Climate Change PIX – 2021 photo competition

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Climate Change PIX calls for photos focusing on climate change in our lives. To participate in the competition, photos could be submitted in any of these four categories under two overarching headings — impacts and solutions:

Impacts of climate change

Climate change affects our health, environment, and economy. Some of its impacts are visible and dramatic — such as the destruction of homes after a landslide or a devastating flood or wildfire. Others are less visible — such as increase in ocean acidity — and impact some people and areas more than others. For example, the elderly are more vulnerable to heatwaves or southern Europe is more susceptible to droughts.

Climate change impacts like drier or wetter seasons can favour some species over others, affecting their ability to survive in these new conditions. Climate change also impacts many socioeconomic sectors, including agriculture, forestry, energy production, tourism, and infrastructure. Fish species migrating north can result in high unemployment in local economies. Less rainfall in certain seasons can impact crop yields or power production in dams.

Show how climate change has impacted your life and surroundings under these two categories:

• Impacts on nature: How does climate change affect our environment? Can you see how it has impacted air, land, water and wildlife? 
• Impacts on society: How does climate change affect our society? Can you photograph its impacts on human health, lifestyles, infrastructure and the economy?

Solutions to climate change

Climate change may be one of the most complex issues we are facing today. However, solutions do exist to reduce our carbon footprint and protect us from climate change. Apart from infrastructures and technological advances, many of us are adjusting our lifestyles and learning to cope with some of the impacts, such as extreme temperatures. Show what an individual, a community, a city or a country, or an economic sector (e.g.: transport, forestry, agriculture) do to stop, slow down or adapt to climate change under these two categories:

• Solutions – society: Many communities and cities are taking action to reduce their carbon footprint and adapt to climate change. These could include investments in new infrastructures or infrastructure improvements (e.g.: building cycling paths across the city) or adoption of nature-based solutions (e.g.: planting trees along riverbanks to reduce floods or green spaces in cities to absorb excess rainwater). Can you capture what your community is doing? 
• Solutions – individual action: What can you do about climate change? Capture low-carbon lifestyles and decisions that are within your reach (e.g.: flying less, going car-free altogether; changing what you buy and eat – going on a plant-based diet; using energy efficient products or preparing your home for floods, droughts or heat waves).