Earth From Above Photography

Those of you who know me well, know I spend an inordinate part of my time wandering around the Huffington Post, looking for a row. I had never heard of Yann Arthus-Bertrand, before I found this story.

Yann is an Environmentalist artist, that travels the world photographing Nature, and is opening a Gallery Show in New York of the destruction man has committed on the Planet Earth.

And he does it, from inside a helicopter! Yann takes these pictures from inside of an EC120B helicopter. That aircraft is a marvel of modern technology, and has a fuel thank that holds over four hundred liters of aviation grade fuel, and has an average duration of four hours. Which means he is spewing 485 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere, for every hour he is up there.

These are very pretty pictures, but at what cost to the Earth? Without the industry he loathes, there would be no Eurocopters; without his Eurocopter none of his art would be possible.

I took issue with that. Imagine my surprise, when a blogger who claims to be Yann, actually responded to my remark.

"my work has "zero carbon footprint". Every gram of CO2 released in the air during our photographing and filming sessions are "reimbursed" by planting trees. My collaborators and myself have also set up a fund which buys "efficient ovens" for Africans. The efficient ovens which we send to Africa enable people to cook, heat their homes, etc... without using wood anymore. ...Therefore, Timmy, our carbon footprint while taking photographs is erased. Lastly, many pictures are taken from hot air balloons."

Unfortunately, a hot air balloon burns twenty to thirty gallons of propane for a one hour flight. A gallon of propane when burned will produce 12.7 lbs of CO2. So an hour in a balloon about puts almost as much CO2 into the atmosphere, as a helicopter.

He might need to plant a few more trees.

Stay tuned to this one...

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