SYNOPSIS
In the spring of 2005, National Geographic photographer James Balog
headed to the Arctic on a tricky assignment: to capture images to help
tell the story of the Earth’s changing climate. Even with a scientific
upbringing, Balog had been a skeptic about climate change and a cynic
about the nature of academic research. But that first trip north opened
his eyes to the biggest story in human history and sparked a challenge
within him that would put his career and his very well-being at risk.
Chasing Ice is the story of one man’s mission to change the tide of
history by gathering undeniable evidence of our changing planet. Within
months of that first trip to Iceland, the photographer conceived the
boldest expedition of his life: The Extreme Ice Survey. With a band of
young adventurers in tow, Balog began deploying revolutionary time-lapse
cameras across the brutal Arctic to capture a multi-year record of the
world’s changing glaciers.
As the debate polarizes America and the intensity of natural
disasters ramps up globally, Balog finds himself at the end of his
tether. Battling untested technology in subzero conditions, he comes
face to face with his own mortality. It takes years for Balog to see the
fruits of his labor. His hauntingly beautiful videos compress years
into seconds and capture ancient mountains of ice in motion as they
disappear at a breathtaking rate. Chasing Ice depicts a photographer
trying to deliver evidence and hope to our carbon-powered planet.
