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All of these accounts contain much of the same information, with just mild changes on some of the captions. Very clear message of arctic conservation throughout all of them.

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Talks about the relationship between him and the animals he photographs

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Paul Nicklen: Animal tales from icy wonderlands

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Diving under the Antarctic ice to get close to the much-feared leopard seal, photographer Paul Nicklen found an extraordinary new friend. Share his hilarious, passionate stories of the polar wonderlands, illustrated by glorious images of the animals who live on and under the ice.

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Also uses first-person to caption photos

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Paul Nicklen Photography, Nanoose Bay, BC. 97,685 likes · 4,714 talking about this. www.paulnicklen.com Paul uses his camera to reveal the nature of the changing polar regions due to the effects of a...

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Everything (accept retweets) are first-person

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A scientific explanation of global warming and its effects

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Arctic sea ice has been in steep decline since the late 1970s, when satellite images were first used to study the region. NASA says that the extent of ice covering Arctic waters has fallen by 13 percent per decade. The 10 lowest ice minimums - measured each September, after the summer thaw - have all been recorded since 2007.

Scientists say the disappearance of sea ice is largely a result of climate change, with the Arctic warming at a faster rate than any other region.

This year, sea ice reached its minimum on Sept. 13, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colo. At that point, ice covered 1.8 million square miles, or 4.6 million square kilometers, of Arctic waters. That makes this year's minimum the eighth-lowest on record.

Minimum Sea Ice Extent in the Arctic

Million sq. km

The 2017 minimum could have been even lower. Scientists look closely at both the maximum extent each winter and the minimum at the end of summer. Arctic ice hit a record-low maximum extent of 5.6 million square miles this March, following an exceedingly warm winter. But a record maximum does not necessarily translate to a record minimum: cooler temperatures this summer reduced the amount of melting, keeping the ice extent well above the record low, which was set in 2012.

"What happened is that weather patterns got in the way," said Mark Serreze, director of the snow and ice center."This is part of the natural variability in the system."

Regional ice patterns vary as well. Ice in the Beaufort Sea, north of Alaska, has retreated during summers for years now.

This year the melting was even more widespread. "You had open water extending almost 80 degrees north - way the heck out there," Dr. Serreze said.

2017 Arctic Sea Ice Minimum

Ice extent on Sept. 13, 2017 and median for that date

The retreat of the ice is not good news for polar bears, which are already in decline in the southern Beaufort. The bears depend on the ice for hunting seals, a critical part of their diet. But as the ice recedes farther north - this month it was some 600 miles from the Alaskan coast - there is less prey to be found.

Another difference this year, Dr. Serreze said, is that the ice loss began very early.

"If you see the ice leaving early in the season, you expose these dark open ocean areas, which are going to absorb more heat," he said. That early melt starts a feedback process as the exposed warmer waters accelerate the ice loss.

Source: National Snow and Ice Data Center

Data on the extent of Arctic sea ice was collected every other day in years 1979 through 1987, but daily thereafter. In the charts, daily data is based on a five-day running average.

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We Charted Arctic Sea Ice for Nearly Every Day Since 1979. You'll See a Trend.

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Arctic sea ice has been in steep decline since the late 1970s, when satellite images were first used to study the region. NASA says that the extent of ice covering Arctic waters has fallen by 13 percent per decade. The 10 lowest ice minimums - measured each September, after the summer thaw - have all been recorded since 2007.

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HE HOLDS ACTUAL LINXS
Talks about conserving the ice stuff

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hen he was four years old, Paul Nicklen's family moved to Kimmirut on Baffin Island, northern Canada; a village so remote that supplies are delivered once a year, by boat. The Nicklens were one of only two non-Inuit families in the tiny community, and with no telephone, radio or TV, Paul's childhood was spent on the ice, in the company of native fishermen and in awe of the visual majesty of the region. "I learned how to freeze," he says. It is a skill that has helped him to become one of the world's foremost photographers of polar wildlife.

"If you want to shoot the best photography of a particular ecosystem, you have to be comfortable wherever you are," says Nicklen. "If that's 150ft deep under the ice, you can't be sitting there fighting for survival. You need to free up your mind." Wearing a rebreather to avoid producing bubbles, he stays submerged for up to six hours, submitting himself to the same conditions inhabited by his favourite species. To Nicklen, the Arctic is not a forbidding, alien landscape, but a spiritual home: "I'm far more comfortable around bears than, say, on the streets of New York."

