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The most dramatic proof of our current climate catastrophe ever caught on camera

It was the largest such event ever filmed.

Exposure Labs

A sheet of ice the size of Manhattan tumbled into the sea.

Photographer James Balog and his crew were hanging out near a glacier when their camera captured something extraordinary. They were in Greenland, gathering footage from the time-lapse they'd positioned all around the Arctic Circle for the last several years.

They were also there to shoot scenes for a documentary. And while they were hoping to capture some cool moments on camera, no one expected a huge chunk of a glacier to snap clean off and slide into the ocean right in front of their eyes.

science, calving, glaciers, climate change A glacier falls into the sea.Exposure Labs

ocean swells, sea level, erosion, going green Massive swells created by large chunks of glacier falling away.Exposure Labs

It was the glacier calving event ever filmed.

For nearly an hour and 15 minutes, Balog and his crew stood by and watched as a piece of ice the size of lower Manhattan — but with ice-equivalent buildings that were two to three times taller than that — simply melted away.

geological catastrophe, earth, glacier melt A representation demonstrating the massive size of ice that broke off into the sea.Exposure Labs

As far as anyone knows, this was an unprecedented geological catastrophe, and they caught the entire thing on tape. It won't be the last time something like this happens either.

But once upon a time, Balog was openly skeptical about that "global warming" thing.

Balog had a reputation since the early 1980s as a conservationist and environmental photographer. And for nearly 20 years, he'd scoffed at the climate change heralds shouting, "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!"

"I didn't think that humans were capable of changing the basic physics and chemistry of this entire, huge planet. It didn't seem probable, it didn't seem possible," he explained in the 2012 documentary film "Chasing Ice."

There was too much margin of error in the computer simulations, too many other pressing problems to address about our beautiful planet. As far as he was concerned, these melodramatic doomsayers were distracting from the real issues.

That was then.

Greenland, Antarctica, glacier calving The glacier ice continues to erode away.Exposure Labs

In fact, it wasn't until 2005 that Balog became a believer.

He was sent on a photo expedition of the Arctic by National Geographic, and that first northern trip was more than enough to see the damage for himself.

"It was about actual tangible physical evidence that was preserved in the ice cores of Greenland and Antarctica," he said in a 2012 interview with ThinkProgress. "That was really the smoking gun showing how far outside normal, natural variation the world has become. And that's when I started to really get the message that this was something consequential and serious and needed to be dealt with."

Some of that evidence may have been the fact that more Arctic landmass has melted away in the last 20 years than the previous 10,000 years.

Watch the video of the event of the glacier calving below:

- YouTubeyoutu.be

Balog has continued documenting changes in the Earth's seas, ice sheets, and other environmental indicators of climate change and spoke with CBS about his work in 2024. "When I started the extreme ice survey, climate change was still seen as a pretty abstract thing," Balog said. "It was something that was going to happen 20 or 30 or 50 years from now and my god when you could start to realize no, it's happening right now right in front of us. It put a real marker in time to say this is now, this is real."

Balog hopes that his photographic record will serve as a record of the present and a message to the future.

"I want to be able to say to those people of the distant future look not everybody in this time in you know 2024 was terribly conscious or cared about climate change," he said, "but I want to be able to say that this mind, these eyes, and this heart was paying attention."

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

This article originally appeared 10 years ago and has been updated.

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What happens when you freeze the Earth?You get the first animals.

Image created from Pixabay.

Science looks at the building blocks to life on Earth.

Life on Earth is tough as nails.

From the crushing, soulless depths of the ocean to the highest reaches of the atmosphere, from boiling hot springs to Antarctic wastes — even in the radioactive heart of Chernobyl, life thrives. It finds a way. It laughs in the face of adversity.

Turns out, that amazing tenacity is kind of our birthright as Earthlings. To understand why, you've got to go back to Snowball Earth.

720 million years ago, the Earth was a pretty different place. For one thing, it was in the icy grips of something called the Cryogenian period.

ice age, environment, algae, earth freezing, science, global warming

Saturn's moon Enceladus. 720 million years ago, Earth's surface might have looked strikingly similar.

Photo from NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute.

