Raphael Rogers loves stories. Movies, books, cassette tapes, anything where words combine with the passion for sharing. Since Raphael was a kid, he surrounded himself with people who were telling stories for that long until he discovered the magic and power of words himself. ” I’ll do whatever it takes to get the right story out there, ” says Raphael. The moment he picked up his first camera he was astonished by the thought of creating, capturing, and sharing stories via video. In LA he has directed several commercials, music videos, and a great success was to have his short film optioned by Universal.
Lust for adventure has been a part of Raphael’s personality for years and so he could not resist glacier hiking. Raphael set out on a trip. There he discovered something that kindled a desire to create a new story.
We went to Alaska for adventure, then we witnessed the glaciers melting and came back with a story instead.
Global warming is a huge problem we need to raise more awareness of. Approximately 50 years ago temperature rose at the fastest rate recorded in history, and sadly, hasn’t stabilized yet. It is a huge threat to the life on the Earth which we humans still aren’t able to defeat. There are significantly recognizable consequences of global warming which we can’t pretend we don’t see anymore.
Increased growth of pollen-producing ragweed and the spread conditions favorable to pathogens and mosquitoes amplify the number of people suffering from allergies, asthma, and infectious diseases. Disruption of habitats drives many animals and species to extinction. Rising sea levels lead to coastal flooding and in the case of Maldives to the vanishing of land. Forests and plants suffer from drought and too heavy downpours. Early snowmelt and droughts cause a shortage of water. And this all is called global warming.
Melting glaciers in Alaska, however, have touched Raphael Rogers the most. In Seward, he met Rick Brown, an owner of an Adventure Sixty North Outdoor Centre, who has been guiding in glaciers since the 90’s and started living there in 2003. As the time passed and 2003 turned into 2018, Rick can calmly state that, ”We used to track 150 ft per year, now it is possible for us to track 10-15 ft a day. We’re just watching the transformation happen in front of our eyes.”
As you drive into our park you’ll see the signs that mark different points where the glacier traveled during the 18th century. Things that used to take hundreds of years actually now only take months.
A huge change in wildlife is evident too. Some villages had to be relocated and the ten-year floods are happening every next year now. Alaska will not stay the same, it’s going to be different but the question is, where will it lead this snowy land?
You can drive through our town and look what’s going on, and if you can’t see what’s happening then I think you must be blind.I have four daughters and a bunch of grandkids, and as I sit and talk about that I wonder what will they see if they come back after I’m gone. That’s my concern for the future, wondering how this climate thing is gonna work out for them.
Stories deserve to be told. Especially those, which have the power to change the world. Come and visit Alaska to truly experience the climate change and the amazement it causes. It’s important to see and take time to understand what really matters.
GLACIER EXIT
Follow Raphael Rogers on his Vimeo channel.
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