Lorde has called on world leaders to take urgent action on tackling climate change, after a trip to Antarctica allowed her to view the crisis first-hand.

The singer’s plea comes after she announced plans to release a new 100-page photo book which will document her trip to the continent last year.

Lorde’s trip was funded by government agency Antarctica New Zealand and took place before she began writing new material for the follow-up to 2017’s ‘Melodrama’.

In a new essay for New Zealand’s Metro magazine, she explained that she undertook the trip after becoming concerned by the Trump’s administration’s decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement.

She wrote: “I envisioned Antarctica slowly turning to slush, flooding the Southern ocean.

“The urgency I had once felt about making the trip south returned. I made phone call after phone call, got several dozen booster shots, and then it was happening – this dreamy musician was hitching a ride to the end of the world.”

She went on to explain her conflicted feelings about the visit, as she was worried of potentially damaging the vulnerable environment herself.

“Being in Antarctica isn’t always fun, exactly. It’s thrilling and spiritually intense, but as the days go on, I find it hard to shake the thought that I really shouldn’t be here,” she wrote.

“It’s so clearly not an environment fit for humans to inhabit. The sheer effort it takes me to stay alive for five days while the continent does its best to expel me is exhausting.

“Being in Antarctica has clarified how deeply vulnerable, how in need of protection, it is. But it took coming here for that knowledge to galvanise – and in coming here, I have also been a small part of its deterioration.”

All proceeds from the book’s sales will go towards a postgraduate scholarship established by Antarctica New Zealand.

Lorde is yet to announce an exact release date for the book, her website has confirmed that it will ship by mid-February, 2021.

Going South can be pre-ordered here, with the singer announcing that the first 500 copies ordered will arrive with a special signed postcard.

Lorde has been teasing the release of new music throughout the year. Most recently, she said she would give her fans “something in return” next year in exchange for voting in the New Zealand election – which saw Jacinda Ardern secure a second term as Prime Minister.