Leslie Harris
In the past fifty years, over three billion birds have vanished from the skies in North America. As the pace of climate change quickens, the loss of birds will only become more catastrophic. In “Elegy for the Vanishing Birds,” I imagine the devastation wrought by rising sea levels on coastal forests and the birds that live there. Sea water is flooding the forests. Each year, more trees are dying, leaving behind ghost trees, bare, broken and silent. The birds are gone, perhaps forever. Their loss is a harbinger of what is to come. Even in their absence, they send us a warning.
Feriel Bensalem
We all can see all the damages of fire and floods around the world. Wildfires destroyed towns in the United States, Greece and Japan, just to name a few.
Then comes the flood, when the ground soil can’t absorb any water, destroying more and more, with all the impacts on lives, drinking water and economy.
Please let’s do something! Anything.
Harriet K. Weiner
Our earth is filled with life and color, seemingly irrepressible in its vitality, diversity and resilience. However, humans threaten the future by destroying the unique conditions that make life possible. It’s not too late, but if we fail, our planet could become just another tiny lifeless orb spinning in the void. In this painting, darkness encroaches on the varied and vibrant colors of life, threatening their very existence. The poem around the border of the painting was written by my husband, Louis Weiner, a physician, scientist, and writer.
Paul G. Cunningham
When ice melts in a full glass it doesn’t overflow; the volume remains the same. But the Earth is not like a glass. As glaciers and ice sheets covering Greenland and the Antarctic melt, sea levels rise. Melting Arctic sea ice contributes, as dark ocean waters open up to absorb sunlight and raise temperatures, further melting land ice. Recent published research underscores the disastrous impacts of rising seas on hundreds of millions of people and the world’s coastal cities by as early as 2050. It doesn’t just melt: it melts with disastrous consequences for the Earth and its inhabitants.
Terry Birkel
One of the most visible consequences of a warming world is an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events.
Noreene Janus
I am passionate about our beautiful coastlines and beaches, but we are losing them to climate change and development and construction. Paradoxically building lovely settlements there accelerates the erosion of these coasts— erosion that damages houses, hotels and other coastal structures, degrades roads, destroys valuable land and disrupts livelihoods such as tourism, fishing, and recreation. Are we helping to destroy the coasts we love?
Arleen S. Cheston
Rapid change surrounds us in these historic times. Climate change and the coronavirus, in combination with the political, racial, and economic unrest affect what we have taken for granted. What is familiar seems to be constantly changing. What is orange today might look like blue tomorrow.
Suzanne Stack
A gathering of crows is called a “murder,” but such flocks are becoming rarer. Many species of crows are being murdered by climate change. With warmer temperatures (and sometimes wetter climates) mosquitoes have increased which is bad news for crows. Crows and other members of the Corvid family (crows, ravens, jays, and magpies) are particularly susceptible to viruses carried by mosquitoes (especially West Nile Virus) and more likely to die when infected compared to other birds. Some regional crow populations in the U S. have declined by 45% since 1999.
Kaitlin Forster
Rising Tide is an exploration of the changes taking place in our world as sea levels rise and people are forced to move to higher ground. The intensity of color and swirling strokes of paint reflect both the tumult and the dark beauty of our world’s shifting landscapes.
Aurie Hall
“Seagrass removes carbon dioxide, a known greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change, from the atmosphere at about four times the rate of forests on land, and stores about ten times more carbon compared to land forests. Seagrasses are vanishing globally at a rate that’s comparable to coral reefs and tropical rainforests. When seagrass is destroyed, carbon can be released back into the atmosphere. While seagrasses can mitigate climate change, climate change also destroys the grasses. Which will prevail? It’s in our hands.”
Nimi Trehan
Mother Earth created this richness and abundance of life to withstand the test of time
But we are slowly destroying her and that is humanity’s ultimate crime.
Scorched and seared-
There is no life or water here
We need to replenish what we stole
And quench the earth to make it whole
Jasmin Smith
This painting reflects my deep concern about the accelerating extinction of many large wild animals as a result of human-driven factors that have had a destructive impact on their natural environment. I was inspired to paint it after I read a story about African elephants heading south to seek refuge in Botswana – a safe haven for animals. The animals in this painting are generic because I felt that eventually all animals would be forced to leave their natural habitat in search of greener pastures.
Sabiha Iqbal
The sky shifted, and the earth moved beneath. Humans are caught by surprise by the global warming crisis., threatening to upend the world, as they know it. Some look up in shock, and disbelief, others panic, some unconcerned and others take action.
Cheryl Ann Bearss
Along the mid-Atlantic coast, “Ghost Trees” are appearing. Rising sea levels create stands of dead bleached trees along the coast when fresh water dependent trees are killed by salt water. Increasing periods of dry spells also raises the level of salt in the water and the risk of fire. After a fire, the forests are unable to recover. Climate change, powerful storms, and sinking land are killing the trees from the roots up.
Heather Urban
In my new series of paintings, I address the unrest and unsettled feelings we have of multiple unresolved issues in 2020 – climate change, policing, Black Lives Matter, immigration, coronavirus and others. In this painting, On My Watch (CLIMATE CHANGE), I stress the tornado of evidence and warnings that our scientific community has stressed over the last few decades and focus on our looming responsibility to act in an effort to avoid a horrific outcome.
Gabriela Hernandez
Our symbiotic relationship with the natural world is at a breaking point. Due to the effects of greenhouse gas, the 20th century human has dealt a traumatic blow to our ecological systems. Global temperature shifts, a decline of Arctic sea ice, and the rise in sea levels, has created an environmental shift in animal migrations and growth patterns in trees and plants. Long term consequences of ineffective policy in conjunction with a misconception of our sovereignty over the natural world is bringing our global nation to the point of no return. WE MUST ACT NOW and allow science to guide us to a more harmonious relationship with the environment. This piece serves as a reminder to the potential loss of our natural world. The ominous full moon sheds light on the darkness of our circumstances, urging us to take action or be forewarned of the devastation that lays ahead.
Lois Kampinksy
Our cataclysmic pace of dumping chemicals and ditching used materials has changed even our oceans. Soon, our remaining aquatic life will not only be gulping our plastics but donning our discarded face masks, as well.