The documentary Chasing Ice by award-winning director Jeff Orlowski, which features scenes from Iceland, opens in New York today.

The film, which was screened at the Reykjavík International Film Festival in late September and early October, follows National Geographic photographer James Balog on his quest to document the melting of glaciers in Alaska, Greenland and Iceland through time-lapse photography.

Balog was reportedly skeptical when he first set out to document the effects of climate change in the Arctic but after seven years photographing the rapid melting, he is described as a passionate convert.

According to The New York Times, the film also follows the physical challenges of the assignment. “It also records his personal struggles as knee problems threaten his ability to hike the difficult terrain to get the shots he wants. (Assistants take over some of the work.) That combination—a solitary quest with global implications—makes Chasing Ice as watchable as it is important.”

The film is part of the Extreme Ice Survey project launched by Balog to study the retreat of the world’s glaciers.

ZR