This Is Climate Change project will place photographs and other strong visuals in public locations to show that climate change is real and is currently impacting the United States. Despite the overwhelming scientific findings on the reality of man-made climate change, a 2010 Pew Research Center poll found that only 59% of Americans believed that there was solid evidence that the earth was getting warmer. “The numerous scientific reports and publications affirming that climate change is real and human induced have not seemed to sway public opinion” explains project director, Elena Marszalek, in a press release. “We thought an approach that focuses on changes which are already affecting the U.S. would make climate change a more relevant issue to the American public.”
The Del Mar Global Trust chose to collaborate with me because of my celebrated series of views of affected landscapes, part of my 11-year photojournalistic project to increase climate science literacy. The This Is Climate Change educational project will be synergistic with other programs to re-emphasize the science of climate change and the implications of the rising amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The backlighted photographic billboard will be in Reagan National airport for a year; other displays of global warming in other public locations, and further collaborations, are planned.