Monday, March 21, 2011

Running the Numbers

My coworker sent me a link to a startling gallery on chrisjordan.com. If you click artworks you can find the galleries Running the Numbers and Running the Numbers II.

All the artwork in these galleries is thought-provoking , especially when you realize clicking the pictures zooms in to see the smaller images that make up the whole picture. But the saddest two, for me, are Year of the Tiger and Shark Teeth.
Depicts 3,200 toy tigers, equal to the estimated number of tigers remaining on Earth. The space in the middle would hold 40,000 of these tigers, equal to the global tiger population in 1970.
Close-up of the tiger border
Depicts 270,000 fossilized shark teeth, equal to the estimated number of sharks of all species killed around the world every day for their fins.
Shark teeth close-up
Tigers and sharks are two of my favourite animals. What are we doing to this planet??

Friday, March 11, 2011

Tsunami forecast

An 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of northern Japan Thursday afternoon, triggering a massive tsunami watch.
tsunami forecast
I just can't get over that graphic. It's amazing - and terrifying - to see how widespread the destruction can be from such a huge earthquake.