The Why
Glaciers and ice are nature’s best thermometers and perhaps its most unambiguous indicator of climate change. The consequences of a warming climate on glaciers and ice are also a clear demonstration of the fact that climate change’s most significant effect on humans and the environment occurs through water. The rapid retreat of glaciers removes a crucial source of water for more than one-sixth of the world’s population, as well as affecting agriculture and hydropower derived from rivers fed by glacial water. It also introduces a range of hazards.
Newly formed lakes created by retreating glaciers risk bursting with devastating effects on the communities living below them. At a global level, the melting of land-based ice is a major contributing factor to the rise in sea levels, which affects both human settlements and the natural environment.introduces a range of hazards.
In order to tackle the challenges brought by climate change, people’s senses need to be tuned to the immediate effects of a warming world. The most effective means to influence people’s outlook and opinions is through events that jolt the imagination and call for collective action rather than through information dissemination, scientific discourse and reasoning.
The March 2011 earthquake in Japan is an example of an event affecting attitudes. An energy saving mood has swept the country following the incident it caused at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. Trains are running slower, the characteristic flashing neon-lights in Tokyo have gone dark and billboards at major crossings flash daily rates of power consumption. This shift in attitude can also be seen in substantially increased support for use of sustainable energy sources.
Hólárjökull 1991
Hólárjökull 2010
The illumination of a retreating glacier is an event that will send a visually and emotionally captivating message of the impact of climate change on our world. Lights and music will celebrate the glacier and its wonders while also communicating unequivocally that the world of ice is disappearing. This epic event will represent a change in the status quo, requiring a mental rethink and stimulating a dialogue across social networks on the issues at stake. Critically, the approach of using art and nature as a medium enables us to highlight the dramatic changes affecting the world’s water systems without entering into the politics of climate change.
Why Iceland
Iceland is uniquely positioned to play host to this event. Glaciers are a defining feature of Icelandic landscape and the nation’s identity; the country owes its name to their very presence. Glaciers are a source of pride, beauty, inspiration, water and power. Iceland thus has a message to convey about the impact of their demise. Glaciers are very accessible in Iceland making it possible to accommodate the technical requirements of international media and receive a guests of all categories.
From Gert Hof Light Show Vilnius Lithuania
Iceland in winter
“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