Using photos and stories, people in the Arctic and small island states are documenting the disappearance of their land
By Sophie Yeo
In the Arctic and across small island states, land is disappearing and lives are changing.
Though separated by wide oceans and different cultures, the communities are linked. Climate change is causing ice in the Arctic to melt, which is making sea levels rise. This is putting the existence of low lying islands on the other side of the world in peril.
A project called Many Strong Voices set out to document the changes being wrought upon these vulnerable areas.
Researchers gathered stories from young people in Alaska, Norway, Canada, Greenland, the Seychelles, Fiji, Samoa, Kiribati and Tuvalu, whose futures will be at risk if nothing is done to stem rising carbon dioxide emissions.
They also trained them in photography, so they could track the changes themselves.
The results became an exhibition called Portraits of Resilience. We’ve drawn the experiences together in an interactive map, highlighting the common hopes and fears of these distant communities.
With thanks to Ilan Kelman and Christine Germano for the material