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In this project,
there is the great mystery of time.

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I photographed glaciers for 30 years,

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but only when I was here, in 2005,

4
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I understood for the first time that I could
stand at the base of a glacier

5
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and see the time right there, on the ice.

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I could feel the death of the glacier.

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Then I realized, "Oh my God,
You can take a photo of that."

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Can you frame this

9
00:01:02,420 --> 00:01:05,632
and say something that
touch the human heart.

10
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Much later 
of these landscapes disappearing,

11
00:01:14,070 --> 00:01:16,370
long after everyone
the living today disappear,

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there will be a record
of these transitory characteristics

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preserved in the photos.

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Subtitled by
Projection Booth

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Translation: Lzito

16
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I am now 69 years old.

17
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Almost a third of my existence
this land was dedicated to them.

18
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Okay, get to work.

19
00:02:09,986 --> 00:02:12,486
Working with Jim
It was always my dream job.

20
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National Geographic photographer,
cover story,

21
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going to Iceland,
Alaska and Greenland.

22
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Epic adventures at just 20 years old.

23
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There's all this other
path I learned from Jim,

24
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about seeing how he saw the world,
how he saw change happening,

25
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how he thought about time,
place and landscapes.

26
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The ruins of a lost city.

27
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Three years ago 
that we work together,

28
00:02:44,102 --> 00:02:46,827
so this week was a welcome one.

29
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The feeling is almost the same
from the first trip, 17 years ago.

30
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It's going to be hard to top this photo.

31
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But let's try.

32
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Let's go.

33
00:03:16,562 --> 00:03:20,302
There is a truth about nature
that I try to address.

34
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From the angle of art, science
and physical exploration.

35
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And, in a very significant sense,
from a spiritual angle.

36
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I'm not just here taking photos
and freezing your fingertips.

37
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I feel the spiritual essence
of this landscape all the time.

38
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It has a lot to see 
with what attracts me back.

39
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Iceland is a place
very special to me.

40
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It's like a first love.

41
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It's the first place where the ice,

42
00:04:02,469 --> 00:04:05,769
as a manifestation of change
climate, it made sense to me.

43
00:04:07,766 --> 00:04:10,965
Seeing those ice towers
falling apart,

44
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the Extreme Ice Survey was born.

45
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In the project, we placed 28 cameras
on 21 glaciers

46
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in Greenland, Iceland, the Alps,
Alaska and the Rocky Mountains.

47
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There we go.

48
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Cameras are programmed to
photograph every hour of light.

49
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In the end, we will have more than 200 thousand photos

50
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that will be assembled
in <i>time-lapse videos.</i>

51
00:04:53,150 --> 00:04:56,453
And this will be the record
of the world in flux.

52
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I never thought like that, but I feel
that my life has a purpose in this.

53
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It makes a lot of sense.

54
00:05:04,322 --> 00:05:06,048
That's why I came into the world.

55
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I'm worried 
with falling rocks.

56
00:05:08,255 --> 00:05:10,167
She was made
to withstand the impact.

57
00:05:23,904 --> 00:05:26,159
I joined the project
as director of photography

58
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to film everything 
what the team did.

59
00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:32,664
With the records, James began
to present the work.

60
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We never expected to be here
15 months later

61
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and have the type of material 
that we are about to show.

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We look at an ice cliff 
30 floors.

63
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This is what the glacier looks like
flowing into the sea and breaking,

64
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already in the retreat phase.

65
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From the public response,

66
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we knew we needed
turn it into a movie.

67
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We took all the videos and made
a documentary called <i>Chasing Ice.</i>

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<i>Our next guest 
is in this new documentary</i>

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<i>fascinating and captivating: Chasing Ice.</i>

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<i>Ladies and gentlemen,
say hello to James Balog.</i>

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<i>Thank you so much for coming.</i>

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<i>This film, Chasing Ice,
It's impressive.</i>

73
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<i>I read your book, saw your film
and suddenly I understood everything.</i>

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After the film's release,
Jim continued.

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We are in year 8 now.

76
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I have no idea where the end is.

77
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I just keep following.

78
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Each year, we produce 
hundreds of thousands of photos.

79
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<i>And when do you expect to complete
this project?</i>

80
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<i>We don't know if this project
will be completed someday.</i>

81
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This project brings a lot of stress, 
anxiety and risk.

82
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I had a fourth knee surgery.

83
00:06:54,952 --> 00:06:57,371
So I had to replace
the right hip.

84
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And besides, I got hit
by the dreaded word: cancer.

85
00:07:04,845 --> 00:07:08,145
I often thought that
the project had to end,

86
00:07:08,170 --> 00:07:10,985
because of my own tiredness.

87
00:07:12,276 --> 00:07:15,016
This has been a project
incredibly expensive.

88
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All these trips, 
they add up, add up, add up.

89
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I can't do this forever.

90
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This is January 2009.
Everything lining up: 2, 3, 4, 5.

91
00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:47,480
At the beginning of the Extreme Ice Survey,
they talked about climate change

92
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like something abstract 
and somewhere in the future.

93
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Cameras made it tangible

94
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the visual evidence
of climate change.

