Humans have used art as a form of expression since the beginning of time. From cave paintings to modern museum galleries, artwork is made with intention. It has a message behind it. That’s why it’s so often used during movements, to rally people behind something better conveyed through image than words.

That link is something even scientists want to understand. Our brains process words in a specific way, but art? That’s completely subjective. 

Linking the Brain to Art

Everyone’s heard the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Well, it can be, but it’s more like it’s worth a completely different type of neurological stimuli, specifically how humans decide whether or not they “like” a piece of art.

Researchers at Caltech scanned the brains of volunteers over four days, who went through thousands of paintings and rated how much they liked the painting. What they found was that the medial prefrontal cortex that sits in an area in front of the brain assigns a subjective value to art right when a human first sees it. The brain breaks art into essential qualities and decides if it likes those qualities or not. 

Of course, it’s still all subjective. Even if we all use the same part of our brains to decide if we like art, it doesn’t mean we’ll all end up liking the same art. But that neural activity only explains the initial “gut-check” a person has towards a piece of art, and doesn’t account for one important aspect.

Knowing the message behind the art.

Modern Protest Art

“Protest Art” is a loose term for the art created by activists and social movements with a specific cause or action behind it. These types of art are hard to trace far into the past, but some famous historical examples include Paule Revere’s “The Boston Massacre” from 1770, displaying the event of the same name five years before the American Revolutionary War started. It, like other protest art pieces, captured the essence of the movement Revere was a part of.

In modern day, protest art pops up in many forms, but none are as classic as the mural. The British street and graffiti artist Banksy is one of the most recognizable “protest art” artists out there. His murals have often commentated on politics and current events. However, most movements aren’t heralded by a singular artist, but rather many coming together to create art that speaks to a wide range of people. The 2020 Black Lives Matter movement in the United States saw hundreds of murals go up in honor of George Floyd. Even the simple peace sign got its start as a sketch used on protest signs for an anti-nuclear protest walk.

Ultimately, a single piece of art isn’t the thing that unites a social or political movement visually, but the culmination of many pieces of artwork made by those most invested in that movement. .

This Year’s Poster

One of the many people invested in the good of the planet is Miles Wintner, who created the 2026 Earth Day poster. He represented this years theme of “Our Power, Our Planet” into depicting the Earth as a flower being held in a person’s hand.

To him, it represents both the tenderness and strength of humanity’s relationship with the plant. How ideally, the earth is cared for gently by humanity like we would a flower. It adds to the surreal nature of being human at a time when it’s critical to be planet-minded.

You can add your voice to the cause just like Wintner did and participate in Earth Day this year at one of thousands of events. Art is subjective, and a great tool to get a message across, but people need to make it, see it, and be inspired by it. So be inspired, not just by Wintner, but by the world, because it’s in the palm of our hands.

Order your limited edition poster.

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Pulitzer prize winning poet Mary Oliver got her start in the woods, fiddling with miniature twig and grass huts. In the forest surrounding her childhood home in the suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, hands muddied and hair no doubt strewn with leaves and sticks, Oliver encountered her beloved Mother Nature and wrote her very first poems. It was in these woods that Oliver discovered a lifelong love.

Across time immemorial, humble moments in connection with nature, like that of child Oliver in an Ohioan forest, have inspired impassioned artwork. From ancient China to the streets of Harlem, New York, poets across the globe have centered landscape, water, and flora and fauna in their writings. For instance, Wang Wei (701-761 C.E.) transformed tranquil Chinese landscapes into poems that resonated beyond the page. Langston Hughes (1901-1967 C.E.) wrote of rivers older than the blood in human veins, and his soul which had “grown deep like rivers.” Both found balance and expression in nature.

In a world harried by deforestation, fossil fuel giants, and man-made droughts and famines, it’s important to find moments of quietude to recalibrate, especially in stoic forests, rivers, and bright meadows. Like Oliver, let us sink into the surrounding landscape to escape our difficult earthly homes. That’s why for National Poetry Month, I’d like to invite you to explore the little occurrences of nature in poetry, and step for a moment onto the thin membrane separating humans from our brother animals.