Photography has the power to break down the walls of apathy, to grab people at the heart and then teach them something

Nicklen's profound understanding of polar environments has led him to produce some of the most extraordinary wildlife photography ever seen: narwhals duelling among ice floes, dozens of emperor penguins bursting from the water, a dying polar bear rooting through litter. In one now famous series, documented in a viral TED talk, he spent hours photographing a huge and fearsome leopard seal as she attempted to feed him with dead penguins. These and countless other photographs are collected in the forthcoming book, Born to Ice, Nicklen's most comprehensive monograph to date. To read the book is to experience a kind of snow blindness, as ever more arresting animal portraits stare out from the waves and tundra.

Svalbard, north of Norway: with the sea ice gone, walruses seek out beaches to raise their young. Photograph: Paul Nicklen

Most of Nicklen's photographs have been taken on assignment for National Geographic magazine, for whom he has shot 22 stories to date. During this time Nicklen, now 50, has won a catalogue of awards including five World Press Photo prizes and the grand title in the Natural History Museum's Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. Along with his TED talk and his 4.4 million Instagram followers, these have given him an unusually high profile for a nature photographer. But for all his public acclaim, the end goal of his work is not recognition of the photographs themselves, but the opportunity to educate and inspire people about the front line of conservation. "Photography has the power to break down the walls of apathy," he says, "to grab people at the heart and then teach them something. You can change their minds, but you have to make that emotional connection first."

Ross Sea, Antarctica: emperor penguin chick and dedicated parent. Photograph: Paul Nicklen

A former marine biologist, Nicklen is painfully aware of the future that faces his beloved Arctic and Antarctic habitats if urgent action isn't taken. "When people think of sea ice melting, they think of this lifeless substance, like ice in a glass," he says. "But it's a very complex substrate. You have up to 300 species of microorganism living in the salt brine channels of a piece of sea ice." The collapse of this biodiversity is one of his main concerns. "Sea ice is like soil in a garden: the sun's energy penetrates, and you get algae growing under the ice, and seaweed, which provides the food base for zooplankton. Billions of pounds of amphipods and copepods are growing under there, and it's the same with krill. Then you have the polar cod that feed on the krill, and from there you have beluga whales, narwhals, bearded seals, Greenland sharks. If we lose the ice, we stand to lose the entire ecosystem."

Growing up near the Arctic Circle, Nicklen has a more immediate understanding of climate change. He recalls being a child in the 1970s, joining the Inuit as they travelled from Baffin Island to Greenland to trade huskies, using an ice bridge across the sea. "Since the 80s, those Inuit haven't been able to use that bridge," he says. "It's gone. For the first time in recorded history, the entire Greenland icecap is melting."

Nicklen was taught survival skills by his Inuit neighbours as a child, and he still relies on the expertise of Inuits and Canadian First Nations for his work. Inuits and their sled teams feature prominently in his photographs, and their first-hand experience of climate change shapes his thinking. "When we were working in Greenland, at 81 degrees north," he says, "the Inuit were sitting there fishing. One of them pulled up a fish, and all of a sudden they're getting their iPhones out of their polar bear pants, because it's a species none of them has ever seen before." The anecdote has all the drama and urgency of a Nicklen photograph: a snapshot of life under threat of irreparable change.

With this urgency in mind, In 2014 Nicklen and his partner, fellow photographer Cristina Mittermeier, founded SeaLegacy, an organisation devoted to raising awareness about marine conservation. "We think about money, love, sex, every minute of every day." he says, "We have to be thinking about money, love, sex and the environment."

'While I was waiting out a blizzard,' says Nicklen, 'this bear was peeking through the window of my cabin in Svalbard. I opened the window and she found my camera and smile of gratitude looking back at her.' Photograph: Paul Nicklen

Although the challenges seem vast, Nicklen has built his glittering career on the belief that change can begin with one photograph of one individual creature. He recalls with particular delight his experience of tracking and photographing a spirit bear - a vanishingly scarce and elusive subspecies of the American black bear that lives in the coastal forests of British Columbia. "To watch this bear walking through the forest, eating skunk cabbage, going to sleep under a cedar tree, is something I'll never forget," says Nicklen. "He was having these little puppy dreams with his breath fogging up my lens, and I just knew I was getting the visual assets that will make people care."
For information about and for works available as fine art, contact zoe@sealegacy.org

Born to Ice is published by teNeues (£80). To order a copy for £68, go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99

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Paul Nicklen: 'If we lose the ice, we lose the entire ecosystem'

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The photographer has been documenting life at the poles for years. He is determined to safeguard these fragile habitats

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Uses the first-person; run by him

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Talks about global warming and how it effects the arctic ecosystem and animals

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How disappearing sea ice has put Arctic ecosystem under threat

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From algae to fish and polar bears, the loss of habitat caused by global warming is affecting the food chain

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A more specific look on how global warming is affecting polar bears

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His websites bio
Started his own charity, SeaLegacy

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Biography

Photo by Ben Moon, 2017.