95
00:07:58,933 --> 00:08:02,853
This is the contribution that the
Extreme Ice Survey gave history.

96
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If that's all I take
to the grave, I'm happy.

97
00:08:11,553 --> 00:08:14,733
I realized it's time to say
goodbye to this project.

98
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So I started to withdraw
some cameras.

99
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And now there's only one camera left,
in Iceland,

100
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where it all started.

101
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I was dreading taking this camera out.

102
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Taking it away marks the end of something that
has been incredibly important.

103
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Much of his identity

104
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is physically and spiritually 
connected to that box and that camera.

105
00:09:03,490 --> 00:09:08,091
Therefore, I find it much more difficult
for him to close this part.

106
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The biggest lesson I learned
with James it is perseverance.

107
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It's difficult to work with him
and not learn it.

108
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You see him going to extremes
and to the limit,

109
00:09:40,770 --> 00:09:42,291
and he just keeps going.

110
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There are things you have to do.

111
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And realize that there are no shortcuts...

112
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for some things in life.

113
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The Extreme Ice Survey is about evidence.

114
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I was kind of skeptical
about climate change.

115
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I wasn't sure if it happened,
25 years ago.

116
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I didn't think humans could

117
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change the fundamental character 
of the physical system in which we live.

118
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And I was wrong.

119
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It's clear. We have the measurements.

120
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The facts are here.

121
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It's not something about which
if you have an opinion.

122
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It's just science.

123
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When looking at photos taken
just 20 years ago,

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the glaciers are robust and wide.

125
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As if they were moving forward.

126
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And now they've retreated 
and they are thin.

127
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They are melting.

128
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Around the world, glaciers
show the same trend.

129
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There is a global signal.

130
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The climate is warming
and the glaciers, shrinking.

131
00:11:03,291 --> 00:11:07,895
Since 1930, local farmers
volunteer

132
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to go once a year
take measurements and collect photographs.

133
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Some are very dedicated to it.

134
00:11:15,720 --> 00:11:19,832
They feel like they have
an adopted glacier.

135
00:11:23,330 --> 00:11:26,783
What Iceland is like
the land of volcanoes and glaciers,

136
00:11:26,887 --> 00:11:31,258
I feel like we are
losing part of their identity.

137
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Ice isn't just this big thing,
static, cold and dead.

138
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There is a life here.

139
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There is a geological life

140
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on a time scale 
different from what we perceive.

141
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They are living, breathing places.

142
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And they are dying.

143
00:12:23,270 --> 00:12:25,829
I literally think about this every day.

144
00:12:27,763 --> 00:12:31,182
And it's because of cancer
that I'm forced to think about it.

145
00:12:37,857 --> 00:12:42,307
I will never forget being
stunned in the office

146
00:12:42,332 --> 00:12:44,259
and walk down the hallway...

147
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...and see the nurse crying.

148
00:12:57,117 --> 00:13:02,432
James called me and I remember him
telling about the diagnosis.

149
00:13:02,719 --> 00:13:04,905
I've never received a call like that 
from anyone.

150
00:13:04,930 --> 00:13:08,112
I didn't know... And now?

151
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The chemo was terrible,
the medicines are terrible.

152
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He's just been fighting to survive.

153
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Unbelievable.

154
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Just look.

155
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There's the camera.

156
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Still standing.

157
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The box has been bleached
by ultraviolet.

158
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Wow.

159
00:14:28,173 --> 00:14:29,835
15 years. Who knew, huh?

160
00:14:30,486 --> 00:14:36,289
I never imagined we would still be
up here 15 years later.

161
00:14:48,135 --> 00:14:53,243
Thanks to modern medicine, 
cancer is not a death sentence

162
00:14:53,268 --> 00:14:55,627
instantly,
at least the kind I have.

163
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A price is still paid,
It's not easy.

164
00:15:00,060 --> 00:15:03,598
It's not like taking aspirin
once a day. Definitely not.

165
00:15:03,800 --> 00:15:07,461
It's still in me. Didn't go away
and never will.

166
00:15:08,313 --> 00:15:09,887
But I'm still here.

167
00:15:14,903 --> 00:15:18,953
Cancer taught me
how precious life is.

168
00:15:21,927 --> 00:15:27,161
The fact of opening your eyes in the morning
and see the sun...

169
00:15:27,926 --> 00:15:29,161
This is incredible.

170
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The key that unites them all.

171
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- The magic key.
- The last key.

172
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Good little camera, this one.

173
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Well, let's see if it works.

174
00:16:09,332 --> 00:16:10,315
Just look.

175
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Our.

176
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It's from this morning.

177
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We achieved.

178
00:16:33,523 --> 00:16:35,036
He finished.

179
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How can you?

180
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There's almost a feeling like...

181
00:16:38,891 --> 00:16:40,378
Did we make a mistake?

182
00:16:46,972 --> 00:16:48,695
Goodbye, my faithful companion.

183
00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:02,540
So much suffering
to put this here.

184
00:17:04,120 --> 00:17:05,373
And now...

185
00:17:06,076 --> 00:17:07,157
It's over.

