Did you hear the news? The Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago (MSI) opened an Extreme Ice, a new temporary exhibit illustrating the immediacy of climate change and how it is altering our world, on March 23, 2017.
American photographer James Balog captured thought-provoking images over a multi-year period that showcase the dramatic extent of melting glaciers around the world. Through stunning photographic documentation and time-lapse videography of these glaciers, Extreme Ice provides guests an emotionally visual representation of climate change.
Can You Make a Difference?
Nearly 200,000 known glaciers have been mapped and cataloged around the world, according to an international team from the University of Colorado Boulder and Trent University in Ontario, Canada. Since the early 20th century most of them have been retreating due to the warming climate, according to the National Snow & Ice Data Center.
What Will You Find There?
Large-scale high-resolution photo prints in the exhibit depict scenes around the world, like:
- Mount Kilimanjaro ice field in Tanzania, Africa, expected to melt by 2060
- Trift Glacier in Switzerland, one of the fastest-retreating in the European Alps
- Retreat of the Columbia Glacier in Alaska between 2009 and 2015
- Blue ponds formed by meltwater in Alaska’s Columbia Glacier
Birthday Canyon, Greenland Ice Sheet, Greenland, 28 June 2009, Adam LeWinter surveys Birthday Canyon
Black deposit in bottom of channel is cryoconite. Birthday Canyon is approximately 150 feet deep. - Retreat of the Bridge Glacier in Canada between 2009 and 2012
- Icebergs off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula
- Mont Blanc in the French Alps, where many glaciers are quickly receding
- Greenland “moulins,” when melting ice drains through the surface and into tunnels that release the water to the ocean
- Jakobshavn Glacier in Greenland
- Grinnell Glacier in Montana’s Glacier National Park
- Mount Everest in Nepal
Nepal Mount Everest
For Kids and Adults:
I will be able to touch and see a real 7-foot-tall ice wall, interact with maps showcasing the potential impact of coastal flooding around the world, from New York City to Shanghai, Copenhagen to London
You will see how rising temperatures will affect Chicago and explore the work of other ice scientists throughout the world and so much more!
Extreme Ice opened on March 23, 2017 and runs through early 2019.
It is included in Museum Entry ($18 for adults and $11 for kids 3-11).
I heard this was open. I’ll have to check it out.
You should – it looks like a great exhibit. We are heading out there soon too
I visited this museum a few years ago. It seems to have something for everyone. This exhibit would be “cool” to see! If only I lived closer!