He is equally recognized by the conservation community for his outspoken work, and has been awarded the Natural Resources Defense Council BioGems Visionary Award. Most recently, Nicklen was bestowed an honorary PhD at the University of Victoria, for the impact his photography has had on climate change.

In addition to being one of the world's most acclaimed nature photographers, Nicklen is a sought-after speaker, a TED Talks legend, an author, and National Geographic Fellow. In the past two decades, Paul has collaborated with scientists, filmmakers, conservationists and explorers to create awareness and inspire action for global issues like climate change.

As a co-founder of the non-profit, SeaLegacy, Paul Nicklen is opening a fresh, progressive chapter in the story of ocean conservation. Through visual storytelling, Sea Legacy inspires millions of people to stand up and have a voice for the pristine places threatened by climate change.

Speaking

Paul Nicklen lives a life of art, purpose and adventure, combining a career as an assignment photographer for National Geographic Magazine and founder of his own conservation society, SeaLegacy. In addition to being one of the world's most acclaimed nature photographers, Paul is an acclaimed polar specialist, speaker, author, conservationist, National Geographic Fellow, and a regular contributor to National Geographic Magazine with 20 completed stories to date. He has garnered more than 30 of the highest awards given to any photographer in his field, including the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the year and the prestigious World Press Photo for photojournalism. Paul has written several books including Seasons of the Arctic, Bear, Spirit of the Wild, Polar Obsession and his newest monograph, Born to Ice.

Awards & Achievements

for Arctic Photography
Read More

Honorary Doctor of Science from University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

I am proud to have spoken at the TED Conference and TEDx Midwest in Chicago. I have given lectures to influential people and organizations that include Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, Madeleine Albright, the president of Iceland, Richard Branson, Google, Fortune 500 Green and countless other events. I am also proud that I have been chosen as one of the 40 most influential nature photographers of all time by Outdoor Photography Magazine.

SeaLegacy

Paul Nicklen and his partner Cristina Mittermeier, founded SeaLegacy to change the narrative around our world's oceans and show the global community what is at stake, rally soldiers of support-and ignite real and lasting change.

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About The Wildlife Photographer Paul Nicklen

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He is equally recognized by the conservation community for his outspoken work, and has been awarded the Natural Resources Defense Council BioGems Visionary Award. Most recently, Nicklen was bestowed an honorary PhD at the University of Victoria, for the impact his photography has had on climate change.

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Explains his work with Nat Geo
Restates a lot of what the last one did

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A unique childhood among the Inuit in Canada's Arctic and a professional background as a biologist in the Northwest Territories gave Paul Nicklen the tools he needed to take on the most inhospitable places on our planet. Whether ice diving among leopard seals in Antarctica or covering hundreds of miles of terrain in minus 40°F temperatures, Paul has specialized in photographing polar regions since 1995. His images reflect a reverence for the creatures inhabiting such isolated and endangered environments, and he hopes to generate global awareness about wildlife issues through his work. Outdoor Photography Magazine voted him one of the 40 most influential nature photographers.

Paul has published over 20 stories for National Geographic magazine, mostly recently " Where Wildlife is in Charge" in the February 2018 issue. His latest book, Born to Ice, was published by TeNeues in September 2018. He has received more than 30 of the highest awards given to any photographer in his field, including the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year and the prestigious World Press Photo award for photojournalism. His TED2011 talk, as well as appearances on television shows such as Jeopardy and in YouTube videos, have thrust him into the popular culture spotlight.

He is a co-founder of the non-profit SeaLegacy, which raises awareness about ocean conservation. Through visual storytelling, SeaLegacy inspires millions of people to stand up for the pristine places threatened by climate change.

When not battling sub-zero temperatures, Paul makes his home on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, with fellow National Geographic photographer Cristina Mittermeier.

Find out about upcoming programs andexpeditions with National Geographic photographers, orview more work by Paul Nicklen.

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Photographer Paul Nicklen Biography -- National Geographic

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A unique childhood among the Inuit in Canada's Arctic and a professional background as a biologist in the Northwest Territories gave Paul Nicklen the tools he needed to take on the most inhospitable places on our planet.