186
00:17:29,283 --> 00:17:32,995
Since I went to Iceland in 2005,

187
00:17:33,642 --> 00:17:39,450
we lost something around
13 trillion tons of ice,

188
00:17:39,490 --> 00:17:44,531
which has already raised sea levels
by more than 5 centimeters.

189
00:17:45,214 --> 00:17:50,261
This is real, specific,
measured, quantitative, not hypothetical.

190
00:17:50,622 --> 00:17:52,955
It's happening as we live.

191
00:17:53,050 --> 00:17:54,809
It's a monumental change.

192
00:17:55,809 --> 00:17:57,687
Here's visual proof.

193
00:17:58,403 --> 00:18:00,534
15 years of filming.

194
00:18:00,756 --> 00:18:02,401
That's what the ice was like.

195
00:18:27,253 --> 00:18:31,213
Without the photo, your mind wouldn't retain
the memory of what was there.

196
00:19:13,866 --> 00:19:16,133
This was Columbia in 2008.

197
00:19:19,773 --> 00:19:21,955
This is what 2019 has become.

198
00:19:24,260 --> 00:19:27,175
I never imagined seeing
rivers and lakes form

199
00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:30,634
During this project,
and here they are.

200
00:21:03,750 --> 00:21:08,470
The ice will be a representation
for people, 100 years from now,

201
00:21:08,517 --> 00:21:11,248
of how this civilization failed.

202
00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:16,973
<i>Iceland unveiled a plaque 
on the Okjökull glacier,</i>

203
00:21:16,998 --> 00:21:21,738
<i>which was the first in the country 
melting due to climate change.</i>

204
00:21:21,778 --> 00:21:26,625
<i>The Okjökull glacier covered 15 km²
from the mountainside.</i>

205
00:21:26,650 --> 00:21:31,347
<i>Now it is barely 1 km²
and less than 15 meters deep.</i>

206
00:21:31,803 --> 00:21:35,687
In the last 20 years,
we lost several glaciers.

207
00:21:35,919 --> 00:21:37,685
In fact, we had the idea of doing

208
00:21:37,710 --> 00:21:43,750
a list of threatened glaciers
and dead glaciers.

209
00:21:44,413 --> 00:21:47,599
A LETTER TO THE FUTURE:
OK IT'S THE FIRST TO LOSE GLACIER STATUS

210
00:21:47,696 --> 00:21:51,764
IN THE NEXT 200 YEARS, IT IS EXPECTED THAT ALL
OUR GLACIERS FOLLOW THE SAME PATH

211
00:21:51,827 --> 00:21:55,756
THIS MONUMENT ATTESTS THAT WE KNOW
WHAT HAPPENS AND WHAT SHOULD BE DONE

212
00:21:55,824 --> 00:21:59,016
ONLY YOU KNOW IF WE CAN
AUGUST 2019 - 415 PPM CO2

213
00:21:59,095 --> 00:22:02,315
I think we have the glasses
to read all this,

214
00:22:02,340 --> 00:22:06,374
but somehow,
we couldn't translate

215
00:22:06,399 --> 00:22:10,859
in a language that everyone understands.

216
00:22:13,872 --> 00:22:18,737
People know what they can do,
but they don't.

217
00:22:20,786 --> 00:22:22,546
We can be much better.

218
00:22:35,479 --> 00:22:38,279
No photo changes the world alone.

219
00:22:38,846 --> 00:22:41,201
Nobody changes the world alone.

220
00:22:42,613 --> 00:22:46,412
My contribution was
with my photography and stories.

221
00:22:47,580 --> 00:22:49,880
Each of us 
has a story to tell.

222
00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:56,206
And together, all our stories
can reshape the future.

223
00:23:08,773 --> 00:23:11,639
THE EXTREME ICE SURVEY 
INSTALLED 72 CAMERAS

224
00:23:11,664 --> 00:23:14,910
IN 48 GLACIERS, 
GENERATING 1.75 MILLION PHOTOS

225
00:23:15,406 --> 00:23:18,198
HUNDREDS OF PHOTOS 
WERE SELECTED

226
00:23:18,223 --> 00:23:21,094
FOR THE PERMANENT COLLECTION
FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

227
00:23:21,660 --> 00:23:24,281
WITH STRICT MEDICAL TREATMENT,

228
00:23:24,334 --> 00:23:26,950
JAMES' CANCER IS IN REMISSION

229
00:23:29,104 --> 00:23:33,196
IN 2023, JAMES
AND THE GLACIOLOGICAL SOCIETY

230
00:23:33,250 --> 00:23:36,804
START A PROJECT
CITIZEN SCIENCE

231
00:23:38,478 --> 00:23:41,535
THE TEAM INSTALLED
MONUMENTS IN ICELAND

232
00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:44,622
TO COMPOSE 
A COLLABORATIVE <i>TIME-LAPSE</i>

233
00:23:48,592 --> 00:23:53,690
WITH THIS PROJECT, THE LEGACY OF ICE
WILL ENDURE FOR GENERATIONS

234
00:23:58,039 --> 00:24:00,039
Subtitled by
Projection Booth