This summer, it has not escaped anyone’s attention that extreme weather phenomena are multiplying, with fires in Greece, Sicily and Sardinia, floods in Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, and storms in Haiti. These disasters are not insignificant: they are proof that the climate is changing rapidly, and doubts as to human responsibility are only being confirmed.

As the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report confirmed on 9 August the human origin of climate change, Johan Rockström, director of the Potsdam Research Institute, stated in Le Monde: “[The IPCC report] puts forward irrefutable evidence of the seriousness of the situation by confirming not only, unequivocally, that we are warming the planet, but also, indisputably, that the frequency and severity of extreme climatic events are increasing. Heat waves, droughts and floods are now attributed to human-induced climate change with a very high degree of certainty. This is real scientific ammunition for urgent action.

In light of this urgency (which is far from new), the United Nations has put together a striking photographic exhibition denouncing the dangers of plastic and raising awareness of the now inevitable: Plastic is forever showcases snapshots sent in by photographers around the world illustrating how plastic is destroying their environment. The exhibition can be viewed online at the UN website.