Global warming picture

Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. It often indicates a user profile. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • All • A-Z • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Featured • • About • • • • • • • • Follow • • • • • • • • Subscriptions • • ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK NOW: A hillside of dead pine trees killed by Mountain Pine Beetles shows the effects of warming temperatures in the mountain ranges. In the past, freezing temperatures reduced insect populations. The beetles are now able to survive the milder winters leading to devastating infestations. THE GREAT BARRIER REEF BEFORE: Considered one of the most biologically-diverse regions in the world, Australia's Great Barrier Reef covers around 135,000 square miles, or an area that's nearly the size of Texas. Ocean acidification and temperature increases from climate change are the reef's biggest long-term threat. THE ALPS NOW: The Swiss peak, pictured on Aug. 18, 2005, is eroding as a result of melting glacier water at the summit. The water sinks into cracks and creates even bigger fissures after several cycles of freezing and thawing. The disintegration of Matterhorn is anecdotal of the effects of climate change in most of the Alps. MUIR GLACIER NOW: By 2005, Muir Glacier had retreated more than 31 miles. Although this picture was taken from the same location as the early black-and-white photograph, the g...

Teafua Tanu is an islet of Tokelau used by residents of Fakaofo atoll as a Catholic cemetery. Over the past two decades, the territory of Tokelau has proved extremely vulnerable to climate change and rising sea levels owing, partly, to its being a small land mass surrounded by ocean, and its location in a region prone to natural disasters. Vlad Sokhin hide caption toggle caption Vlad Sokhin Teafua Tanu is an islet of Tokelau used by residents of Fakaofo atoll as a Catholic cemetery. Over the past two decades, the territory of Tokelau has proved extremely vulnerable to climate change and rising sea levels owing, partly, to its being a small land mass surrounded by ocean, and its location in a region prone to natural disasters. Vlad Sokhin Editor's note: As the 2021 U.N. Climate Change Summit convenes, NPR's Picture Show is taking a look at work by artists and visual journalists that highlight climate change. Vlad Sokhin's interest in climate change came from his own global upbringing. Born in Russia, and having spent formative years in Portugal, Sokhin made a career as a documentary photographer capturing health and human rights issues in Europe, Africa and Asia. Yet it was a 2013 assignment to cover deforestation in Papua New Guinea that convinced him to train his lens on humanity's impact on the planet. "I saw how the environment was changing because of illegal logging," Sokhin tells NPR. "But the big picture wasn't there. I thought, 'What if I extend a little bit?'" Eigh...