Project Summary
Project Pressure is a not-for-profit organisation documenting the world’s vanishing glaciers in order to highlight the impacts of climate change and inspire action and participation.
Our principal goal is to create a comprehensive crowdsourced archive, recording firsthand the environmental impact of climate change. To do this, we are inviting members of the public to contribute and collaborating with respected scientific organisations including the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the Global Terrestrial Network for Glaciers (GTN-G).
Since 2008, Project Pressure has captured geo-tagged photographs at glaciers around the world and documented glaciers in Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Greenland, Iceland, the US, Norway, Spain, Nepal, Switzerland, New Zealand, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Expeditions to Sweden, Bolivia, Colombia, Svalbard, Canada, Russia, Kenya and Papua New Guinea will complete the initial photographic survey.
During the next decade many of these fragile glaciers will retreat severely or disappear completely. Documenting them now will provide future generations with a visual archive of the way the world was, and underscore the importance of preserving the balance of the world’s ecosystem.
These quotes illustrate the urgency of our task:
In Uganda the glaciers of the Ruwenzori Mountains will be gone in 20251
Colombia's glaciers will disappear around the year 20222
If the current rate of warming persists, scientists predict the glaciers in Glacier National Park (Montana, USA) will be completely gone by the year 20203
Project Pressure will result in the world’s first comprehensive glacier atlas, a touring photographic exhibition, a documentary film and an open source digital platform called MELT (Mass Engagement & Listing Technology).
Our archive is open source and is available royalty-free to use for scientific, educational and all other non-commercial purposes. Scientists, educators, researchers, adventurers and local communities will soon be able to contribute to this resource by uploading images and data.
Project Pressure is an example of how art and science can play a leading role in society as the catalysts for inspiring change. Please consider supporting the project financially if you can, or helping spread the word by sharing this website with others.
1Geologist Richard Taylor, University College London
2Germán Poveda, Universidad Nacional de Colombia
3Cindy Ognjanov, President, Glacier National Park, Montana