I am a regular contributing photographer to the @EverydayClimateChange Instagram feed. Everyday Climate Change, founded by James Whitlow Delano, is a collaborative Instagram feed that launched in January 2015. The group now communicates to over 100 thousand people on a regular basis and has been featured in numerous major international publications.
The feed features work from photographers who share images made across the seven continents. The feed presents visual evidence that climate change doesn't just happen "over there", but that it's happening "right here". Everyday Climate Change not only documents effects but also discusses and presents adaptations and solutions to mitigate global warming in our world.
Everyday Climate Change I am a regular contributing photographer to the @EverydayClimateChange Instagram feed. Everyday Climate Change, founded by James Whitlow Delano, is a collaborative Instagram feed that launched in January 2015. The group now communicates to over 100 thousand p...
Everyday Climate Change
I am a regular contributing photographer to the @EverydayClimateChange Instagram feed. Everyday Climate Change, founded by James Whitlow Delano, is a collaborative Instagram feed that launched in January 2015. The group now communicates to over 100 thousand people on a regular basis and has been featured in numerous major international publications.
The feed features work from photographers who share images made across the seven continents. The feed presents visual evidence that climate change doesn't just happen "over there", but that it's happening "right here". Everyday Climate Change not only documents effects but also discusses and presents adaptations and solutions to mitigate global warming in our world.
Here are some selected images.
Photo by Ashley Crowther @ashleycrowtherorg for @everydayclimatechange: Yak's carry supplies high into the Everest Himalayan region located in Nepal. The Himalayas have long been called the Earth's third pole, as contains the world's largest stores of ice that are located outside of the polar regions. Due to this vast amount of ice the glaciers feed some of the largest rivers across Asia, including the Ganges, Yangtze, Indus, and Bhramaputra. These rivers and scores more, which cross international boundaries, support the lives of billions of people from agriculture to industry. As climate change intensifies, this gigantic store of ice that is locked up in the mountains is quickly melting. The vast majority of glaciers across the Himalayan region are retreating at a rapid pace. The melting, in the short-term, may provide greater access to water resources throughout Asia. However, in the long-term, the threat that global warming poses on the Earth's third pole threatens the water security of billions, as the ice continually retreats more and more.
Photo by Ashley Crowther @ashleycrowtherorg for @everydayclimatechange: Roasted Barley high in India's Spiti Valley. The Himalayan region is experiencing one of the fastest rates of warming on the planet. One of the most significant impacts of climate change in the Himalayan region is that on fresh water resources. Many areas, especially plateau villages that do not have immediate access to glacier melt water or a major river are reliant on spring water that is recharged by winter snowpack. As the Himalayan region's climate shifts into a warmer regime, winter snowfall is arriving in smaller amounts and melting faster when spring approaches. By the time the growing season arrives in Summer fresh water resources for food crops, like Barley, are scarcely available. Declining crop yields are one of the impacts of scarce water resources, which cascades into lower incomes for households, declining food security, and further reliance on imported food stuffs.
Photo by Ashley Crowther @ashleycrowtherorg for @everydayclimatechange: A lone hiker makes his way back down off the face of the rocky and forested mountain. South Korea is an example of one of the most successful reforestation programs in history. After the bloody Korean War, the country was left barren and battered. Since the 1960’s with the aid of aggressive government reforestation policies, around 60% of South Korea is now covered in forest. This, or a similar kind of, reforestation model could be used as a working example for nations that are facing severe deforestation such as Indonesia and Nepal, amongst many others. Reforestation will play a crucial role in our fight against climate change across the planet, as trees are the Earth’s natural CO2 absorbers, which they do at no cost or material expenditure.
Photo by Ashley Crowther @ashleycrowtherorg for @everydayclimatechange: Rainfall patterns across the Indian subcontinent are continuing to change for the worse. Many parts of the country are receiving too little or too much. However, the overall trends point to a much drier landscape in the middle and long-term future due to the increasing effects of climate change. Both rural and urban communities are facing the consequences of these water shortages, especially those peoples found at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder. Pictured are women in a slum settlement on the outskirts of New Delhi washing their bowls and collecting as much water as they can for storage.
Photo by Ashley Crowther @ashleycrowtherorg for @everydayclimatechange: My friend and guide, Kunga, shows me yet another spring in his village located in the India's Himalayan Spiti Valley, essentially dried up. He explained to me that no more than a decade ago the village had access to over 12 springs that fed the village water for their crops and livelihoods. These days, no more than 4 or 5 run throughout the summer months. This is due to a severe shortage of snow falling over winter, which recharges the springs. Climate change is significantly affecting weather patterns, including snowfall, in the Himalayas. The mountainous region is heating up twice as fast as the rest of the planet, excluding the Arctic. Water issues that Kunga's village faces are one of many.
Ashley Crowther
Ashley Crowther is an Australian documentary photographer focusing on environmental, social, and climate-related issues throughout Asia.
