Majestic glacier towers over Arctic landscape in
extraordinary pictures of ice melting into the ocean
PUBLISHED:
17:41 GMT, 29 January 2013 | UPDATED: 23:26 GMT, 29 January
2013
These
remarkable pictures show water crashing from a melting glacier 160 feet into
the ocean at the Arctic Circle.
Tiny
seagulls flitting around the frozen landscape and fishermen's trawlers
dwarfed by gigantic icebergs emphasise the awe-inspiring scale of the scene.
The
images were captured by Swedish photographer Hans Strand, 57, who took his
life in his hands by exploring the extreme climate of the inhospitable north
on a small ship.
Ice sculpture: The frozen water
forms unique shapes on the water in Svalbard, as brave photographer Hans
Strand sails past on his tiny ship
Hostile climate: The Austfonna
glacier waterfall in Svalbard, Norway, crashes 160 feet into the ocean in
this awe-inspiring image
 
Big Freeze: Two seagulls fly
past the Norwegian glacier, left, and fishermen steer their boat close to a
giant iceberg in Disko Bay, Greenland, right
Dark waters: Mr Strand says
dramatic climate change is happening so fast he sees significant differences
in and around Iceland, pictured, from year-to-year
Epic scale: An imposing panorama
of an ice-fjord floating along the bone-chilling water in Svalbard
'These
pictures show sculptures made of ice and frozen time,' said Mr Strand. 'The
ice in the glaciers and floating icebergs can be more than 100,000 years old.
He
hired the ship especially for a photographic workshop he was delivering to
his students - taking further beautiful pictures during an expedition in
Iceland and Greenland.
'I
travelled to these northern latitudes because I am currently working on a
book on the Arctic and I am also teaching workshops,' said Mr Strand.
'When
I first went to Svalbard in 2004 there was plenty of sea ice around the
islands during the summer.
'Today,
eight years later, there is not a single ice floe - dramatic climate change
is happening so fast that I have seen significant differences from
year-to-year.
'Now
you need to go as far north as the 82nd latitude to find sea ice.'
Frozen in time: Splendid
150-foot tall Fuglefjorden glaciers rear out of the water in Svalbard in this
alien landscape
End of the earth: Icebergs split
and float along the water at sunset in Disko Bay, on the west coast of
Greenland
Dangerous: The interior of a
cave in Iceland, which could have collapsed in on Mr Strand at any moment
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