The Icecaps Are Melting, But Hope Is Ahead
Good morning to you,
I hope this finds you well. With COP 26 (the UN climate change conference of 2021) taking place this week, I thought it would be a great opportunity to introduce some ideas that I have been working on for this Iceland Project I am currently working on. Climate change is an issue that’s at the forefront of our attention at the moment and with Iceland being the home of glaciers and so much sea life, I have been learning about how climate change is affecting it and how to respond to this in the artwork that will be shown in the exhibition.
What Climate Change Looks Like In Iceland
I love Iceland because of its natural beauty and unique landscape. It reminds me that the world is a mysterious and wonderful place, there’s so much still to be discovered. Glaciers, geysers, the northern lights, volcanoes… it seems so many of the wonders of the world are found there! Iceland is the home of the largest glacier in Europe, Vatnajokull. Iceland’s glaciers lose 4 billion tones of ice per year due to climate change and have done for the last 130 years. Half of that loss occurred in the last 25 years. This causes a multitude of problems: rising sea levels, flooding, coastal erosion, extreme weather, loss of wildlife and their habitats… and the list goes on. This video below is a quick report of this, if you have 7 minutes to spare I recommend having a watch.
Thankfully these are issues that are now being discussed in our society today, we have to tackle our carbon emissions in order to survive and have a future on this planet. I’m sure a lot of us have seen David Attinborough’s Netflix documentary ‘A Life On Our Planet’, in which he discusses how he has seen the increasing damage being caused to our world by climate change and global warming.
But he doesn’t leave us with doom and gloom, he talks about how it is not too late for us to make drastic changes in the way we live our lives so that we cut down carbon emissions. We can all make choices every day to play a part in this mission to reduce our carbon footprint.
On Monday 1st November at COP 26 in his speech, he said, “we are the greatest problem solvers to have ever existed on earth. We now understand the problem and know how to stop the number rising and put in reverse.”
For me, seeing the beauty of our world through art, photography, film, and literature reminds me to appreciate this incredible universe we live in and to not take for granted that if we don’t take action to protect it, we will lose it.
Video Of The Week: Life On Our Planet
If you haven’t seen this already, I highly recommend it. At 93 David Attenborough takes us through the journey of his incredible life as a broadcaster, writer, and naturalist. From deep in the Amazonian jungle to Antarctica, we are taken to each continent over the 60 years of his career, he reports his first-hand experience of how the health of the planet has declined. But there is hope! It’s not too late to shift to renewable energy, restore biodiversity and end deforestation.
Artwork Of The Week: Forest Light
This piece was finished this week! On an Icelandic landscape that’s predominantly in blue and grey hues, the green patches pop out and give a fresh feeling of new life. Light shining through the trees in a forest is something I have always loved, seeing the green pine trees scattered on snowy mountainsides gives hope of Spring, the land renewing itself.
Thanks for reading and have a great weekend :)
Lydia x