Oil on Canvas Painting by Caoimhghin Ó Croidheáin, a prominent Irish artist. 

Visit his website at http://gaelart.blogspot.ie/.

This series of paintings entitled ‘Environ-mental: Climate Chaos and Pollution ‘ is based on a combination of the classical Greek idea of the four elements (Air, Water, Fire and Earth) with modern aspects of climate chaos that we are going through currently.

‘Environ-mental’ refers to the ‘mental’ or crazy aspect of the modern economy which proceeds regardless of the effects of  modern industrialisation on the global climate.

As we move from ‘Global Warming’ through ‘Climate Change’ to ‘Climate Chaos’ and Instability, we can see the terminology describing the effects of human activity on the climate changing yet the underlying causes seem to stay the same (or get worse) without any significant sincere international effort to counter this problem.

‘Part 1: Air’ looks at the effect of increased car ownership around the world is having on air quality creating smog locally, and the effect of greenhouse gas emissions on global warming from cars globally.

Often disregarded by environmentalists, whose focus has centered on Carbon dioxide CO2, motor vehicles also emit Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, which is among the most serious forms of toxic air pollution in large urban areas. In the U.S. 60% of carbon monoxide emissions are caused by motor vehicles.

60cm x 60cm / 23.6 in x 23.6 in

‘Part 2: Water’ notes the increased frequency of hurricanes which cause flooding locally while at the same time the increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere causes warming and more water to be evaporated from the ocean, which will lead, it has been estimated, to ever more frequent and even more intense hurricanes over the next century.

Environ-mental: Climate chaos and pollution
Part 2 : Water
Oil on canvas
60cm x 60cm / 23.6 in x 23.6 in

‘Part 3: Fire’ looks at the increasing frequency of wildfires globally as warming intensifies areas with long hot summers in hot and dry climates causing extensive damage to huge forested areas (and thereby decreasing the tree-covered areas that act as carbon dioxide sinks), while at the same time causing untold damage to property and human life.