A Global Change: How communities in four continents are responding to climate change
25 September – 14 November
An exhibition highlighting the collaboration between five geographical societies and their associated magazines is currently on show at Canada House, Trafalgar Square, London.
Admission is free. The exhibition is open weekdays 10:00–17:30
Selection of images from the exhibition
The facts are unequivocal - Earth’s climate has been heating up and the impacts of warming are being felt globally. In polar regions, glaciers, ice shelves and sea ice are shrinking with detrimental effects on animal and human communities. Coastal areas are vulnerable to rising sea levels and storm surges. Land masses have warmed even faster than the oceans, threatening agriculture production across the planet.
Amid the rising fears and increasing uncertainties, innovative people are studying the situations, raising awareness, and seeking solutions through individual and collective actions.
Geographical societies and their related enterprises are leading the way in shaping and sharing knowledge about climate change. This exhibition brings together thought-provoking images from five magazines: Africa Geographic, Australian Geographic, Canadian Geographic, Geographical and New Zealand Geographic.
Taken on location, the photographs expose the pressures of global warming on a variety of biophysical and social habitats. In so doing, they tell poignant and compelling stories from around the world.
Safety First
Benoit Aquin
Strait of Belle Isle, Canada
Research work in the Arctic has its share of dangers, and researchers who work there need to be familiar with safety equipment, including these bulky full-immersion suits.
A Dependable Source?
Patrice Halley
Coburg Island, Canada
Some settlements, such as Grise Fiord, depend on glacial runoff for their drinking water. In 2007, the runoff didn’t fill the hamlet’s reservoir.
Seal of Approval
James Frankham
Curtis Bay, Antarctica
A leopard seal periscopes out of the water, eyeing a tourist Zodiac. Playful and curious, leopard seals have been known to bite the Zodiacs.
Into the Ice
Benoit Aquin
Peel Sound, Canada
The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Louis S. St-Laurent pushes into ice-choked Peel Sound.
Graves on Beechey Island
Benoit Aquin
Beechey Island, Canada
Gravestones mark the end for three members – John Torrington, William Braine and John Hartnell - of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition, caught in the ice off Beechey Island in 1845-46. The fourth marker is for Thomas Morgan, who perished in the search for Franklin. Although global warming has reduced sea ice in northern waters, Arctic research remains a challenge.
Picking Grapes
Marc Hill/Alamy
Devon, United Kingdom
Climate change may lead to increasing cultivation of grapes in non-traditional areas.
Security from the Sea?
Giora Dan
Fongafale, Tuvalu
On a vulnerable section of coast, workers build a seawall to keep the lagoon from undermining the main road. In the background is the inter-island supply ship Manu Folau, built in 2002.
Catching the Light
Patrice Halley
Grise Fiord, Canada
Even in midsummer, the cold is never far away. Grise Fiord elder Raynee Flaherty sews mitts in the window light.