Romanticizing Nature with the Romantics

What we know today as environmentalism was produced by Romanticism. Developed as a reaction to the Industrial Revolution and the Enlightenment, Romantics believed science cleft a great divide between humankind and the natural world. They viewed nature as sacred and uplifting rather than something to be wielded for human interest. Nature needed to be preserved, not degraded. Artists and poets like Wordsworth communicated the awesome beauty of the natural world to their audiences in the hopes of offering an alternative to ordered Enlightenment thought.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was a foundational Romantic English poet concerned about human relationships with nature. He spent his childhood in a rural paradise along the Derwent River in Derbyshire, England which featured prominently in passages in his poetry book The Prelude. Wordsworth believed the “dreary intercourse of daily life” in urban areas dampened efforts to elevate the mind, as poets attempt to do in their art. He believed, however, that nature could prevail over superficial city life.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) acted as Wordsworth’s sometimes partner in crime. The pair co-wrote the book Lyrical Ballads together and often traveled together, from a summer’s tour of Scotland to a brutal winter snowed-in in Germany. Coleridge and Wordsworth, both fascinated by nature, cemented the burgeoning Romantic movement in history. And Coleridge, like Wordsworth, left wonderful, nature-centered poems behind for generations to come:

Transcending Society with the Transcendentalists

Coinciding with the end of the Romantic movement, the Transcendental movement centered nature and the individual. Famous transcendentalists included writers and philosophers like David Henry Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Amos Bronson Alcott. They urged people against blindly conforming to society, pointing instead towards finding “an original relation to the universe.”

For both Emerson and Thoreau, this meant spending time alone in nature and with their writings. Near the tailend of the movement, many transcendentalists were engaged in social experiments and founded alternative nature-centered lifestyles and societies like Fruitlands, Brook Farm, and Thoreau’s cabin in Walden. Brook Farm, the most famous of the three, was a utopian experiment that lasted only six and a half years. Though the community’s population grew and its school drew prominent New Englanders’ children, shaky finances eventually led the community to close its gates.

Transcendentalists’ close relationships with nature and individualism over social conformity also bore powerful social critiques. They spurned the ethnic cleansing of Native Americans, the ongoing war with Mexico, and above all, American slavery. Emerson wrote a scathing critique of the treatment of Native Americans to President Martin Van Buren in 1838. He had this to say of the trail of tears:

Poetry Still Packs a Punch Today

Drawing on both the Romantic and Transcendental traditions, poets of today’s era have combined a deep appreciation for nature with urgent warnings on social issues — namely, the climate crisis. In their ballads for nature, from Oliver’s hymn-like poem “When I Am Among The Trees” to Ada Límon’s poetry book You Are Here, writers across the world still find solace, peace, and hope in their natural environments.

Environmental crises such as floods, drought, increasingly frequent natural disasters, and polluted air and water make those still beautiful nooks of nature all the more precious. Still, poets are critical witnesses with powerful voices tuned to cry out as the environment erodes. Poets like Joan Naviyuk Kane, who contend daily with environmental, social, and political threats to her homeland in the Arctic, confront these threats directly in their work:

Join Other Artists in the Fight for Mother Earth

Art expresses a wide range of emotions that might otherwise be difficult for someone to voice. Whether through painting, sketching, sculpting, writing, or poetry, I believe we all have a gift to share with the world — and for a good cause. With enough love and encouragement, the poet inside you can awaken in defense of the Earth too.

If Kane or Oliver or Frost’s passionate words moved you, I invite you to sign up to be an Artist for the Earth. Art builds community and community powers change. Combine environmental art with social and political advocacy in your preferred artform and share it with those around you. The time to act is now, and what more powerful way to inspire other people’s hearts to change the world than through the lyrical stanzas of poetry.

