Stunning Photographs Show the Changing Arctic Landscape

With rising temperatures and other environmental concerns, arctic environments like the North Pole and Antarctica are in trouble. Beautiful and unforgiving frozen landscapes are slowly disappearing, out of view and, unfortunately, out of mind for most people. Photographer Sebastian Copeland visited these shrinking climes to pay homage to the dying environments and bring awareness to their plight—hopefully before it's too late.
The photographer says he has covered almost 5000 miles on his skis, fighting through the harshest weather imaginable in order to capture the images included in his new book, Arctica.
"The poles are about as close as you will get to visit another planet," Copeland says in an interview with his publisher. "Everything about them is exotic. They are giant deserts, where the harsh environmental barrier has imposed a natural selection that excluded humans."
The resulting pictures show the quiet beauty of the Arctic. Although often harsh and unwelcoming, it has its own delicate balance—a balance that the changing environment is slowly destroying.
"The more remote an environment, the harder it is to engage people to care. That is just human nature," Copeland says. "We protect what we know, and what we love. The Arctic is complex and forbidding. It is a harsh and formidable environment that makes challenging the task of speaking to its fragility."
© Arctica: The Vanishing North by Sebastian Copeland, published by teNeues, www.teneues.com. Ellesmere Island, Canadian Arctic, Photo © 2015 Sebastian Copeland. All rights reserved. www.sebastiancopeland.com
© Arctica: The Vanishing North by Sebastian Copeland, published by teNeues, www.teneues.com. Otto Fjord, latitude N79º on Ellesmere Island, Canadian Arctic, Photo © 2015 Sebastian Copeland. All rights reserved. www.sebastiancopeland.com
©Arctica: The Vanishing North by Sebastian Copeland, published by teNeues, www.teneues.com. Devon Island, Canadian Arctic, Photo © 2015 Sebastian Copeland. All rights reserved. www.sebastiancopeland.com
© Arctica: The Vanishing North by Sebastian Copeland, published by teNeues, www.teneues.com. Bay of Qanaaq, Northern Greenland, Photo © 2015 Sebastian Copeland. All rights reserved. www.sebastiancopeland.com
You can buy Arctica on teneues.com or Amazon.com.