Science and WeatherNorwegian glacier shows Mother Nature crying
Marine photographer and environmental lecturer Michael Nolan snapped this great picture back in 2009, but this image of a crying face, carved into the side of a glacier by melt-water, is still a poignant reminder of the damage we are doing to the environment though global warming and climate change.
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Quoting from Michael's blog:
"Sometimes an image just seems to be too good to true! The image above has caused quite a stir around the world in so many ways. When I took the image early in the morning on July 16, 2009 from the bow of the National Geographic Explorer I was struck by the unmistakable likeness of the face of a woman crying. In fact once my mind locked onto the face it was hard to see any other pattern in the ice cap. I was moved to photograph this particular waterfall several different ways with a couple of different lenses. It was one of the best examples of a human likeness I have ever witnessed in nature.
I loved the stylized look of the waterfall as it formed the pool of tears, and think it is strikingly similar to what a thoughtful yet mournful Mother Nature might appear to look like, and what better place to appear than on the face of the largest (by area) retreating ice cap in all of Europe?"
[ More Geekquinox: Amazing conical cloud caps Russian volcano ]
Of course, the image is a perfect example of pareidolia — a trick of our minds where we see faces and other familiar shapes in nature, such as clouds or rock formations. Some famous examples in astronomy are the 'Man in the Moon' and the face on Mars.
(Image courtesy: Michael Nolan)
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