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Art holds the undeniable power to inspire change and spark global movements. Whether it’s the stroke of a paintbrush, an infectious melody, or the poignancy of a poem, art can shift not only the way we see ourselves, but our connection to the world. 

Art prompts us to reflect inwardly as much as it challenges us to consider our changing environment and role in impacting climate change. For centuries, trees have been powerful symbols in artists’ works, embodying themes of life, renewal, and strength. These complex living beings inspire us by representing resilience and the cyclical nature of existence.    

There are an estimated 60,000 different species of trees that grace the Earth. Here are three artists that have attempted to capture the beauty and vastness of trees through their work.

Bob Ross’s Happy Little Trees

Bob Ross was a beloved landscape painter, teacher and television personality of the late 80s. His PBS show titled in the U.S, “The Joy of Painting,” allowed viewers to bask in his soothing voice, feather-like brush strokes and positive words of encouragement. 

In his paintings, Ross used a wet-on-wet technique, which involves applying wet paint to a wet surface and thus, allows for colors to easily blend and creates dynamic movement across the canvas.  

While Ross’s show was quite simple in execution as he began with the same tools each episode (a blank canvas, paint palette and a few brushes), it was this consistency that continued to draw viewers in. Watching Ross create lush forests, serene and sparkling waterfalls, cozy cabins and towering mountains all under 30 minutes, was just half of the appeal. His calm demeanor and approach to art as a form of ultimate self-expression and endless possibility, are qualities that could make a viewer feel included and intrigued to begin a painting of their own.      

Ross would often use the phrase “happy little trees” when he began to paint trees into his landscapes. While many believe he coined the phrase, he in fact adopted it from his mentor William “Bill” Alexander, who had his own PBS show, “The Magic of Oil Painting” from the mid 70s to early 80s. Despite this, the phrase became largely associated with Ross due to his show solidifying itself as part of the great pop culture of the 80s. 

In its essence, “happy little trees” reflects the joy that can still be found in life’s imperfections. For Ross, the main thing is to embrace your creativity to the fullest extent. He viewed trees as needing friends and held the belief that everyone deserves a friend. He would reflect this in his work by painting several unique trees, representing the idea that individuality is important.   

In 2019, a reforestation program between the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Bob Ross Inc. was born. Known as “Happy Little Trees,” the program is a rebranding of Michigan’s Prison Grow program, which allows inmates to plant and care for tree seedlings. Once big enough, the trees head off to state parks, all around the state, to be planted by volunteers. 

Since the program’s original inception in 2004, it has produced more than 100,000 native plants, shrubs and trees. Now with support from Bob Ross Inc., over 2,100 trees have been planted across 20 Michigan state parks. 

Michael Jackson’s Plea for the Planet

Michael Jackson, most famously known for being the “King of Pop” and arguably one of the most influential if not controversial figures of the 20th century, released “Earth Song” in 1995. This ballad, which was the last song Jackson ever performed before his death, touched on major themes of environmental issues, poverty, war and animal welfare. 

“Earth Song” opens with soft cricket and bird sounds and gradually builds as Jackson cries out lyrics such as “did you ever stop to notice / this crying Earth, this weeping shore?” By personifying the planet, it adds a layer of emotional depth that carries throughout the song and calls for humanity to recognize the destruction it has caused.

There is also a music video that accompanies the song, which sits at nearly 500 million views. The video, which was shot across four vastly different areas including Warwick, New York, Tanzania, Karlovac, Croatia and the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil, speaks to the song’s lyricism of desolation.

The video begins with several shots of a lush and peaceful rainforest, but quickly turns into a scene where Jackson is quietly roaming through a wreckage of broken down trees under a burning red sky similar to that of an apocalyptic film. Throughout much of the video, there are multiple dissolve transitions between thriving life in jungles and safaris to stark instances of animal deaths, deforestation and pollution. 

Toward the end, the video uses time reversal effects to show the restoration of forests and wildlife, allowing for a hopeful conclusion that leaves viewers to think about their own impact on the planet.

