Global Warming and Climate Change Explained Through Haiku and Watercolor Paintings
An oceanographer found the most creative way ever to share a 1,200-page report on climate change through the literary art of haiku.
According to Reuters, Gregory Johnson recently spent a weekend with the flu in his Seattle home reading an executive summary of "Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis." As a 20-year-long member of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, Johnson was one of the primary authors of one of the report's chapters.
"I thought that if I tried distilling these ideas into haiku, maybe that would help fix them in my mind," Johnson said. "This was not intended for anything but my own personal consumption."
Johnson's chapter examined how global warming affected our oceans. Oceans must be quite the inspiration as Johnson ended up painting watercolor pictures to go with his poetry.
The collection of poems, titled Climate Change Science 2013: Haiku, were published on the website of Sightline Institute, an environmental policy think-tank.
"Seas rise as they warm./Rates quicken last century./Melting ice joins in," one of the haikus, titled "Water Meets Earth," reads.
"CO2, methane/warm despite sun-pots, dust, soot,/clouds, and volcanoes," the "Change Drivers" haiku says.
Johnson's haikus cover a range of climate change issues, from rising sea levels, carbon burning and melting ice to the future of our children.
At the end his global warming haiku story, Johnson offers both hope and reality.
"Fast, strong action will/reduce future warming, but.../rising seas certain," the last haiku, "Future, Reprise," says.
Sightline Institute also uploaded the haikus and their accompany pictures onto a YouTube video, hoping to spread the beauty of science through art.
"Imagine what it would be like if we could communicate the essence of this important information in plain language and pictures," Sightline Institute said in the video's description. "...The result is stunning, sobering, and brilliant. It's poetry. It's a work of art. But it doubles as clear, concise, powerful talking points and a compelling visual guide."
Check out the video below: