Extreme Planet

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Extreme Planet — page 3 — MINTRODUCTION DID YOUEVER WANT to visit a place so badly that you thought about it day and night Maybe it was a national park like Yellowstone an impressive structure like the Eiffel Tower in Paris or a famous building like the Taj Mahal Maybe you saw awesome photographs of it and said I just have to see this place in person For me that place was Mount Etna I loved looking at photos of this active volcano But I really wanted to see Etna for myself I bugged my parents for years to go there Finally at the age of 15 my dream came true We took a vacation from our home in southern Germany to the Italian island of Sicily home of the famous Mount Etna A tour bus took us nearly 1 000 feet 3 353 m to the top of the volcano I breathed the thin air and walked slowly to the edge of the crater to look inside It was a steep abyss with sheer vertical walls Smoke covered the crater floor so it looked bottomless I couldn't take my eyes off it I pictured the melted rock boiling beneath and then bursting out in an eruption I could sense the awesome power That s when I became obsessed with volcanoes Since then I have explored and photographed dozens of volcanoes all around the world from the rain forests of Indonesia to the scorched plains of Africa to the frigid

Extreme Planet — page 4 — ice sheets of Antarctica I ve stood within arm's reach of red hot boiling lava I've felt the rumble of volcanoes coming to life and then dodged flying chunks of rock during eruptions In this book ril share with you some of my volcano adventures You too will sense the awesome power of these forces of nature as we climb inside a crater and stand next to a lake of bubbling lava But that's not all I share my journeys into the depths of glaciers Imagine exploring these icy blue masses from the inside Then we'll warm up quickly as we trek across the world's largest desert on a camel We'll make mind boggling discoveries as we explore caves and canyons We ll even hunt down forces of nature in the air as we chase tornadoes and lightning across the Great Plains of the United States Along the way you'll learn the science behind these extreme places and events Why do volcanoes form where they do What causes crystals the size of tree trunks to grow ina cave What makes narrow slot canyons so dangerous to explore How is technology helping us learn more and more about tornadoes and lightning You ll find the answers to these and lots of other questions about our extreme planet People often ask me why I do it Why do I put myself in scary dangerous situations just to get a photograph First it s never just a photograph My photos and those of other nature photographers are a way to show people natural wonders they've never seen before Through our photos we can share our experiences and our appreciation for the beauty the mystery the wonder of our planet That s a special gift and one I want to pass on Another thing that draws me to extreme places is curiosity When you re riding down a winding road do you want to know what s around the next bend 1 do When I come upon a cave entrance I want to know what it s like inside What will I see hear smell feel That curiosity drives me to explore and photograph seldom seen or never before seen places I also enjoy the physical and mental challenge of exploring extreme places and getting just the right photo that dramatic shot that will stick in your mind It's not easy To get unique shots I have had to become an expert climber a scuba diver and even a pilot of a motorized paraglider I ve worked with engineers to invent gadgets that can go places I can't All of this hard work has paid off You ll see amazing photos in this book some of my favorites in fact I hope they spark your imagination and curiosity Mostly I hope that by sharing my adventures you ll come to appreciate nature not only extreme places but also the nature right outside your door whetherit sacreek a patch of prairie agrove of woods or just a tree on the school grounds it s there for you to explore Maybe take a few photos while you're at it And now onward to adventure Carsten Peter

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