Living on Earth would have been tough. For 85 million years, the planet was locked in a grinding cycle of massive freezing and thawing. This was no mere chill. At its height, the entire planet may have been frozen over with glaciers marching over even the equator. The alternative? Greenhouse conditions caused by massive volcanic eruptions.

Sounds like a bad time to be around. And, yet, life didn't just endure. This period happens to coincide with one of life's greatest moments — the jump from single-celled bacteria and microbes to multicellular life. Plants, animals, mushrooms, just about everything you can see in your day-to-day life is a descendant of this great leap forward.

But this triumph in the face of adversity wasn't a coincidence. At least, that's what a letter published Aug. 16, 2017 in the science journal Nature says.

Life didn't just endure this cycle of ice and fire. It may have flourished because of it.

The reason, the authors say, has to do with algae. For the three billion years before, single-celled life had scrimped by on whatever energy and nutrients it could grab. There wasn't much to go around.

But things were going to change. As the glaciers marched back and forth across the surface of the planet, they acted like giant belt sanders, grinding mountain into powder — powder that was chock-full of minerals like phosphates. When the cycle flipped and the volcanoes took over, the glaciers melted and dumped all those nutrients straight into the ocean.

Where the algae could get it.

Which then spread like never before.

Which was then food for everything else. Suddenly there was plenty to go around and life began to eat. And thrive. And change. And, over time, that life made the leap from tiny, lonely microbes to the ancestors of all the multicellular life we see today.

We don't just endure hard times. They give us the fuel we need to grow.

This is just one possible explanation, but the scientists say it's backed up by evidence. Chemical signatures in the rocks show a massive algal bloom around this time. Other ideas might come in later and disprove it, of course — that's just how science goes.

But if this is true, then it just makes life on Earth that much more incredible.

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This glacier repeatedly melts and freezes in a new form. The results are stunning.

True

If you follow "Game of Thrones," you know some scenes call for some pretty remote — not to mention freezing — locations.

I know, Jon Snow. I know. GIF via "Game of Thrones."

They look pretty majestic on screen, but one ice-cold location in particular looks even cooler in real life.

This is Vatnajökull,the largest glacier mass in all of Europe.

All images via Mikael Buck, used with permission.

Pretty spectacular, right? I mean, look at this place!

These incredible images were taken by British photographer Mikael Buck, who was the first to capture these stunning caves from the inside using a special sensor technology.

And he had to go through quite the trek just to get there.

"Accessing the best caves requires a two-hour hike each way over the glacier. To do this, you need to rope up to your hiking partners, carry an ice axe and wear crampons," Buck wrote in an email.

A local guide, Einar Rúnar Sigurðsson, made the journey possible and helped Buck go deep into the glacier in order to access the most impressive ice caves.

Because the caves can only be accessed during winter — daylight hours are limited — they had to race time to get the images Buck wanted and get back while it was still light.

But when Buck actually set foot inside the ice caves, it was pure magic.

"Entering the caves for the first time, you step into a dark hole and suddenly you are in an alien landscape. It was unlike anything I've seen before and the colours are just as vivid in real life as in the images," wrote Buck.

"The shapes and textures where the water has slowly eroded parts of the ice are amazing. If we had the time I could have happily spent hours in there staring at all the cracks and crevasses."

The caves presented some unusual challenges though.

"Inside the ice caves themselves, things can get very claustrophobic," Buck added. "At one point I was on my hands and knees crawling under the ice above in order to get to another part of the cave."

"Game of Thrones" filmed in the surrounding areas and not inside the actual caves (maybe because they would look better for an alien movie). But even if they had, the cave they would've shot then is different from the way it looks today.

You see, the appearance of Vatnajökull is constantly changing.

"Each summer, the ice moves and new caves form and old ones collapse and are never seen again," explained Buck. "The caves themselves are formed where water runs off from the surrounding slopes and into the sides of the glacier."

The sheer magnitude and beauty of these ice caves put things into perspective for Buck.

"It was an awe inspiring trip and an experience I won't be forgetting in a hurry," he said.

"As with any trip to somewhere so wild and remote, the concerns of life in the city and the world of work seem pretty trivial on your return."

