World View of Global Warming -- a ten year perspective and accomplishments

World View of Global Warming, which began ten years ago this month in Antarctica
, is the only dedicated climate change science and response documentation projec
t independently undertaken by a photojournalist. It is funded by donations, gran
ts, image and book sales and assignments; donations and grants are accepted as t
ax-deductible contributions through Blue Earth Alliance which passes through 96
percent of all funds.
Books - include Earth Under Fire How Global Warming is Changing the World (Unive
rsity of California Press, 2007, updated 2009) and How We Know What We Know Abou
t Our Changing Climate Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming (co-author Lyn
ne Cherry; Dawn Publications 2008). For info, reviews and the many accolades, se
e www.earthunderfire.com; www.howweknowclimatechange.com.
A major print exhibit at the American Assn for the Advancement of Science, Climat
e Change in Our World, runs from November 2009 to mid-March 2010. It is designed
to travel after that and a budget item will pay for the promotion, development
and shipping of it as a unique museum experience. www.earthunderfire.compagesexh
ibit.html
Please consider a donation of any size through Blue Earth Alliance. Gary Braasch
also seeks contracts for climate literacy programs and photography of climate i
ssues and science.
Blue Earth Alliance (a 501(c)3 NGO passing 96% of funds through)
214 First Avenue South, Ste B-2
Seattle WA 98104 (Memo for World View of Global Warming)
Bart J. Cannon, Administrator 206 725-4913 bart@blueearth.org
This website - established in 2002, is the archive of the project in a totally n
on-commercial information format. Many months it has 18-25,000 unique visits, is
frequently listed near the top of Google searches for global warming subjects,
and is a leader in K-16 education as well as linkage by NGOs and public websites
serving adults.
Image library - contains tens of thousands of color photographs and digital file
s of climate science, effects and solutions, made under the direction of scienti
sts and experts, or responding to their work. Combined with my large urban, ecos
ystem and symbolic photography, it is an important resource. Throughout the proj
ect, images showing climate change have been made available at low or no cost to
teachers, students, small NGOs and community organizations around the world, ex
panding the reach of this crucial information beyond the commercial publishing w
orld.
My photographs have also played a major role in recent books by Sterling Publica
tions, Time Home Entertainment and W.W. Norton. In 2007-8 Earth Under Fire was p
resented to more than 550 leaders, including 200 key Members of Congress, thanks
to generous donors and in-kind by NRDC.
Film project - is inspired by the How We Know book and produced by Lynne Cherry,
bringing the climate actions and projects of middle school youth to a national
audience. Young Voices on Climate Change maintains its own fundraising with webs
ite at www.youngvoicesonclimatechange.com.
Current activities of World View of Global Warming, for which funds are sought a
nd allocated
Provide proactive support for education and information about climate change and
its solutions speaker slides, exhibits, briefings, presentations (www.braaschph
otography.compagesshows.html)
Response to document climate events and emergencies.
Rephotography of the locations pictured in the book and other places from my pro
ject, which have changed in the ten years or less since I first photographed the
m.
Photography of new science, solutions and infrastructure changes, because we mus
t be able to visualize the future.
A continuous re-edit and renewal of Worldviewofglobalwarming.org. A successful p
ublic service at low cost, but needs updating. A huge educational opportunity. P
urchase copies of updated Earth Under Fire paperback for continued presentation
to leaders.
I am an environmental photographer who for 25 years has reported on natural hist
ory in many parts of the world. In the course of many of these assignments, scie
ntists mentioned changes occurring over long time spans that might be due to glo
bal warming. Very few of these changes were being photographed
There is compelling evidence from all over the world that our planet's weather a
nd climate patterns are changing rapidly, began my initial proposal in Fall 1998
. Droughts, receding glaciers and ice caps, extreme storms, rises in ocean tempe
ratures and sea levels, shifts in distribution of organisms and diseases - scien
tists tracking these events overwhelmingly believe that global climate change is
a fact. Many think human activities are a significant contributing cause. But t
his is not the message getting to the general public, nor is our political, indu
strial and environmental superstructure dealing well with the reality.

This project began in noticing that the details of scientific evidence for globa
l warming, and the publicity and policy actions reported about it, were incongru
ent. This is a generally misunderstood and muted issue. It is a serious challeng
e to journalists, photographers, and public interest publications. Helping to co
rrect this, to illustrate the changes and research and publicize our stake in an
d possible responsibility for global warming, are the goals of this project.

Gary Braasch will photograph areas on all continents that illustrate documented
results of climate change. He is also seeking to repeat historic photographs to
show the changes. He will work with environmental groups, scientists and editors
to educate the public, urging government and corporate sectors to more directly
address the reality of climate change.

In December 1998, this proposal received backing secured from Blue Earth Allianc
e, and initial funding was secured from the Wiancko Family Fund. Early in 1999 I
sought advice from Dr. Ray Bradley of University of Massachusetts (a co-author
of the 1000 year temperature chart) and arctic climate change expert Dr. Bruce P
eterson of the Marine Biological Lab in Woods Hole MA. I began seeking private g
rants and magazine assignments and other scientific contacts (see Advisors and R
eferences).
By the end of 1999, I had crossed both the Antarctic and Arctic Circles accompan
ying field researchers. The first photography specifically for this project took
place on a Discover Magazine assignment to a National Science Foundation geolog
ic research cruise to Antarctic Peninsula ice sheets and glaciers.
Through hundreds of scientific contacts generously given by many advisors, I hav
e endeavored to focus on shrinking glaciers around the world, coral bleaching, i
nsect and animal range changes, rising sea level, and other effects. As often as
 possible my photographs actually show changes (or comparisons with old photogra
phs), and all focus on locations where scientists are studying change.
In 2004 and 2005 I completed the first stage of photography thanks to renewed gr
ants from the Wiancko Family Trust and a book advance from University of Califor
nia Press. This book was published in October 2007 under the title Earth Under F
ire How Global Warming is Changing the World. It features not only reports from
scientists on our changing world, but also an extended chapter on what is being
done now to keep global warming under control. See the Actions page for more inf
ormation on this. To view the book, please visit EarthUnderFire.com.
World View of Global Warming will continue with return trips to document changes
in landscapes over these 8 years, and increasing focus on the techniques and in
itiatives being used all over the world to cut fossil fuel emissions and usher i
n a new age of energy use and efficiencies. I am very dependent on continued pri
vate, institutional and publication funding for this ongoing documentation. I th
ank all my donors, advisors and supporters, including website designer and manag
er Ancil Nance.
In the short time since I started this project, science has continued to build t
he evidence for ongoing rapid climate change, as shown by the 2001 and 2007 repo
rts by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Brief reports on so
me of this new evidence may be found on the About Global Warming page

Read article by Gary Braasch about his journey to Antarctica, from E Magazine.

See also Advisors and References.

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Photographs from the World View of Global Warming are available for license to p
ublications needing science photography, environmental groups and agencies, and
other uses. Stock photography and assignments available.
Please contact requestinformation@worldviewofglobalwarming.org or Gary Braasch P
hotography (503) 699-6666.
Use of photographs in any manner, in part or whole, without permission is prohib
ited by US copyright law. These photographs are registered with the US Copyright
Office and are not in the Public Domain.