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Armed with a GoPro and selfie stick, Obama gives us a glimpse of how Alaska's glaciers are under threat
Armed with a GoPro and selfie stick, Obama gives us a glimpse of how Alaska's glaciers are under threat
Tanya LewisSep 8, 2015, 19:05 IST
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White HousePresident Obama is really up with the times.
He's already on Twitter and Instagram, and on his recent Alaska trip he showed off his skills with a GoPro and selfie stick to bring attention to the threat of climate change.
Here's the video Obama took at Alaska's Kenai Fjords National Park, which was posted on the White House website and @WhiteHouse twitter account last week.
Despite his semi-amateur zooming skills, the president's message was clear. He explained how Alaska's glaciers have been retreating in what he called "a signpost of what's happening with the changing climate."The president also took to Instagram earlier this week to document the vanishing beauty of the region.Exit Glacier, one of the glaciers Obama visited, has retreated more than 1.2 miles between 1815 and 1996 (about 43 feet per year), according to the National Park Service. The total amount of water that has melted off Alaska's glaciers over the past 50 years would fill a billion Olympic-size swimming pools.Over the past 50 years, Alaska has been warming twice as fast as the lower 48 states, Obama said. Temperatures in the state have increased by an average of 3.4 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 50 years, and are projected to heat up by an additional 3.5 to 7 degrees by mid-century, according to the EPA.The warming temperatures are melting Arctic ice, leading to rising sea levels around the world, Obama said.The rest of the video consists of shots of the president amidst the stunning Alaskan scenery, with the incongruous sounds of marimba music in the background.
