Birds play a key role in the functioning of the world's ecosystems, directly affecting our health, the economy and food production (by controlling pests, pollinating and sowing seeds of certain plant species). The salt ponds were home to hundreds of breeding birds every year. With the permanent drying up of the lakes, their numbers have fallen dramatically.

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We'll stay even after this land dried out - stories from the Hungarian Great Plain after the historical summer drought (detail)

The Hungarian Great Plain is the country's largest landscape, main source of food production. And most vulnerable to the climate change. Farming is a source of livelihood for the people here. Changing climatic conditions are having an increasing impact on their lives. According to climate forecasts, till 2100, 2/3 of Hungary's territory become semi-desert and making it unsuitable for farming.

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Zsolt Balázs

freelance photographer

As an independent photographer his most important angle is that of humanity and objectivity. Several years he has been working on exploring the effects of global climate change in the Great Plain (Hungary) on the environment and he focuses on individuals who are already suffering from the consequences or are threatened in their existence.