James Balog shows photos, offers hope on climate change during CWA keynote

Apr. 12—Environmental photographer James Balog kicked off CU Boulder's 75th annual Conference on World Affairs with powerful photos and a hopeful message about the future of the planet.

For the past 40 years, Balog has traveled around the world documenting the earth's changes and humanity's relationship with the planet. His award-winning work has appeared in Time Magazine, National Geographic, The New York Times Magazine and more. He's now working with the Library of Congress to archive some of his work for future generations.

Despite seeing climate change and environmental damage up close through his photography, Balog said he has a largely positive outlook on the climate crisis.

"I try not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good, and focus on the fixes that are possible to take action," Balog said.

Boulder resident Tricia LeJeune attended Balog's keynote presentation and said she was impressed by his photography. LeJeune said she knew of Balog and admired his work, so she wanted to come to his keynote to hear what he had to say about climate change.

"I was quite surprised and a bit inspired that he had a positive view at the end," LeJeune said. "I was very surprised at that, that he thinks we're going to make it, the planet is going to make it and somehow we'll come out on top."

CU Alum and Boulder resident Susan Larson said the photography Balog showed was "impactful." She specifically mentioned the time-lapse photos Balog showed of a glacier melting, where she could see the change.

During his presentation, Balog showed more than 100 still photographs of animals, people, fires, glaciers, trees and more that he captured from around the world. Some photos were taken in places as far as the ice sheets in Greenland or the North Pole, and others were closer to home with fires in California and Colorado.

Balog acknowledged it can be hard to stay positive and shared coping tips. He said he's found the mental mechanisms in dealing with climate change are similar to dealing with his cancer, which he said doctors believe was caused by exposure to environmental contaminants from the 14 fires he's photographed.

"I try to turn despair into action. Because despair equals depression and paralysis and you don't do anything," Balog said. "But if you realize that it's happening, you kind of grab yourself by the scruff of the neck and turn that into a certain amount of anger or intensity so that you can go out and take action."

Larson said Balog's keynote was "compelling" and "hopeful."

"It was hopeful, at the end," Larson said. "It gave you some inspiration that things will continue."

CWA presentations will continue Thursday and Friday at various locations on CU Boulder's campus. All events are free and open to the public. For more information and a list of scheduled events, visit colorado.edu/cwa/attend/cwa-week/2023-schedule.