Painting a Brighter, Cleaner Future

Alexis Rockman, a contemporary artist known for creating paintings that depict detailed futuristic landscapes as they might look with the impacts of climate change, designed this year’s Earth Day poster. 

The poster is representative of EARTHDAY.ORG’s 2025 theme, Our Power, Our Planet, supporting renewable energy like solar and wind over fossil fuels. It serves as a reminder of our continued need to push for a renewable energy future.

At the center of Rockman’s poster, which is a mix of watercolor with acrylic and oil based paint, a solar panel that stands tall amongst the bright and sunny sky, reflecting the positive impact renewable energy can have on our planet. A body of diverse hands are stretched upwards and are accompanied by rich and lush trees that hug the sides of the poster. A few monarch butterflies are interspersed in the piece and “Earth Day 2025” is free-flowingly painted in green lettering.       

If you support EARTHDAY.ORG’s work promoting renewable energy please sign our Renewable Energy Petition, urging global leaders to commit to phasing out fossil fuels and investing in renewable energy. We have never needed more support as the present US government does all it can to undermine the growth of the renewable energy business in favor of planet polluting fossil fuels.  

Beyond the Masterpiece 

Art allows us to understand and process the world around us. It is emotional, thought provoking and serves as a communal space where ideas can run free.  
Whether you’re an artist or an admirer, you can make a difference. Through EARTHDAY.ORG’s  Canopy Tree Project, we’ve planted tens of millions of trees worldwide with the primary goal of reforestation, and supporting local communities, as well as contributing to the ongoing goals of combating climate change and safeguarding biodiversity. Donating as little as $1 today can plant a tree.

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Today is International National Parks day, and as the present Administration in the U.S increasingly describes nature as simply a resource to be monetized, it is more important than ever that we take the time to appreciate our natural reserves as sanctuaries and hosts to essential ecosystems and environments. 

In the mid-19th century, artists travelled across the United States, braving the wilderness and summiting peaks to capture the magnificence of the sprawling, untamed West. As photographs, stories, and paintings made their way back to the East, people became passionate about preserving these landscapes before they were destroyed by human development. As a result, Yellowstone National Park became the first national park in 1872. 

It is a timely reminder that art has the power to move people to action. Hearing about the importance of preserving national parks can inspire people to advocate for them, but seeing or experiencing natural beauty through an artistic lens creates a uniquely emotional connection between the viewer and the land itself. 

Today, national parks welcome artists-in-residence, whose paintings promote conservation efforts and even help raise awareness about the dangers of oil and gas drilling in protected areas. However, it is also important to acknowledge the work of travelling artists and indigenous people in the past. Without the artistic storytelling of these groups, our national parks wouldn’t be what they are today. 

Painting a Canvas for Change

One painter who helped change the public perception of national parks in the U.S. was Albert Bierstadt. In the late 1800s, the German American painter depicted Western landscapes in parks such as Yosemite and Yellowstone. His dramatic, spectacular paintings powerfully promoted appreciation for American natural spaces and helped garner national support for public lands. When displayed in exhibitions today, his art moves viewers by conveying a profound connection to the natural world. 

National parks exist because people like Bierstadt saw landscapes and environments worth preserving. His work allows many people who do not have the privilege of spending time in these protected areas to still connect with them. 

Indigenous Art as a Tool for Conservation

When North American indigenous groups such as the Ute and Puebloan tribes traveled through western landscapes, they left behind drawings that told stories of their culture and the land. 

These stone carvings, called petroglyphs, have led to the conservation of land in many areas of the United States. For example, Arches National Park in Utah and Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico protect drawings so that they can be studied and appreciated. Petroglyphs are visual evidence of changing climates, cultural practices, and historical events, and preserving them keeps the history of the land alive for future generations. 

