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Ryan Aw

@rawcaptures.net

3.4K followers 850 following 1.8K posts

Environmentalist, Adventurer, Cat parent, Outdoor Photographer 🔗 www.rawcaptures.net/links Conservation Through Composition

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · Apr 27

Hi BlueSky, I’m Ryan!

I’m an environmentalist, adventurer, photographer, and full-time cat parent that’s hopelessly in love with Earth

While I spend most of my time advocating for the polar regions, there isn’t a single ecosystem on this planet that escapes my interest
🧵 👇

A self portrait of me looking at the night sky, with the southern Milky Way reaching across the Antarctic night sky while standing on the bow of the M/V Ortelius

Sony A1 ii, Sony 12-24mm GM - 3s, f/2.8, ISO12800

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 10h

If you’ve made it this far down, please consider sparing a minute more to write to our senators

Let them know that we cannot allow this absolutely horror of a road be built through this sacred land

It’s never too late

#publiclandsinpublichands #noamblerroad

act.npca.org/page/89143/a...

A photo of the Alaskan tundra in the autumn. Image made by Ryan Aw

Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 10h

If something like this can happen to a place like Alaska - this needs to be a wake up call for all Americans.

This can, and will happen to the rest of our public lands if we stay still.

We can’t let billionaires and this joke of a govt bribe, lie, and cheat their way into filling their wallets

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 10h

For an administration that claims to be “America First,” I can’t see how any of this could possibly benefit any American citizen.

It’s greedy, it’s evil, it’s disrespectful, it’s disgusting, it’s unforgivable to want to ruin this land.

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 10h

This road would also run along many critical regions

Destroying #salmon spawning streams, cutting off #caribou migration paths, endangering indigenous food supplies, polluting water supplies for ALL Alaskans

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 10h

This is a PRIVATE road, that ONLY heavy machinery can use, for the specific purpose of drilling and mining copper to be sold to a CANADIAN company, which will then sell the materials to CHINA, which Americans will then have to buy back at a 125% #tariff, all at the expense of Alaskans.

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 10h

As #beautiful, unrelenting, and harsh as Alaska can be, it’s equally fragile and precious

The Gov’t wants to build a 200+ mile road that cuts through land of over 60 #indigenous tribes

It will pave a road through Gates of the Arctic, the only National Park without a paved road

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 10h

Alaska’s unique composition makes it an incredible carbon sink, storing easily over 30 billion metric tons of CO2

If released, through the melting of the permafrost or draining of the #peat bogs through mining and oil drilling operations, we wouldn’t live to tell the tale

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 10h

The Alaskan #Arctic itself is home to over 200 recognised tribes, and probably a LOT more that have been buried in history

Alaska holds history of over 10,000 years old for these peoples, long before any Russian or American colonisers took over the land

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 10h

Alaska is a lot more than “a really fkn cold place” or a “great cruise spot” or a “nice visit.”

It’s so much more than a bunch of resources for us to mine and drill into

#Alaska is a source of unimaginable beauty

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 10h

People often say “leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures”

But Alaska is different

The tundra is so diverse, so complex, and so fragile. Each step springs back with the bounce of mosses, lichen, and #fungi off the ground beneath

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 10h

People think Alaska is this like, mystical wintery wonderland - and it is. But it’s so much more than that

Under the snow, is layers of #permafrost, thousands of years old. Beneath that, are peat bogs, marshes, wetlands of all kinds

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 10h

We shared many laughs, beers, and hours on the road, even more hours running around in the #tundra

Most importantly, we were there over our shared love for this planet, to explore, appreciate, and understand this unique ecosystem

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 10h

The Brooks Range is a place I had the extreme fortune of exploring on my first ever group photo trip, in 2024 (no seriously, that’s how new I am to non-solo travel).

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 10h

Just because it’s fall and it’s critical to be discussing Alaska right now:

Some of my favourite images from this absolutely staggering slice of Earth

From my last visit - Sept 2024

Peep the full thread; which are your favourites?

#publiclandsinpublichands #alaska #noamblerroad #publiclands

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 23h

It really is!

Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 23h

Oh man, wish I knew haha. These images were from a roadtrip this past summer. I’m sure we stopped by that gas station, but never went inside for tamales 😭

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 23h

Ahh would have been good to know! These were from a road trip this past summer. I’m a long ways from the west now haha.

Will have to keep that in mind the next time I’m in the area, which I’m hoping is soon!

Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 23h

Ahh that would have been great to know!

These images are all from a big roadtrip I went on this past summer. Will have to save it for the next time I’m in the area, which I’m hoping is soon haha

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 23h

Such incredible formations!

Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 1d

Thank you! The Alaskan Arctic is such an incredible place. Wish more people would understand it’s magic!

Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 2d

I’m not sure what part of destroying public lands, selling the resources to foreign companies, polluting clean water supplies for Alaskans, or destroying a National Park is “America First”

Sorry, but you’d have to be truly fucking stupid to think this project benefits anyone

alaskawild.org

Home | Alaska Wilderness League

STOP SEISMIC TESTING IN THE ARCTIC Companies are showing interest in seismic exploration in the Arctic Refuge. This is not just paperwork - it's the

alaskawild.org

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 2d

www.protectthekobuk.org/contact-your...

Contact Your Reps | Protect the Kobuk

www.protectthekobuk.org

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 2d

act.npca.org/page/88394/a...

13 Million Acres of Public Lands at Risk

Dismantling the Central Yukon plan through a congressional resolution would throw our entire system of managing public lands into chaos. Urge your senators to vote No on S.J. RES 63. We must protect...

act.npca.org

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 2d

This administration has approved the Ambler Road Project - a 211 mile PRIVATE road ONLY for heavy machinery to exploit and extract minerals in the fragile Alaskan tundra

It cuts through land of over 40 indigenous tribes, as well as important salmon streams and caribou migration routes

#publiclands

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Ryan Aw @rawcaptures.net · 2d

National Parks may be open during this govt shutdown, but I’d advise against visiting

They lack the federal funding and workforce to keep the parks clean and safe.

But - state, city, & other locally funded parks like the Garden of the Gods are equally stunning and worth visiting

#publiclands

Strange rock formations in Colorado, USA

Sony A1 ii, Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GM ii - 1/125s, f/6.3, ISO 100

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