In 2020, artist Nicole Cooper was conducting research for a painting series when she stumbled upon a NASA chart showing temperature rise throughout history. “I had this realization of, ‘Look at how fast temperatures are rising — and what are we going to do about it?” she said.
Cooper experienced what she described as an existential crisis, feeling terrified of what would happen in her lifetime and worried that it may already be too late to act.
“I needed to be able to talk,” she said, “and express myself about the emotional reaction I was having.”
Climate change wasn’t something she felt she could discuss deeply with the people in her life, as is the case for most Americans. Though most people acknowledge climate change is real, and about 30% say they are “very worried” about it, just 37% say they discuss the issue occasionally or often, according to a 2022 survey from Yale University.