Rock art has played a similar role in the preservation of national parks in Australia. In 2021, a uranium mine located in Kakadu National Park ceased production after decades of protests from Aboriginal owners of the land. When explaining the decision, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that indigenous rock art in the park should be protected as “a reminder of the extraordinary privilege all of us have, to share this continent with the world’s oldest continuous culture.” 

The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music

In addition to paintings and carvings, music written in support of national parks has touched listeners and sent them thronging to preserved lands. In celebration of the National Parks Service Centennial in 2016, parks across the United States held concerts to celebrate the milestone. 

They featured classical music by indigenous musicians, covers of famous compositions, and contemporary performances complementing a backdrop of dramatic canyons and towering mountains. The concerts contributed to an astounding 331 million visitations to U.S. national parks in 2016. 

Another example of the role of music in preserving national parks is the song “Grýlukvæði” by Icelandic musician Valgeir Sigurðsson. In the 1990s, projects to build hydropower dams in the Icelandic Highlands threatened ecosystems, geological formations, and cultural heritage. Songs like “Grýlukvæði” were written to evoke an emotional response to the environmental crisis, and they played a role in bringing awareness to the harms of some of these projects. In 2008, Vatnajökull National Park was established to protect a portion of the Highlands from damaging infrastructure. 

Artistic storytelling from artists around the world shares the grandeur of national parks with people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to experience it. Every stroke of a brush, chip of a rock, and pluck of a string tells the history of the lands people deemed too precious to destroy. 

A striking depiction of a park or historical event stirs emotions that can change perspectives and drive people to activism. 

If you can’t visit a park this International National Parks day, take time to appreciate them by learning more about the artists who helped preserve the parks near you. To help keep them available for future generations, visit our Climate Education page to find ways to teach others about the importance of conservation. 

If you care about the environment, and are in the U.S., we need your voice. Add your name to our public comments on the EPA’s intentions to gut the agency’s ability to regulate pollution due to climate change, also known as the Endangerment Finding.

The time to act and protect nature is now. Do it for our park’s right to exist and for your children’s future right to roam free in unspoiled nature. 

This article is available for republishing on your website, newsletter, magazine, newspaper, or blog. The accompanying imagery is also cleared for use with attribution. Please ensure that the author’s name and their affiliation with EARTHDAY.ORG are credited. Kindly inform us if you republish so we can acknowledge, tag, or repost your content. You may notify us via email at davies@earthday.org or fielder@earthday.org. Want more articles? Follow us on substack.

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Art has long functioned as a mirror, reflecting our world back to us in ways that illuminate hidden truths and provoke crucial conversations. In particular, science fiction and dystopian television have a unique power to translate real-world crises into gripping narratives, making abstract and overwhelming issues — like climate change — more digestible. 

As we celebrate World Creativity and Innovation Day, let’s examine how entertainment can shape public opinion and inspire action, using fiction to draw us closer to the urgent realities of our warming planet. 

Some viewers may shy away from these shows for fear of falling into an existential spiral over climate catastrophe. But these stories are not crafted to incite anxiety for anxiety’s sake. Rather, they serve as cautionary tales, urging us to recognize the flaws of our current world and make necessary changes before it’s too late. If the characters within these fictional universes can find hope, love, and resilience in the wake of devastation, then surely we can do the same — before the ultimate disaster strikes.

The Youth Shall Inherit the Earth: The Hybrids of Netflix’s Sweet Tooth

WARNING: Minimal Spoilers.

In Netflix’s Sweet Tooth, humanity is ravaged by a mysterious global virus. At the same time, hybrid children — half-human, half-animal beings immune to the disease — are born. Adapted from a comic book series, Sweet Tooth unfolds through the eyes of Gus, a half-deer child who views the world with the innocence and wonder only a child can possess. But despite his inherent purity, Gus and his kind are feared by adults who view them as unnatural and dangerous, a panic that mirrors the real-world hostility toward diversity and the unfamiliar. While the series never fully answers whether the hybrids caused the virus or were nature’s response to it, it is clear that they hold the key to humanity’s survival.

