Heatwave 1

In the days between 16-24 June 2024, 60 per cent of the world’s population faced extreme heat. The month of June 2024 has since been described as the earth’s hottest on record, with people across Asia, Europe and the Americas facing extremely high temperatures - in some cases exceeding 50C. Scientists warn that new records will be broken as the climate continues to warm. Moreover, the health of people (especially those with neurological and psychiatric disorders) will increasingly be at risk due to the adverse effects of heating on the brain and nervous system. This work is part of a new series I am working on titled ‘Wakeup call’, motivated by my conviction that artists have an important role to play in promoting environmental ethics, noting that art is much more than just presentation. As Australian Professor of Environmental Law, Benjamin Richardson, has correctly contended, art also ‘fuels human imagination, to re-imagine relationships with the natural world, to bring new meanings and creatively forge new solutions’. We need urgently to find creative solutions to protect the earth (and all that depends on it) from the increasingly devastating effects of a warming climate.