Postcards for a Greener Earth

Postcards For A Greener Earth

by Leslie Cober-Gentry

A little while back Leslie let me know that the theme of the upcoming show she was having would be "Postcards For A Greener Earth". This was music to my ears as I am all in on changing public knowledge of the greatest threat to mankind.

I've used whatever platforms are availale to me to consistently post messaging about climate change especially as it pertains to polluting the ocean waters. As a lifelong surfer I've experienced pollution first hand, from plastics floating on the ocean's surface to getting infected by toxins in the water on the shores of Hawaii. I've seen documentaries and read numerous article about mountains of trash floating in the Pacific Ocean to shoreline waters littered with trash in the Carribean.

I was honored to have my art shown with all the other great pieces and if it contributed to heighten awareness to this global issue I am fufilled.

Illustrations by Lon Levin

year, Start Making Sense (choosing one of the 5 senses), the second, Illustrating Our Landmarks (marking the 50th Anniversary of NYC’s Landmark Law), the third, Artists Illustrating Artists, the forth, Drawn To The Music, the fifth, Food Fight, and the most currant, an important environmental issue, Postcards For A Greener Earth.

POSTCARDS FOR A GREENER EARTH exhibit at the Society of Illustrators NYC.

For the last six years I have had the opportunity to curate the annual NYC Society of Illustrators Member’s Open Exhibit. An exhibit, where the art is created by current members of the Society of Illustrators. Each year I choose a wellrespected jury of three current illustrator members; this year Stephen Gardner, Wendy Popp, and William Low, choose the winner and two honorable mentions for the prestigious Stevan Dohanos Award. An award that exemplifies the best illustration in the SI member’s show. Stevan Dohanos (May 18, 1907-1994) a past president of the Society of Illustrators and a founding member of the Famous Artists School of Westport CT, was an artist and illustrator of the social realism school who was best known for his Saturday Evening Post covers and World War II propaganda posters and murals.

Each year I choose a theme that is new, interesting and far from the theme of the previous year in order to spark the interest of the professional and busy members. My first

As Illustrators we become “visual journalists” covering various significant topics around the world and assist in spreading the word through our art and knowledge. This year, artist members were asked to create a postcard 6” by 4” that is Earth, environment or climate concerned, addressing a global threat to our Earth. Our environment is constantly changing. As our environment changes, so does the need to become increasingly aware of the problems that surround it. With an influx of natural disasters, warming and cooling periods, different types of weather patterns and much more, people need to be aware of what our planet is facing. The artists were asked to cover one or more of the megatrends that present major threats to the planet earth; air pollution and climate change, deforestation, species extinction, soil degradation, overpopulation, and plastic pollution in our oceans.

Over fifty original postcards were entered into the exhibit, all greatly varied in ideas and technique, making the judging a very difficult decision. After over three hours of careful deliberation and discussion between jurors, Youlin Tabokov was chosen for the Stevan Dohanos Award. Honorable mentions were awarded to Heidi Younger, and Veronica Tolentino, a new member who recently graduated from the School of Visual Arts NYC.

The Earth's climate has changed throughout history. Just in the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era — and of human civilization. Most of these climate changes are attributed to very small variations in Earth’s orbit that change the amount of solar energy our planet receives.

Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal.

- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change

The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is extremely likely (greater than 95 percent probability) to be the result of human activity since the mid-20th century and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented over decades to millennia.

Earth-orbiting satellites and other technological advances have enabled scientists to see the big picture, collecting many different types of information about our planet and its climate on a global scale. This body of data, collected over many years, reveals the signals of a changing climate.

Artwork by Heidi Younger and Wendy Popp

levels of greenhouse gases must cause the Earth to warm in response.

Ice cores drawn from Greenland, Antarctica, and tropical mountain glaciers show that the Earth’s climate responds to changes in greenhouse gas levels. Ancient evidence can also be found in tree rings, ocean sediments, coral reefs, and layers of sedimentary rocks. This ancient, or paleoclimate, evidence reveals that current warming is occurring roughly ten times faster than the average rate of ice-age-recovery warming.

The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit (0.9 degrees Celsius) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere. Most of the warming occurred in the past 35 years, with the five warmest years on record taking place since 2010.

The heat-trapping nature of carbon dioxide and other gases was demonstrated in the mid-19th century.Their ability to affect the transfer of infrared energy through the atmosphere is the scientific basis of many instruments flown by NASA. There is no question that increased

The oceans have absorbed much of this increased heat, with the top 700 meters (about 2,300 feet) of ocean showing warming of more than 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit since 1969.