Global warming and climate change are hot button issues, but despite the varying extremist opinions on the topic, the scientific consensus remains the same—the average temperature of the earth has risen between 0.4 and 0.8 degrees Celsius over the past 100 years. The consequences of such being rising sea levels, melting polar ice caps, and a significant increase in severe weather events. Thankfully, the art community has taken notice. There are several artists creating works dedicated to creating environmental art bringing awareness to environmental issues and inspiring action to save our planet. Here are just a few of the inspiring artists with an environmental message:
Environmental Art by Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Christo and Jeanne-Claude are an inspiring husband and wife duo who create environmental art together. With Christo hailing from Bulgaria and Jeanne-Claude from Morocco, the two first met in Paris where they fell in love through creating artwork together. So much so the pair even refused to fly on the same planes together so that if one plane were to crash, the other could continue creating their work. Their impressive portfolio of over-the-top environmental art includes:
The wrapping of the Reichstag in Berlin
Photograph: Wolfgang Volz
The wrapping of the Pont-Neuf bridge in Paris
Photo: Wolfgang Volz
Surrounded Islands in Florida
Photo: Wolfgang Volz
Floating Piers in Italy
Photo: Wolfgang Volz However, some critics find the pair’s work irritating, because they claim no deeper meaning behind it—they create simply for “joy and beauty” with no apparent reason for the large scale of their projects. And to that, Christo has to say, “I am an artist, and I have to have courage … Do you know that I don’t have any artworks that exist? They all go away when they’re finished. Only the preparatory drawings, and collages are left, giving my works an almost legendary character. I think it takes much greater courage to create things to be gone than to create things that will remain.” Their unique wrapping technique and other environmental manipulations allow viewers to see the landscapes they are so accustomed to passing by daily in a whole new light.
‘Washed Up’ by artist Alejandro Duran
Mexican multimedia artist Alejandro Duran works with photography, installation and video to examine the controversial meeting points between man and nature, the damage that consumer culture has caused to the natural world. 
Photo: www.alejandroduran.com His work titled Washed Up was created with washed up collections of trash and debris he formed into awe-inspiring installations. Duran walked along the Sian Ka’an coast of Mexico collecting thousands of pieces of garbage that washed up on the shores. As he transformed these items of debris into aesthetically pleasing installations he aimed to draw the attention of the masses to the important issue of ocean pollution and environmental problems globally. 
He strives to have the installations “mirror the reality of our current environmental predicament” and the photo series “depicts a new form of colonization by consumerism, where even undeveloped land is not safe from the far-reaching impact of our disposable culture”.
Lorenzo Quinn Sculpture in Venice
Leading Italian artist Lorenzo Quinn is a contemporary figurative sculptor who unveiled, a one-of-a-kind sculpture at the 57th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale. Appropriately titled Support, the sculpture is of a giant pair of hands reaching out of the Grand Canal appearing to support the walls of the historic Ca’Segredo Hotel. This bold piece greeted visitors of Venice, reminding them of the city’s intimate relationship with water. 
Photo: Halcyon Gallery and Lorenzo Quinn A study published in Quaternary International predicted that if nothing is done to curb the progress of global warming, all of Venice will be submerged in water by the year 2100, as the Mediterranean Sea is expected to rise by 55 inches in that time. Support is both a warning of the real existential threat faced by cities like Venice because of rising sea levels and a call to action—to show us as the viewers that we can actually have an impact in slowing down global warming, just like the pair of giant white hands. 
Photo: Jacopo De Michelis According to a release from the Halcyon Gallery, the sculpture showcases “the two sides of human nature, the creative and the destructive, as well as the capacity for humans to act and make an impact on history and the environment”. Besides the obvious meaning of the sculpture however, Quinn revealed that it carries a more personal meaning to him as well in an interview with Mashable. He disclosed, “I have three children, and I’m thinking about their generation and what world we’re going to pass on to them. I’m worried, I’m very worried.” The hands were even modeled after one of his children’s hands. As he says, Support “wants to speak to the people in a clear, simple and direct way through the innocent hands of a child and it evokes a powerful message, which is that united we can make a stand to curb the climate change that affects us all.”