS
Changes in public mind sets on the environment have been driven by events that have jolted the public imagination and called for collective action, rather than the slow cumulative process of making observations and arguments.
Hot Topic Cold Comfort. Climate Change and Attitude Change, Norden top-level research initiative
Renowned artist Jack Hattingh will illuminate Svínafellsjökull glacier in Iceland using a combination of projector technology and cutting‐edge 3D mapping to create an unparalleled fantasy of ice. The light show’s original music will incorporate the sounds the glacier makes as it moves, cracks and melts. Thus the glacier’s voice will be communicated to a global audience.
This event combining lights, music, water, and a striking landscape, is unique in its artistic scale, artistic approach and in how it will shine a spotlight on glaciers. The aim is to inspire people to react to the impending disappearance of this beautiful and vital part of Earth’s ecosystem.
EPIC CULMINATION
December 2013, Vox Naturae delivers the first Skype lesson from a glacier.
TIME
Generating Momentum for the Campaign
The campaign is profiled by Explorer Mark Woods while travelling to the North Pole
PBS covers the jounrey of the Iceberg from Iceland to New York
Iceberg placed in New York and official launch of the campaign
Exhibition of hand-made rugs in she shape of glaciers by artist Sigrún L. Shanko
Other events currently in design
The Multi-Year Campaign
Epic lightshow of a glaicer in Iceland
By uniting an issue of global importance, a unique concept, with the exquisiteness of ice and original art, these events have the potential to reach an audience of hundreds of millions. Audiences will be engaged through traditional media (TV and print) and social media (Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube), as well as through joint outreach and cross-promotional activities, events, and experiences with our partner organizations. The educational component alone will reach over 1.2 million classrooms through the well-established networks offered by PBS and Skype.
OF THE WORLD´S POPULATION DEPENDS ON MELT FROM SNOW AND GLACIERS FOR THEIR WATER SUPPLY
OF THE SURFACE OF THE GREELAND ICE SHEET WAS AFFECTED BY MELTING IN JULY 2012
ALMOST ALL OF THE GLACIERS IN GLACIER NATIONAL PARK WILL BE GONE
YEARS UNTIL THE ARCTIC MIGHT BE FREE OF SEA ICE IN LATE SUMMER
OF THE WORLD´S FRESH WATER IS STORED IN GLACIERS
2020
100%
74%
25%
40
Glaciers are harbingers of major changes to the Earth’s system. Their rapid recession offers tangible and irrefutable evidence of the profound implications of these changes – this demands a response from us. It is, however, a call to action few can hear. Glaciers are remotely located and most people live isolated from nature. By staging eye-opening events, Vox Naturae will communicate nature’s call to action with a global audience. By combining art and ice, we will be stimulating a response by conveying elements of the natural world to bridge the gap between humankind and nature. The approach of using art and nature will enable us to highlight the dramatic changes taking place without entering into the often divisive politics or sciences surrounding climate change.
Complex issues of climate change and the hydrological cycle need to be given real and tangible representation in order to raise the collective public conscience. Those who care about mobilizing public opinion on the environment are seeking new and powerful messages in order to reinvigorate a stalled debate. The campaign is Celebrating Glaciers through which we will engage, educate, and activate millions of people around the world. The new message has been given a voice through ice, and it is telling us is that we must act now.
Ice asks no questions, presents no arguments, reads no newspapers, listens to no debates. It is not burdened by ideology and carries no political baggage as it changes from solid to liquid. It just melts.
A World Without Ice
Henry Pollack
The Peace Boat delivers lectures on peace, ice and security around the globey around the globe
Vox Naturae
100%
6 - Of the 19 cities that have hosted in the Winter Olympics in the past, only 6 will have enough snow to make them suitable venues for the winter games in 2080s