As beautiful as these morphing formations may be, they may not be around forever.

Glaciologist Oddur Sigurðsson has been very outspoken about the significant shrinking that Icelandic glaciers have undergone in the past 20 years. The culprit? You guessed it: climate change.

"The caves themselves are not formed as a result of climate change, but the glacier itself is rapidly retreating," noted Buck. "Our guide pointed out the distance the glacier had retreated in his lifetime and it was quite staggering."

At the current rate the world is going, these glaciers may be completely wiped out in 200 years.

That means we would lose one of Earth's most amazing natural wonders just like that.

These images are breathtaking, but they also paint a bigger picture.

Fortunately, some necessary steps are being taken to save these marvels for future generations. The Kolviður Fund, for instance, has made it their mission to reduce CO2 emissions in Iceland by improving their forest ecosystems. By planting more trees strategically, they hope to offset the CO2 emissions generated by cars and flights and preserve the glaciers.

And works such as Buck's photo series are able to shine a light on this important cause. By spotlighting just how magnificent these remote locations are, people can better understand their value to the world and just how worth saving they really are.

So yes, winter may be coming. But in this particular case, we hope it's here to stay.

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These 14 mesmerizing photos show Earth's many forces juxtaposed against each other.

We all contain contradictions. It's part of what makes us human.

Walt Whitman wrote, in "Song of Myself":

"Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)"

And it's true. You can be conservative but want to stop climate change. You can be liberal but support rights for gun owners. And though at first glance this juxtaposition, these side-by-side comparisons, might seem fraught, these combinations can also be beautiful.

In fact, the entirety of planet Earth has always been made up of a harmony of forces: fire and ice, wind and water.

These 14 images show that these contradictions and juxtapositions aren't just OK — they're a natural part of the world we live in.

1. Check out the soothing balance between lights deep in Antarctica. One above. One below. Both beautiful.

Image from NOAA Photo Library/Flickr.

2. Meanwhile, in Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, fire and ice – ancient mythical enemies – create an amazing vista together.

Image from iStock.

3. And yeah, lava can be destructive, like this fiery eruption winding its way through a vibrantly green forest.

Lava from the 2007 eruption of the Piton de la Fournaise volcano on the island of Réunion. Image from Richard Bouhet/AFP/Getty Images.

4. But though fire is powerful, forests are nothing if not resilient. Like this new tree growing after a fire wiped out a forest in Australia.

Photo by Lucas Dawson/Getty Images.

5. In fact, fires open up the forest canopy, giving many plants a chance to grow, like these beautiful wildflowers. Some plants, like lodgepole pines, actually require fires to spread their seeds.

Image from iStock.

In many places it's the juxtaposition between these two forces — plant life and fire — that create truly beautiful forests.

6. Sometimes places on Earth seem to defy the laws of physics, like these incredible, balancing mountains in China where green trees thrive against the pale, steep, rock face.

Zhangjiajie National Park, China. Image from iStock.

7. Our weather is a balancing act too.

A storm approaches Sydney, Australia. Image from Cameron Spencer/Getty Images.

8. A balance that can be both beautiful and tremendous.

Image from iStock.

9. Sometimes it's a balance of what's inside versus outside. This infrared scan of a hurricane highlights the incredible juxtaposition between the howling winds and peaceful eye of the storm.

Image from NOAA Picture Library/Flickr.

10. Sometimes it's the opposite. Things are peaceful outside and roiling inside.

Image from iStock.

11. The ocean is also great at showing this juxtaposition. The Earth is really two worlds, after all — one above the waves and one below.

Image from iStock.

12. Not to mention the way the human world bumps up against the wild one just beyond our carefully constructed borders.

Image from Ryan Pierse/Getty Images.

13. In the grand scheme of things, humankind is just another part of the balance. Balanced both with ourselves...

A single shot shows both the new and the old in Rio de Janeiro. Image from iStock.

14. ...and with nature. Nairobi is one of Africa's fastest growing cities, but just outside its borders is the wilderness of the savanna.

Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images.

It's sometimes easy to see the divisions in everyday life and wish we could all be the same. It's tempting to say that we don't need labels or boxes because they divide us, but when you step back and look at Earth from a distance, you can see that it's the balance of multiple different forces that brings it — that brings us — together to make it beautiful.

