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Ice Matters

By Paige Donner

Winter Olympics 2010, The Green Games

Up in Canada where ice is integral to lifestyle and where, during these 2010 Winter Olympics, it's all about ice - ice hockey, ice skating, curling, luge, skeleton, skiing, bobsleigh ... ice...ice...snow and more ice...Ice really matters.
But there's a whole other reason why ice matters and matters in a big way. And that's because ice is melting.
James Balog, Artist, Scientist, Explorer and Adventurer has produced his Extreme Ice Survey, a compelling time-lapse photographic presentation depicting the world's ice melting at a speed heretofore unimagined. Balog is Olympic 2010 sponsor, Samsung Corporation's, Eco-Ambassador.

James Balog Presents Extreme Ice Survey at Samsung Rendezvous to Vancouver School Children, Winter Games 2010

On February 16th, Canada's Federal Government Minister of Environment, Jim Prentice [Twitter @JimPrentice] announced that they would offset the estimated 7,600 tons of GHG emissions created by the thousands of government employees participating/volunteering in the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter games.
“Canada is proud to be the first host country in history to help offset the greenhouse gas emissions of its Olympic Games,” said Minister Prentice. “This commitment is one of many ways our Government is contributing to sustainable Games and meeting our global climate change responsibilities.”
And while we all know, somewhere in our brains, that these numbers are significant and meaningful, it's the visuals that really sink in.
And here's where James Balog, a world-renowned nature photographer, can communicate the urgent nature of the state of our affairs so graphically. With his Extreme Ice Survey.
“Ice is the canary in the coal mine," said Balog in his TED Global talk delivered in Oxford, England a few months ago. More recently at Vancouver's Live City he explained, "We are able to communicate the reality of Climate Change through our Extreme Ice Survey (.org) time-lapse photography essays."
"We are encouraging government leaders to allow us to bring out the story of what the cameras are seeing," noted Balog.
Balog has shown his Extreme Ice Survey to audiences as varied as sophisticated scientific minds at NASA to academics at Oxford to...kids from Vancouver's Mackenzie Elementary School (pictured above in their February 23rd Eco Classroom led by Balog).
"When people see my photography of landscapes melting, they understand it immediately. From the time you are one-years-old, everyone understands melting ice. From the moment you feel an ice cube melt on your tongue, you understand the concept that warmth melts ice," explains Balog.
Why does the melting of glaciers matter? Because they offer a tangible, visible manifestation of a dramatic change in climate that's underway.
It's a worldwide change; Glaciers are the visible manifestation.
Photographic documentation also provided undeniable evidence for these claims. Evidence that flies in the face of the Climate Deniers.
"Climate Gate was a ridiculously absurd and overblown event. It was a campaign of confusion and misinformation. The Climate Change deniers stepped up their game right before the Copenhagen Conference," said Balog.
"Scientists are not wild-eyed radicals. They are everything but. History is going to judge the Climate Deniers as irresponsible, criminal even."
"There are people who say that Obama is selling off the future of the U.S. with his big spending campaign. Climate Change Deniers are selling off the the future of our Earth's resources," says Balog. "You can liken the campaign of today's Climate Change Deniers with the cigarette companies of a couple decades ago. The more the status quo makes money in their status quo industries, the more they want to preserve the status quo."
Even giants such as Microsoft's Bill Gates has gotten on board with the cause of climate change. At lat week's TED conference in Long Beach, California, he said that climate change is the world's "most vexing problem," and expounded on the need to find a cheap and clean energy source, saying it is even more important than creating new vaccines and improving farming techniques.
For artist-adventurer James Balog, with the backing of a global electronics leader such as Samsung, he now has the means to spread his message wide and far. His EIS has already been the subject of a Nova/PBS TV special and a new book, Extreme Ice Now.
Balog on Photography:

We've been finding that visuals presented properly can captivate people in a way that the qualitative cannot. Visuals makes it real.
Eyes are the primary organ of human perception.
Numbers are an abstraction. Numbers must be processed by the brain and then interpreted. Only a small percentage of the population really speak the language of numbers easily.
Everyone gets the eye/visual thing.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaTcsyNrEec]
To SEE the VIDEO Click HERE
Balog says that British Columbia is one of the world's regions on the front lines of climate change. A private foundation recently funded a reconaissance aerial tour to observe the area between between Mt. Garibaldi and Mt. Waddington. He admitted that he was "stunned" to discover the amount of glacial retreat there was. He said he had never seen such dramatic change in landscape. “I have seen a lot of changing mountains but I have not seen such a change like this,” said Balog.
With his Extreme Ice Survey organization, James Balog monitors other key areas of the globe: "We have time-lapse cameras posted in the Andes, Alps, Iceland,Greenland, N. Rockies U.S., and Alaska."
Canada's Minister of Environment Prentice said, “In addition to promoting sustainability at the Games, these innovative approaches will also showcase Canadian environmental technology and ingenuity to the world.”
More of VANOC's [Vancouver Olympic Committee] and Canada's Olympic environmental initiatives:

Environmental assessments of Olymipic venue sites to reduce the ecological footprint of the Games;
The Canada Line representing 19 kilometers rail transit system that links downtown Vancouver with central Richmond and the Vancouver International Airport funded under the Canada Strategic Infrastructure Program;
The BC Hydrogen Highway project showcasing hydrogen and fuel-cell technology including fuel-cell vehicles and fuelling stations, and;
The wave roof of the Richmond Oval made from recycled wood from trees destroyed by pine beetles.

