CALIFORNIA FIRES AND GLOBAL WARMING

BURNING COAL 22″w x 30″h acrylic on paper

BURN 30"w x 22"h acrylic on paper

Global warming’s effects hit hard and furiously this last week here in northern California.  Destructive wildfires burned with an intensity not seen before. Hundreds of homes were lost, people died, and hundreds of thousands of acres of land burned.  Our governor, Jerry Brown, said that the “raging wildfires in recent weeks draw attention to global warming, highlighting links between hot, dry conditions and the severity of fires.”

For quite some time now I have been painting artworks about the burning, transporting and mining of coal.  Coal pollution  is assuredly one of the major causes of the greenhouse gasses that are warming the surface of our planet.  I feel that the three paintings posted above relate to what we are currently experiencing in California with these monstrous wildfires.  “We are now paying the price for unchecked climate change” according to the League of Conservation Voters.