The hybrids symbolize a necessary symbiosis between humanity and nature — an existence in which we do not exploit the planet but live in harmony with it. Like real-world young climate leaders, the hybrid children envision a kinder, more sustainable world. Amanda Burrell, the show’s executive producer, has cited young climate activists as inspiration, recognizing their clarity of purpose and determination to fight for a livable future. 

Sweet Tooth highlights the power of youth, not only as those willing to fight for the future but as those capable of reimagining a world free from the injustices and destruction that have defined the past. 

In the series, the hybrids’ primary obstacle is the “Last Men,” a militarized group clinging to the old world order who seek to eradicate the hybrids and reinstate a patriarchal, capitalist society. The hybrids nonetheless persevere, laying the foundation for an alternative to the former ways of society, one in which survival isn’t defined by conquest but by care. 

This three-season series — beyond its mere entertainment value — offers a blueprint for a future built on empathy and coexistence, reminding us that the future belongs to those who embrace change, not those who fear it.

Lifeboats at the End of the World: Hulu’s Paradise Tackles Climate Catastrophe

WARNING: MAJOR Spoilers for Episodes 1, 7, and 8. 

Before its premiere, the show’s creators veiled Paradise as a political thriller, centered on the assassination of the U.S. president. But by the end of the first episode, it becomes clear that something far bigger is at play — civilization as we know it has collapsed, and the survivors are living in a carefully controlled society built in secrecy under a Colorado mountain. 

The subterranean city of Paradise appears idyllic, a utopian refuge complete with high-end supermarkets and thriving community members. However, for much of the series, the exact cause of the apocalyptic event that forced its characters underground remains a mystery. Was it a nuclear war? Climate collapse? The unsettling answer is both. 

The series delivers a chilling scenario where environmental catastrophe triggers a global domino effect. It starts with melting polar ice caps, destabilizing an underwater super-volcano in Antarctica. The eruption, in turn, melts an ice shelf, sending a mega-tsunami barreling across the world’s coastlines, swallowing entire nations before reaching the U.S. Governments, realizing that resources will become scarce, resort to nuclear war to eliminate competitors, accelerating the planet’s destruction. 

While climate change is often perceived as a slow-moving crisis, Paradise reveals that tipping points can be reached in an instant, transforming gradual warnings into an immediate and inescapable nightmare.

As in real-world climate disasters, the wealthy and powerful are the ones who escape. Their lifeboats come in the form of a ticket to Paradise. Built by workers who were ultimately sacrificed — many of them people of color fatally exposed to toxic materials before the world even ended — the underground city reflects real-world environmental racism, where marginalized communities bear the brunt of pollution and hazardous conditions. 

A Frozen Warning Against Quick Fixes: A One-Way Ticket onto TNT’s Snowpiercer 

WARNING: Spoilers for Episode 1.

When we imagine the apocalypse, we often think of fire — an inferno engulfing the planet, consuming everything in its path. But in Snowpiercer, the end of the world comes in the form of ice. 

TNT’s series depicts a future where a failed attempt to reverse global warming has frozen Earth into an uninhabitable wasteland. The last remnants of humanity survive aboard a perpetually moving train, trapped in a hierarchical microcosm of the very class divisions that led to the planet’s downfall. The train itself is the invention of a billionaire who anticipates the disaster before anyone else. 

As civilization collapses, desperate survivors without tickets storm the train in a violent bid for survival. Some make it onboard, only to be crammed into the tail section while the wealthy elite in the front cars continue their lives in comfort.

The disaster in Snowpiercer stems from the same short-sighted thinking that plagues real-world climate policy: the tendency to slap a Band-Aid on a gaping wound instead of treating the root causes. 

The fictional scientists who tried to cool the planet artificially fails because they ignore the real culprits: fossil fuel dependency, overconsumption, and corporate greed. Daveed Diggs, the show’s lead, describes Snowpiercer as “a story about what happens after it’s too late,” a grim warning that feels all too relevant in a time when climate denial still runs rampant in political discourse. 