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Passing The Torch, Common Goals See Nations Working Together

In Vancouver for the First Annual Leaders' Forum of the Pacific Coast Collaborative, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger began his day bright and early by carrying the Olympic Flame along the Sea Wall of Vancouver's beautiful Stanley Park. The flame glowed especially bright against the backdrop of the sky and Vancouver Harbor at sunrise.

Photo Courtesy Darryl Dyck/ Canadian Press

British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell joined the Governator and both enjoyed fans and Olympic spectators who turned out by the thousands to watch this historical run on the Opening Day of Olympic Winter Games 2010.

Since mid-November when the flame arrived in Vancouver from Greece, each day it has been shepherded lovingly from one town to another, all over Canada. Torchbearers have carried it on horseback, in sailboats, on wheelchairs, on dogsleds and even by air when it went up to the Arctic Circle.

The Leaders' Forum of the Pacific Coast Collaborative brings together Washington State, Oregon, British Columbia and California to discuss the economy and environment and other areas of mutual interest. In addition to Governor Schwarzenegger and Premier Campbell, Christine Gregoire, Governor of Washington and Oregon's Secretary of State Kate Brown were also in attendance.

The region of Oregon, Washington and B.C. is sometimes referred to as "Cascadia," alluding to more of a bio-regional and geographical area rather than geo-political boundaries. To include California, with its forward-thinking policies on environmental issues and its wealth of natural resources, is a logical move.

The Pacific Coast Collaborative was formed in June 2008 as a "partnership for leadership, co-operative action and a common voice on issues affecting the Pacific coast region." Alaska is also a member of the collaborative. Its ongoing priorities are Ocean Conservation and Climate Change.

International icon Arnold Schwarzenegger was invited to carry the torch on the day of the Official Opening of the Olympics 2010 by his friend, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell. He was, in fact, one of 20 Americans to carry the Olympic torch during its 106 day relay throughout Canada. Two American Olympians also enjoyed the honor, Shawn Johnson, gymnast and darling of the Beijing games and Taekwando Olympic Gold champion Steven Lopez both ran with the torch during its cross-country journey.

Photo Courtesy Stephanie Clary

Crowds shouted their warm greetings to the former Mr. Universe Body Builder as he passed by. "He looks so strong," remarked a child who got to see the Terminator up-close, in person. As Schwarzenegger came to the point along the Stanley Park Seawall where he passed the flame off to Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London 2010 Olympic Organizing Committee, one of the assembled fans yelled out a greeting in Ahhnold-speak "Arh, Arh, Get to the Choppa." The packed in crowd erupted in laughter, and even the Governator busted a smile. You had to be there.

MORE On You Gotta Be Here at CBC News

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Greening Vancouver: 2010 Olympics - Premier Gordon Swoops In To Take Green

Looking something akin to an Olympian Superhero, Premier Gordon Campbell kicked off this pre-Olympic Weekend by flying over Robson Square, not quite in a cape but certainly the next best thing...on the zip line at Robson Square.

"The harness was quite comfortable," he said afterwards.He and Olympian Charmaine Crooks were the first to ride the Zip Line and launched what will be free rides offered starting Feb. 12th, the first official day of the Winter Games. The ride speeds revellers off a four-storey-high tower and along a 170 meter wire.

[premier-gordon-campbell-rides-robson-zipline-06.jpg]

Photo Courtesy VanCityBuzz

“That was great. I was trying to do a somersault backwards and I didn't quite make it," yelled the super-fly Premier Campbell to reporters watching below. “This is going to be a fun place for people to come,” he said. “I want everyone to know it's there for them, it's free for them, it's their Olympics, so come down and have a good time.”

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Campbell was out and about promoting all things green that VANOC (Vancouver Olympic Committee) and the Province of B.C. has done to make these games green.

FACT: The 2010 Winter Games will produce only about a tenth of the carbon dioxide emissions generated by previous Winter Games. The games will be run primarily on clean renewable hydro electricity provided by BC Hydro. For a complete rundown on how the timing devices and broadcasters et al will be powered by Clean Energy go to the Power Smart Village site.

The 2010 Winter Games will produce the lowest carbon dioxide emissions from power generation in the history of the modern Games, at only about a tenth of previous Winter Games.

Club Energy is one of the Fun things offered at the Power Smart Village. The dance floor actually lights up as you dance, powered by your energy. And it's sustainable. No bouncers, no cover charge. They challenge you to prove you really can "Light up a room!"

For Sustaianability and the Winter Games, the Power Smart Village is Renewable Energy Central for the 2010 Winter Games. It thrives on people power. It’s a free, interactive gathering place in downtown Vancouver. It promises to "deliver fun and insight into living greener in B.C." And, well, why not the World!

On February 10th, they're hosting a So You Think You Can Dance session at 3pm and 6pm.

Contestants will have the choice between two to three songs to perform their best dance moves, concentrating both on creativity and movement. Judging will be based on number of steps taken within the allotted time, as well as audience preference.

More Things to do at Power Smart Village: Tour an energy-efficient Home of the Future, or join the cheering as Games events are broadcast live on a 65-inch energy-efficient TV. Get creative with their digital Expression Wall. Create electricity – literally – on their sustainable dance floor.

AT 333 Dunsmuir Street, Downtown Vancouver

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More Places to check out:

House of Switzerland opening today, Casa Italia opening tomorrow. We got a sneak peek inside Irish House and sees the castle being built for a DJ. Check back regularly as new info is being added daily leading up to and during the Games.