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© 2021 Robert Dash
Grass Heads
Grasslands give way to deserts on a warming planet.
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© 2021 Robert Dash
Canadian Yew Stomata
Stomata are a pair of cells on leaves, seeds, flowers; they are crucial for plant survival and thus, for all life on earth.
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© 2021 Robert Dash
Camas Lily Pollen
Climate change is leading to higher pollen levels, resulting in increased asthma and allergies.
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© 2021 Robert Dash
Cedar Stomata
Stomata draw in CO2, and "exhale" water and oxygen.
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© 2021 Robert Dash
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© 2021 Robert Dash
Ginkgo Stomata
The ginkgo is one of the oldest living tree species on Earth. For over 200 million years, the ginkgo has adapted to numerous cycles of climate warming and cooling. Could this rune-like stomata have something to do with its long success?
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© 2021 Robert Dash
Red Algae and Diatoms
As ocean temperatures rise, some diatom populations are declining. Diatoms produce half of the globe's oxygen. These diatoms are one hundredth of a pinhead wide.
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© 2021 Robert Dash
Hummingbird Feather Detail
With warming temperatures, flowers bloom earlier in the spring. Will hummingbirds migrate in time to help pollinate these flowers and obtain food for their young?
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© 2021 Robert Dash
Holly Stomata
As temperatures rise with climate change, some stomata close, robbing plants of carbon, which leads to accelerated tree death, especially in the tropics.
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© 2021 Robert Dash
Poplar Stomata
There are proposals to plant extensive poplar plantations to store carbon, or process the trees into ethanol for fuel, but this is controversial.
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© 2021 Robert Dash
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© 2021 Robert Dash
Wasp Nest Fibers
Researchers in Britain have found that wasps favor warmer temperatures, and their numbers are increasing.
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© 2021 Robert Dash
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© 2021 Robert Dash
Stinging Nettle Stomata
Nettles are high in nutrients and minerals. With climate change, nettles and crucial food crops have fewer nutrients but more carbs.
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© 2021 Robert Dash
Camas Lily Stomata
The whole sequence of wildflower blooms is becoming less predictable, disrupting ancient pollinator/plant relationships.
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© 2021 Robert Dash
Filaree Seeds
Rain prompts these seeds to spin and drill themselves into the ground.
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© 2021 Robert Dash
Arbutus Seeds
More frequent summer droughts in the Pacific Northwest, USA, create dangerous stress for Arbutus trees.Arbutus Seeds
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© 2021 Robert Dash
Garry Oak Stomata
Garry oak is a drought-tolerant tree in the Pacific Northwest, USA. This may give it an advantage as other trees suffer.
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© 2021 Robert Dash
Wildflower Anther
Increased drought shrivels crops and seeds.
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© 2021 Robert Dash
Mosquito, Fruit Fly, Wasp
Rising temperatures mean expanding ranges for insects, bringing diseases to new, unprepared regions. At the same time, worldwide, insect populations are dramatically declining. In other words, there is chaos.
Public Story
Micro Climate Change
Credits:
robert dash
Date of Work:
08/22/16 - Ongoing
Updated: 04/06/19
Micro Climate Change
As we humans are busy going about our lives, nature is in shock from the choices that we make. This series explores how nature responds to climate change from a micro perspective. The images promote the exquisite detail, mystery, vulnerability and power of nature.
For example, diatoms and plants make most of the oxygen on Earth. Warmer oceans make it harder for diatoms to make oxygen.
Plants take CO2 from the atomosphere (and our out-breaths) and release oxygen and water in return. All of this exchange moves through stomata on leaves, flowers, berries. As temperatures rise, these cells close, killing trees, especially in the tropics.
Images of stomata are sequenced alternately, and then randomly, to suggest a breaking of patterns and balance with the chaos of climate change.
Each image was made with a scanning electron microscope, and features natural objects scaled at several times smaller than a pinhead. Most of the images are photomontages with DSLR macro photography, to allow a surreal conversation between everyday leaves, seeds or feathers, and minute details of themselves. I created these images after completing my book, On an Acre Shy of Eternity/ Micro Landscapes at the Edge. As a career educator, naturalist and photographer, I'm fascinated by the marriage of art and science, especially in service to environmental conservation.