Yet, despite its bleak setting, Snowpiercer offers a glimmer of hope through collective resilience. The tail-end passengers forge a community, clinging to a belief that survival itself is an act of resistance. Refusing to accept their fate, they band together to plot revolution, proving the power of solidarity in even the most dire of circumstances. Snowpiercer ultimately asks us to consider our own future: Will we, too, wait until it’s too late? Or can we change course before we doom ourselves to an endless loop, circling the ruins of what once was?

Nature Fights Back: The Fungal Zombie Apocalypse of HBO Max’s The Last of Us

WARNING: Spoilers for Episode 1.

The Last of Us takes a more direct approach to climate horror, linking environmental change to the outbreak of a deadly fungal pandemic. Released in 2023, the series follows Joel, a tough-guy survivor, and Ellie, a teenager carrying a secret that could save humanity, as they navigate a post-apocalyptic America overrun by the infected. 

But while the show is centered on a zombie outbreak, its underlying message is far more timely: climate change is the real threat. The series opens with a 1968 talk show where an epidemiologist warns that fungi, though not yet a danger to humans, could evolve if the planet were to get “slightly warmer.” Decades later, his words become reality, as global warming allows a deadly fungal pathogen to adapt and burrow into human brains. 

As society collapses under the weight of the infection, survivors attempt to rebuild within rigid authoritarian quarantine zones, struggling to maintain what’s left of humanity. But The Last of Us doesn’t just depict despair. Scattered throughout its desolate landscape are thriving communities — people who have found ways to live sustainably amid the chaos. They grow their own food, harness renewable energy, and find joy in human connection. 

Meanwhile, as Joel and Ellie travel west, they witness nature reclaiming abandoned cities, with moss and vines overtaking concrete structures, transforming urban centers into lush green oases. In a world devoid of human interference, the Earth begins to heal itself, hinting at the idea that while civilization may be fragile, nature is resilient.

The show forces viewers to confront an uncomfortable truth: even a small temperature shift can have catastrophic consequences. We already struggle to reckon with the visible effects of climate change — hurricanes, wildfires, and rising sea levels — but The Last of Us reminds us that the threats don’t stop there. 

While the show may be fictional, the possibility of climate-driven pandemics is not far-fetched. And yet, amidst the terror, the show offers a message on the power of human endurance. In the face of loss and destruction, people adapt, rebuild, and refuse to give up on each other. The show’s signature line, “When you’re lost in the darkness, look for the light,” serves as a reminder that, even in the worst of times, there is always something worth fighting for.

The Future is Not Yet Written

These television series may depict dystopian futures, but embedded within their narratives is a pivotal message: survival is possible, but only through transformation. We don’t need to wait for disaster to strike before we take action. Instead, we can use these fictional tales as motivation to disrupt the status quo and forge a more sustainable world now.

As Earth Day 2025 approaches, let us reimagine our relationship with the Earth. Join us at EARTHDAY.ORG as we celebrate this year’s theme, Our Planet, Our Power. Attend or host an event focused on collaboration, community resilience, and healing the ground beneath our feet. Together, we can build a world where harmony with nature is not just fiction but reality. 

The fate of our planet is in our hands. These series are no longer mere entertainment; they are warnings — and opportunities — to rewrite our future before it’s too late. What will you do with this knowledge? There is still time to change our collective story.

This article is available for republishing on your website, newsletter, magazine, newspaper, or blog. The accompanying imagery is also cleared for use. Please ensure that the author’s name and their affiliation with EARTHDAY.ORG are credited. Kindly inform us if you republish so we can acknowledge, tag, or repost your content. You may notify us via email at davies@earthday.org or fielder@earthday.org. Want more articles? Follow us on substack.

The post The Climate Apocalypse Metaverse: What Television Teaches Us About Environmental Cataclysm appeared first on Earth Day.