Heroes

Scientists have found a lake. In Antarctica. Here's why that's weird and exciting.

Scientists have found something mysterious buried underneath the Antarctic ice.

I know this is how a lot of horror movies tend to start, but don't panic. British scientists were investigating a part of Antarctica known as Princess Elizabeth Land.

Princess Elizabeth II stands at the right in this picture from 1933, two years after the land was named after her. You probably know her better as Queen Elizabeth II, the current British monarch. Image from AFP/Getty Images.

Anyway, scientists found what they think is an immense canyon system below Antarctica. And, buried deep within it, a subglacial lake.

This pond is located under a glacier in Norway. Now imagine this much darker, deeper, and nearly 90 miles long. Image from Guttorm Flatabø/Flickr.

The scientists are inferring the lake's presence from subtle patterns they've observed in the ice. To confirm whether or not the lake exists, another team of American and Chinese scientists have flown a plane mounted with ice-penetrating radar over the area to get recordings. They're going to meet up in May to share the data.

If the recordings confirm it exists, the lake will be part of an immense 680-mile canyon system buried under the ice. Current measurements put the lake at about 87 miles long and 12 miles wide.

This isn't the first lake scientists have found trapped under the ice.

Another lake, Lake Vostok, is even larger than this new potential lake, measuring in at a whopping 160 by 30 miles and covered in nearly 13,000 feet of ice. There are other lakes too, including Lake Whillans and Lake Ellsworth.

An artist's diagram of drilling to Lake Vostok. Image from U.S. National Science Foundation/WIkimedia Commons.

Scientists are excited about these undiscovered lakes because they have the potential to be full of weird, isolated creatures.

A student tests the type of submersible used to explore subglacial Lake Whillans. Image from NASA/JPL-Caltech.

In 2013 an American team drilled over 700 meters into Lake Whillans, another Antarctic lake. They found thousands of different types of microbes living in the brutal, cold darkness.

These are organisms that might have not had any contact with the outside world since they were covered in ice over 15 million years ago.

The first glimpse of Lake Whillans' bottom. Image from NASA/JPL-Caltech/Wikimedia Commons.

If scientists were able to find that much life that by drilling down into other lakes, it's definitely possible that more strange, unseen critters could be living in this newly discovered lake as well.

By studying these mysterious, icy denizens, scientists can learn about how life evolves in isolation and how creatures deal with extreme cold and dark. What do these microbes they eat, for example? How did they get trapped? Do all Antarctic lakes contain life? If not, what makes the ones that do so special?

These lakes can help us understand how life works on Earth but also hint at what kinds of life we might find out in space.

Will the oceans of Europa look like Lake Whillans? Image from NASA/JPL-Caltech/SETI Institute/Wikimedia Commons.

Antarctica has been home to conspiracies, alien stories, and fictional lost worlds for as long as we've known about it. But it turns out that the real-life continent is just as mysterious as any movie.

Getting to know how life survives in such harsh conditions here on Earth will better prepare us to identify and interact with life on other planets.

It’ll take us a while yet before we come close to encountering creatures on other planets, but it’s cool to remember that there are still places here on Earth we have yet to discover.

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15 national parks that'll remind you how beautiful the world really is.

Happy 100th birthday, National Park Service.

Nature is awesome, right?

Fresh air, picturesque sights, local flora and fauna — it's all pretty great, but we don't give nearly enough credit to the people who keep it that way. Pardon the pun, but nature just doesn't come, uh, naturally.

100 years ago, the U.S. National Park Service was formed and tasked with conserving "America the Beautiful." They've been doing a pretty bang-up job of it ever since.

Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

In honor of the agency's 100th anniversary, here's a list of 15 national parks (and a national seashore) you'll want to add to your bucket list.

1. Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

Warm weather? Check (it's Hawaii, after all). Beaches? Check. THE AWESOMENESS THAT IS TWO ACTIVE VOLCANOES? Check.

Image by jshyun/Flickr.

2. Glacier National Park

Here's one you may want to check out sooner rather than later. Why? Well, the park used to be home to somewhere around 150 glaciers! Now? There are just 25. In the future, there may be none. To paraphrase "Total Recall," get your ass to Montana.

Image by Andrew Kalat/Flickr.

3. Channel Islands National Park

This park is made up of five of the eight Channel Islands off the California coast. Why just five of eight? Well, you know how in high school, there'd be kids who were like, "You can't sit with us!" at lunch and then you'd silently cry in the bathroom and eat your lunch alone in the auditorium? (OK, those last few parts are probably just me...) It's my guess that it's something like that, but I'm probably wrong. But in addition to that, there are beautiful beaches, stunning rock formations, and warm weather.

Image by David Wan/Flickr.

4. Everglades National Park

If you're ever in the mood to see an alligator up close (but hopefully not too close), Everglades National Park is a great place to do it. The swampy Florida ecosystem is unique, and not exactly what you'd find in Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, or wherever it is you, dear reader, are from.

Image by Diana Robinson/Flickr.

5. Zion National Park

Combining forests with epic rock formations, Zion National Park is a must-see stop should you be traveling through southern Utah.

Image by Zion National Park/Flickr.

6. Cape Cod National Seashore

What makes this eastern Massachusetts seascape so special? Well, it happens to be home to Marconi Station (if you happened to read that as "macaroni station," you are not alone), the site of the first two-way transatlantic radio transmission, and that's just way cool. It's known for its bike trails along with its views of Cape Cod Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.

Image by Jasperdo/Flickr.

7. North Cascades National Park

I'm going to be honest: I put this on the list simply because it's home to the Picket mountain range. What's so interesting about that, you ask? The names of the mountains within: Mount Fury, Mount Challenger, Poltergeist Pinnacle, Mount Terror, Ghost Peak, and Phantom Peak! POLTERGEIST FREAKIN' PINNACLE? That sounds like a badass roller coaster, and now I want to ride.

Image by Rachel Samanyi/Flickr.

8. Denali National Park and Preserve

Denali National Park in Alaska is home to Denali (obviously), the highest mountain in North America. It's also home to a little bit of everything else: forests, glaciers, rock formations, mountains. Plus, it's absolutely gorgeous.

Image by Denali National Park/Flickr.

9. Grand Canyon National Park

It's the Grand freakin' Canyon. NEXT!

Image by Grand Canyon National Park/Flickr.

10. Arches National Park

As its name would suggest, Arches National Park is home to a number of arch-shaped rock formations. The coolest thing, though, is probably Balanced Rock, a formation that includes an upper portion "balancing" on the lower. If you visit, please do not throw rocks at Balanced Rock in hopes of toppling it. Resist the urge!

Image by Arches National Park/Flickr (cropped).

11. Yosemite National Park

If you're a fan of giant sequoia trees, this is the park for you. In addition to some glorious rock formations, there are three groves of ancient sequoia trees in Yosemite. With its high granite cliffs, the park provides some of the most amazing views you'll see anywhere on Earth.

Image by Matt Savener/Upworthy.

12. Yellowstone National Park

This is the O.G. of national parks, going way back to 1872. It's home to some kickass geysers (what up, Old Faithful), hot springs, incredible wildlife, and so much more. You've heard of it ... now get with it and visit!

Image by Yellowstone National Park/Flickr.

13. Acadia National Park

Here's one very special reason to visit Acadia: the sunrise. Cadillac Mountain is located within the Maine park, and it's the first place in the United States where you can see the sun rise each morning. How awesome is that?

Image by TravelUSA/Flickr.

14. Pinnacles National Park

Pinnacles is a newbie to the National Park System (it was added in 2013), but it still brings the heat when it comes to dishing out that national park goodness. Mountains? Got 'em. Trees? Yep. What makes it special, though? Well, it's home to the success story of the almost-extinct but slowly recovering California condors. Victory!

Image by Stanislav Sedov/Flickr.

15. Joshua Tree National Park

This desert national park is found in Southern California. Named after the Joshua tree (no, not the U2 album), it's a pretty cool change of pace from your usual national park experience.

Photo by David McNew/Getty Images.

So happy birthday, National Park Service! You're looking good for a centenarian! Here's to your continued success!

