Art show melts doubt over glacial decline

A century ago, Michel Comte's grandfather crossed the Alps and returned with stunning images of shining glaciers with white snow covering the mountain ranges. However, while following in his grandfather's footsteps, Comte found the glaciers to be more of a dull gray and much smaller than those photographed by his predecessor.

At his new exhibition, Light III, which opens on Friday at Beijing's Galerie Urs Meile, the Swiss-born artist uses installations and paintings to show the change in color of glacial landscapes in recent years.

It's a "quite wake-up call" and a reminder of both the environmental impact of climate change and the resulting decline in glaciers across the world, says the 64-year-old artist.