How To Try To Save The World
 How To Save The World
Your lens to the internet's most powerful photographs.
 📸For Your 👀 Only:  Caitlin Ochs for BuzzFeed News For the next two weeks, global leaders and scientific experts from all over the world are gathering in Glasgow for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26. The event is seen by many as the last best chance to come up with a plan to reduce carbon emissions and keep global warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels (we've already warmed by 1 degree, and you can see how that's going here).
The summit is a continuation of earlier talks in Kyoto in 1997 and Paris in 2016. The United States, the world's second-largest emitter of carbon, famously never ratified the Kyoto Protocol and pulled out of the Paris agreement under Donald Trump. The Biden administration recently rejoined it.
As a relatively young citizen of this planet, I am extremely invested in the outcome of this year's talks and how it will impact our collective future as a species. Over the past five years, our desk has covered climate change regularly, mostly because photos of this planet we call home can be incredibly beautiful, but also because we see it as an existential crisis that photography can be uniquely suited to discussing.  Caitlin Ochs for Buzzfeed News While it can be hard to get perspective on how the climate has changed over time, images show us what glaciers, forests, and reefs used to look like, and what our impact has been on this planet from different angles. Photos can also show us things we never imagined and can inspire us to save species and ecosystems — at least that is the hope of photographers like Caitlin Ochs, Chris Leidy, Joel Sartore, Edward Burtynsky, and countless others. In some instances, photos are all that remain.
The effects of climate change can already be seen in stronger storms, longer droughts, heat waves, and melting ice. It's easy to become fatalistic about a worse future to come, but as one photographer reminded me this week, our fate is truly in our hands. There is a chance we can still reverse course with enough creativity, collective willpower, and investment in cutting-edge technology. Stories about what is possible are needed now more than ever as we navigate a rapidly changing world. Before we get to solutions, here are a few recent stories that have inspired us to take action.  Kadir van Lohuizen / NOOR This Is What Rising What Rising Sea Levels Actually Look Like
"If you have to relocate, you are becoming, in fact, a climate refugee, especially if you have to cross the border. And that's just not addressed internationally, which is kind of crazy. If you are trying to get asylum somewhere for climate reasons, there's zero chance that it will be granted to you. This is usually considered a national or local problem."  Caitlin Ochs for BuzzFeed News People In Arizona Are About To Face The West's First Major Water Crisis
"In 2022, Arizona will implement the largest cuts, losing 20% of its Colorado River water. This shortage falls hardest on farmers in its central valley, who are navigating a difficult decision between using less water on their farms, selling their land, or returning to pumping groundwater.
"People really need to understand groundwater is a finite resource," said Kathleen Ferris, a researcher and former policymaker who spent 45 years developing groundwater legislation in Arizona. "If you keep depleting it, it will not be there when you need it. Once it's gone, it's gone."
 Simone Tramonte Iceland Has Been Investing In Green Technology For A Decade. These Images Will Bring You Hope
"They understood that the green economy and green tech could be a way, so they invested a lot," Dini said. "The other reason that we saw was the fact that their glaciers are melting, so climate change was something that was happening in front of their eyes."
 📸MORE FROM OUR DESK 📸 As always, here are some of the best photo stories from around the internet, and what we loved from our desk. THE IMAGES THAT INSPIRED MY CAREER: PHILIP PICARDI  Timothy A. Clary / AFP via Getty Images
THESE PHOTOS OF HALLOWEEN IN 1970s NEW YORK ARE A SPOOKY TREAT  Larry Racioppo, via the New York Public Library
21 PICTURES THAT SHOW JUST HOW CRAZY HALLOWEEN IS FOR ADULTS  Rick Majewski
5 THINGS WE LOVED THIS WEEK 1. Artist Benjamin Wong and his entire family built an art installation about plastic, and just, wow.
2. I cannot wait to see Wu Chi-Tsung's cyanotypes, opens Nov. 5th in New York
3. "When Your Mother Is A Ghost Hunter" — never have I clicked on a link so fast
4. Missed this photobooth of Fashun from The Cut earlier this month
5. This is so so smart for an exhibition — "Devour The Land"
LAST LOOK  Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Witches of Facebook Unite!: Over 100 people in costume gathered to paddleboard in Redondo Beach, California, Oct. 31, 2020. "We are making photographs to understand what our lives mean to us." — Ralph Hattersley That's it for this week! Kate + Pia
📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by the News Photo team. Kate Bubacz is the photo director based in New York and loves dogs. Pia Peterson is a photo editor based in Brooklyn. You can always reach us here.
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