There is no concern more important than life.
Trailer – © John Neel
Inspiration – 2 to 6˚F Rise in Temperature = Hell On Earth
For most of my photographic life, I have considered myself a concerned photographer. Concerned photography is actually a category of image-makers. There are many of us.
The term concerned photography was originally coined by Cornell Capa, as a way to describe social documentary photography. In recent times, the term has grown to include all aspects of human and environmental interaction. There are many photographers who are producing imagery that conveys their concerns about where we are headed.
As a concerned photographer, I am troubled by the ways in which the modern world has treated the life giving forces we call nature. For well over a century, we humans have carelessly dumped gases into the atmosphere, littered our lands, and polluted our waters in the name of “progress”.
We now realize that in our quest for material wealth, the environment has been seriously disrupted and as a result, so has the climate. The earth is suffering from our carelessness and its violently chaotic reaction will impact everything we know and everything we love.
Man invented scientific study as a way to discover the truths of life. Science has been our way of determining what works and what doesn’t. It is how we as humans understand the biological, chemical and physical characteristics of our planet. Yet, there are many who seem skeptical. They deny fact in order to satisfy their delusions. They defy all good judgment, common sense and realistic evaluation in order to maintain their own vested interests. It is easy to deny environmental changes (among other things) when living in a world filled with fantasy and make-believe.
Climate as we have known it is what keeps life in balance. It is a cycle of heat, moisture, evaporation, biochemical recycling and constant movement that replenishes the earth, the air we breathe and the life we love. It is vital to all life that we know of. When that cycle is disrupted, everything else becomes disrupted. Disruption of climate causes ecological disruption, which causes higher temperatures, which causes such things as drought, melting ice caps, chaotic weather patterns, rising oceans. This in turn, disrupts animal and plant habitats, which disrupts food production. All of which impact human life.
Barbershop gossip and office small talk are not responsible ways to determine the truth of Climate Change. We all need to take a hard look at the scientific facts and believe what science is telling us. Climate Change is a reality that we all need to face. We can’t ignore the facts. Denial is not an option we can afford. There is no time for debate.
Don’t just take my word for it.
But for the sake of everyone and everything you care about, become educated in the realities that we all will soon need to survive. Time is not on our side. Together, acting in concert, we might still be able to slow the effects of what we’ve created and if it is not too late, perhaps reverse the consequences we face.
Photographer or not, think “Climate Reality.” Don’t put our future and the future of all life at risk to meaningless gossip, senseless hearsay and simpleminded denial.
Here are a few links to some cold hard real world facts:
Daily Kos: Forward on Climate: Time to Take a Stand!
A Way Forward: Facing Climate Change National Geographic
Please watch this video:
