The Scream

August 1883 
Edvard Munch witnessed an
unusual blood-red sunset over Oslo
shaken by it, writing he 'felt a great,
unending scream piercing through nature'
inspiring creation of his most famous
work, The Scream.

That evening’s sunset was
painted by eruption of Krakatau
off the coast of Java, one of the most
violent explosions in recorded history 
sending a massive plume of ash
into the stratosphere, causing Earth
to cool by more than one degree
disrupting weather patterns
for several years.

If you wanted graphic illustration
The Scream says it better than
those dull scientific tomes – this is
the way of pollution on a World
wide scale, this is the way of
climate change engendered
in the workings of nature.

The way we’ve done it takes an agony
of silent years, displacement activity
trenchant denial and the accumulated
carbon we’ve released – it isn’t going
to go away; global warming is really
here to stay and we’d best get ready
to scream…
© 20 March 2010, I. D. Carswell