Despite the fact that global climate destabilization continues unabated, there are still far too many people–political leaders and citizens alike–who do not seem to understand the reality. The planet is warming, it is driven largely by human activity, and it is ignored at our peril. James Balog has been documenting glaciers around the world for several years now, and has a startling collection of time-lapse images showing the accelerated melting of far too many of these massive ice fields.

Check out the Extreme Ice Survey here.

Visit Mr. Balog’s own website as well: Click here.

James Whitlow Delano’s coverage of Cyclone Nargis, a category 4 storm, that slammed into Burma’s Irrawaddy River Delta in May 2008, is one of the entries in the 2009 PhotoPhilanthropy Awards.

View the essay here at www.photophilanthropy.org.

More of James Whitlow Delano’s work can be found on his website www.jameswhitlowdelano.com.

Photojournalist Mario Tama has spent the last 5 years covering the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. A great selection of his images are featured on the New York Times LENS Blog.

Click here for Mario Tama’s essay.

More of Tama’s work can be found on his website www.mariotama.com.

In this powerful video Ed Kashi discusses his work in Madagascar and the Niger Delta and the environmental degradation therein.

Check out Ed’s site here: http://edkashi.com/

Independent photographer Elena Perlino has an excellent look into legalized prostitution in France.

Elena Perlino currently lives in northern Italy.

Click here to see the essay on David Alan Harvey’s BURN MAGAZINE.

You can view more of Elena’s work on her website: www.elenaperlino.com.

VII photographer Tomas van Houtryve slipped into North Korea twice, posing as an investor looking to open a chocolate factory. He gained unprecedented access to a variety of locations in North Korea, many of which had never before been seen by a Western photographer.

View his excellent images from inside North Korea on his website at tomasvanhoutryve.com.

Photographer Amnon Gutman has offered this body of work about Palestinians trying to go through the barrier between Israel and the West Bank in order to work inside Israel, mainly as builders.

“In June 2002, the government of Israel decided to erect a physical barrier to separate Israel and the West Bank in order to prevent the uncontrolled entry of Palestinians into Israel. Israel has the right and duty to protect its citizens from attacks. However, the building of the Separation Barrier as a means to prevent attacks inside Israel is the most extreme solution that causes the greatest harm to the local population. Israel preferred this solution over alternate options that would cause less harm.

Palestinians try to go through the barrier (in areas where the barrier still has some openings), in order to work inside Israel, mainly as builders. A day’s work in the west bank usually comes to 60-80 NIS, while a day’s work in Israel: 250-400 NIS.

Staying illegally in Israel, means, most of the Palestinian workers will have to sleep in desperate conditions- river creeks, under highways, building sites, or just in the streets, trying to avoid getting caught.

Israeli border patrol and army, are trying to apprehend these Palestinians, as terror threats always exists…… meaning an endless chase, that cycles: as the illegal workers are caught, they are being checked for planning terror attacks, if “cleared” as a non threat to the state of Israel, they are being returned to the west bank, and than try to go through the barrier again, in order to keep on working, providing for their families.

This is an on going project 2009-2010

When a house becomes a home: Submitted by Stephen Uhraney

My name is Stephen Uhraney, I am a Toronto based documentary photographer.

Recently I made way through the doors of downtown Toronto’s Seaton House, the large shelter that offersmedical assistance and life skills training to homeless men with a range of needs,including very poor health, drug and alcohol problems, and mental illness.

My goal? To not only get a better sense of the inner workings of Seaton House, but to also learn more about its clients—to understand who they are as people, not as ugly stereotypes. Many stories have been done on the homeless and they all have the same clichéd slant Wino’s living on the street, not doing anything but getting drunk and beggingfor money.

Seaton House is a refuge for the guys, a safe place to stay and get help. You hear stories about the place and you feel apprehensive about going in. What surprised me was how unscary it really is. Everybody was great, from the staff to the clients. So that’s the direction I took: Show Seaton House for the great place it really is, and how dedicated the staff are to looking after these guys.

I happily spent several days interacting with the men there, feeling their friendliness and enthusiasm for my project, and their appreciation for the care they receive from doctors and staff. It was an eye-opening experience to be allowed inside with a camera, and I hope to be able to go back and do more.

Some of the stories were heartbreaking though. One client, Brian, who is quite ill, was so open to having his picture taken and telling his story that it tugged at the heart. The picture above is of Brian T. a patient of Dr.Svoboda. Brian has been homeless and living on the street for over 20 years, he has Hepatitis C, and due to complications from his illness he has less than two years to live.

He has requested that upon his death, his body be donated to medical research.

Essay about orphan boys and  mentally retarded teenagers at a boarding school for disabled children who try to make their independent living.

See the Markov’s essay on BURN Magazine here.

Photo agency VII member Marcus Bleasdale has a stunning body of work focusing on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on David Alan Harvey’s Burn Magazine. The DRC is home to the deadliest war in the world today. An estimated 5.4 million people have died since 1998, the largest death toll since the Second World War, according to the International Rescue Committee (IRC).

Marcus Bleasdale is being presented on Burn through Matthieu Rytz from Anthropographia. You can view the body on work on Burn Magazine.