Sunday morning music

 

I'm not particularly sympathetic towards the environmental movement, particularly because so many of their claims have proved to be hyperbole, exaggeration and failed prophecies of doom.  Two well-known examples would be the late Paul Ehrlich's "The Population Bomb" and Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth", neither of which has been borne out by events - but both of which are still lauded by environmentalists for promoting awareness of their respective causes.

Nevertheless, I acknowledge there is empirical evidence of some environmentalist's concerns, which can be independently confirmed.  One of these is the retreat of the glaciers, which is undoubtedly caused by rising global temperatures.  What causes these temperature changes is the subject of fierce debate that is still ongoing, of course.  However, I think we can agree that it's a subject worthy of concern and further investigation.

Swiss singer/songwriter To Athena decided to highlight the issue.

Singer To Athena, accompanied by a small ensemble of musicians, staged the performance inside a glacial cave on the Morteratsch glacier in southeastern Switzerland on March 25. The group hiked through the snow before sunrise, instruments in hand, to reach the cave in time for filming. The performance was captured for a music video of her song "Collide," organized in collaboration with Greenpeace Switzerland.

The Morteratsch glacier, located near the resort town of Pontresina in the canton of Graubünden, has been shrinking for decades. Scientists estimate it is retreating by roughly 50 meters (about 164 feet) per year, with meltwater steadily carving tunnels and caverns into the ice from within.

. . .

Swiss glaciologist Giovanni Kappenberger, who was present at the site, said the cave is a stark symbol of accelerating ice loss.

"The more meltwater there is, the more caves form, and the faster the glacier disappears," he said.

Kappenberger added that the cave is unlikely to survive another summer. He noted that the glacier is losing at least 10 meters of ice from above annually, while warm air flowing through in summer simultaneously melts it from below.

There's more at the link.

Here's the video of her performance.

Regardless of our feelings about climate change and/or globular worming, I think we can agree that was a very attractive piece of music, and a great way to highlight a very real problem.

Peter