Interested in visiting a nearby national park? Check out the list of free days at parks around the country.

We have a small favor to ask of you

glacier

It was the largest such event ever filmed.

It was the glacier calving event ever filmed.

But once upon a time, Balog was openly skeptical about that "global warming" thing.

In fact, it wasn't until 2005 that Balog became a believer.

Watch the video of the event of the glacier calving below:

Life on Earth is tough as nails.

Turns out, that amazing tenacity is kind of our birthright as Earthlings. To understand why, you've got to go back to Snowball Earth.

Life didn't just endure this cycle of ice and fire. It may have flourished because of it.

We don't just endure hard times. They give us the fuel we need to grow.

If you follow "Game of Thrones," you know some scenes call for some pretty remote — not to mention freezing — locations.

This is Vatnajökull,the largest glacier mass in all of Europe.

These incredible images were taken by British photographer Mikael Buck, who was the first to capture these stunning caves from the inside using a special sensor technology.

Because the caves can only be accessed during winter — daylight hours are limited — they had to race time to get the images Buck wanted and get back while it was still light.

The caves presented some unusual challenges though.

The sheer magnitude and beauty of these ice caves put things into perspective for Buck.

As beautiful as these morphing formations may be, they may not be around forever.

These images are breathtaking, but they also paint a bigger picture.

We all contain contradictions. It's part of what makes us human.

1. Check out the soothing balance between lights deep in Antarctica. One above. One below. Both beautiful.

2. Meanwhile, in Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula, fire and ice – ancient mythical enemies – create an amazing vista together.

3. And yeah, lava can be destructive, like this fiery eruption winding its way through a vibrantly green forest.

4. But though fire is powerful, forests are nothing if not resilient. Like this new tree growing after a fire wiped out a forest in Australia.

5. In fact, fires open up the forest canopy, giving many plants a chance to grow, like these beautiful wildflowers. Some plants, like lodgepole pines, actually require fires to spread their seeds.

6. Sometimes places on Earth seem to defy the laws of physics, like these incredible, balancing mountains in China where green trees thrive against the pale, steep, rock face.

7. Our weather is a balancing act too.

8. A balance that can be both beautiful and tremendous.

9. Sometimes it's a balance of what's inside versus outside. This infrared scan of a hurricane highlights the incredible juxtaposition between the howling winds and peaceful eye of the storm.

10. Sometimes it's the opposite. Things are peaceful outside and roiling inside.

11. The ocean is also great at showing this juxtaposition. The Earth is really two worlds, after all — one above the waves and one below.

12. Not to mention the way the human world bumps up against the wild one just beyond our carefully constructed borders.

13. In the grand scheme of things, humankind is just another part of the balance. Balanced both with ourselves...

14. ...and with nature. Nairobi is one of Africa's fastest growing cities, but just outside its borders is the wilderness of the savanna.

Scientists have found something mysterious buried underneath the Antarctic ice.

Anyway, scientists found what they think is an immense canyon system below Antarctica. And, buried deep within it, a subglacial lake.

This isn't the first lake scientists have found trapped under the ice.

Scientists are excited about these undiscovered lakes because they have the potential to be full of weird, isolated creatures.

These are organisms that might have not had any contact with the outside world since they were covered in ice over 15 million years ago.

These lakes can help us understand how life works on Earth but also hint at what kinds of life we might find out in space.

It’ll take us a while yet before we come close to encountering creatures on other planets, but it’s cool to remember that there are still places here on Earth we have yet to discover.

Happy 100th birthday, National Park Service.

Nature is awesome, right?

In honor of the agency's 100th anniversary, here's a list of 15 national parks (and a national seashore) you'll want to add to your bucket list.

1. Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

2. Glacier National Park

3. Channel Islands National Park

4. Everglades National Park

5. Zion National Park

6. Cape Cod National Seashore

7. North Cascades National Park

8. Denali National Park and Preserve

9. Grand Canyon National Park

10. Arches National Park

11. Yosemite National Park

12. Yellowstone National Park

13. Acadia National Park

14. Pinnacles National Park

15. Joshua Tree National Park

So happy birthday, National Park Service! You're looking good for a centenarian! Here's to your continued success!