Art should foster dialogue and ask the difficult questions. The recent discovery of the impending collapse of the Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica reminds us that sudden catastrophe has struck civilization too often in history, always unexpectedly and with world-changing impacts. Pompeii, Katrina, Covid, all changed civilizations overnight, some local, some global. And the list of catastrophic storms around the world and at home has become too long to compile. Climate change is increasing storm activity and ocean rise, which will directly impact coastal areas. Natural shoreline features such as beaches, sand dunes, marshes, and mangroves act as buffers to weather systems, pliably absorbing the impact of storms and high tides and thus protecting the hinterlands. Coastal development usually replaces these features with man-made structures that fare less well in storms and require expensive repair.
There are essential dialogues about adaptation to this inevitable drastic change that our societies ignore and postpone at their peril. Art can address and initiate these dialogues in a world where debate has been polemicized.