Extreme Ice Survey Videos

In my daily procrastinations and surfing through geology news I came across some fantastic time-lapse videos made by Extreme Ice Survey of glaciers in Alaska, Greenland and Iceland. These excellent videos show a series of photos taken every hour during daylight hours. The photos are then put together to create a time lapse video that shows changes in the glacier over a period of a few years. The incredible changes that occur in such a short time are nothing short of awe-inspiring, and this is the best way to see them. These videos show glaciers, long thought of as a slow moving and stationary objects, as dynamic and rapidly changing environments, which is what they really are.

Extreme Ice Survey Logo

The makers of the videos are called "Extreme Ice Survey". Extreme Ice Survey is an organization dedicated to informing the public and scientists about the changes that occur in our environment. EIS was founded by acclaimed nature photojounalist James Balog in 2007 upon seeing the rapid changes in glaciers he was shooting for a National Geographic assignment.

The difficulties of filming in such landscapes are enormous both due to the remoteness of the location and the harsh conditions the crew and materials will experience. I can certainly attest to the challenge of hiking all of your gear into a remote location over the tundra to hang out in a muddy, wet place all day. However, in the case of the EIS crews the difficulties are twofold as they must equip their gear to weather the extreme conditions that it will have to face over the course of the year.

Thanks for reading and again, check out the Extreme Ice Surveys website for more videos, pictures and information.

Matt