PAINTING BY CLIMATE CHANGE NUMBERS

Painter captures the data of climate change in 7 stunning watercolors

Corinne Segal, February 22, 2016 (PBS Newshour)

“Most paintings don’t come with an x- and y-axis. But for Jill Pelto, art is all about the numbers…The artist, who graduated in December from the University of Maine with a degree in earth science and studio art, creates paintings based on graphs of data on the environmental effects of climate change…[detailing] glacial melt, animal populations and forest fires, among others…Seven years ago, Pelto began assisting on a project led by her father, glacial researcher Mauri Pelto…

“Habitat Degradation: Deforestation” uses data showing the decline in rainforest area from 1970 to 2010. These lush ecosystems are disappearing before our eyes, and with them, millions of beautiful species. For this series, I chose to separate the animals from their habitat, because that is ultimately what we are doing. The tiger is trapped outside the forest, cornered. Art and caption by Jill Pelto (click to enlarge)

“Pelto hopes that her pieces can work as a visual link to the data, grabbing the attention of people for whom those numbers aren’t enough…[and who] are attracted to the visuals of art…Most of her data comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Climate Central and other researchers whose work she has studied…’My main audience are those people that know climate change is going on and know these are important issues, but either don’t realize how drastic it is or don’t stay informed.’” click here for more

Habitat Degradation: Arctic Melt” shows Arctic sea ice data from 1980 to present. Rapid warming in the Arctic has caused the sea ice area to decline so quickly that species cannot adjust. The Arctic fox is small and extraordinarily resilient to the most severe cold. They can withstand the frigid north and thus have this corner of the world in which to hunt. But when the temperatures mellow, competition from larger species could overcome them, as other species move further north to escape their own warming environment. Photo and caption by Jill Pelto (click to enlarge)

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