Brazilian Artist's Mural Shows Climate Disasters
2024-11-01
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1Brazilian artist and activist Mundano recently used some unusual substances to paint a picture on a building in Sao Paulo.
2The paint included materials, such as ash and mud, collected from natural disasters.
3Mundano created the mural to highlight the issue of climate change.
4Extreme weather events have been causing destruction across Brazil.
5The mural is very large - over 30 meters high and 48 meters wide.
6The artist used ash from wildfires and mud from floods.
7His painting shows the gray remains of trees on a brown land so dry it is cracked.
8The picture represents the deforestation and severe drought in the Amazon rainforest.
9The mural also shows Indigenous activist Alessandra Korap wearing a circle of flowers around her head.
10She holds a sign that says: "Stop the destruction #keepyourpromise."
11The artist says those messages are directed to Cargill, a massive soybean producer based in the United States.
12Soy farming is one of the biggest causes of deforestation in the Amazon.
13Cargill says on its website that it will eliminate deforestation from its supply chain in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay by 2025.
14Mundano is seeking to hold the company accountable.
15"We are tired of being a country, a continent where we and the natural resources we have here are exploited. ... We have to regenerate our planet instead of destroying it," the artist said in an interview.
16Cargill did not immediately answer a request for comment.
17Over the past few months, human-caused wildfires have severely damaged protected places in the Amazon area.
18The fires burned in parts of both the large Cerrado savanna and the world's largest tropical wetland, the Pantanal.
19Smoke spread over a very large area and affected the air quality in some Brazilian cities.
20Drought has caused a critical situation nationwide.
21Weather predictions show that this will continue in much of the country through at least the rest of October.
22This information comes from Cemaden, Brazil's disaster warning center.
23On October 22, the depth of the Amazon's Negro River measured 12.46 meters, representing a small increase from 10 days earlier.
24At that time, the river was at its lowest point since measurements started 122 years ago.
25And this last reported measure is still about 6 meters below normal for the same date in earlier years.
26Rivers in Brazil's Amazon always rise and fall with its rainy and dry seasons.
27But the dry season this year has been much worse than usual.
28Earlier this year, a severe flood in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul killed more than 180 people, affected over 2 million people, and destroyed city communities.
29Mundano, who calls himself an "artivist" (a combination of "artist and activist), used mud from that flood to create the new mural.
30The activist group Movement of People Affected by Dams collected the materials.
31Mundano also used ashes from Brazil's fires in the Atlantic Forest, the Pantanal, and the Cerrado.
32He also used earth found in waste containers in Sao Paulo and clay collected from the Sawre Muybu Indigenous land in the Amazon, where Alessandra Korap is from.
33"From floods to droughts, everything is connected!" Mundano said recently in an Instagram post.
34He included a video showing the mural in Sao Paulo. The artist said it is his biggest mural ever.
35Three years ago, he used ash from the Amazon to create a similar mural in Sao Paulo.
36That work showed a firefighter standing in deforested areas.
37It also showed a cow farm and trucks loaded with cut trees.
38I'm Anna Matteo.
1Brazilian artist and activist Mundano recently used some unusual substances to paint a picture on a building in Sao Paulo. The paint included materials, such as ash and mud, collected from natural disasters. 2Mundano created the mural to highlight the issue of climate change. Extreme weather events have been causing destruction across Brazil. 3The mural is very large - over 30 meters high and 48 meters wide. The artist used ash from wildfires and mud from floods. His painting shows the gray remains of trees on a brown land so dry it is cracked. The picture represents the deforestation and severe drought in the Amazon rainforest. 4The mural also shows Indigenous activist Alessandra Korap wearing a circle of flowers around her head. She holds a sign that says: "Stop the destruction #keepyourpromise." The artist says those messages are directed to Cargill, a massive soybean producer based in the United States. 5Soy farming is one of the biggest causes of deforestation in the Amazon. 6Cargill says on its website that it will eliminate deforestation from its supply chain in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay by 2025. 7Mundano is seeking to hold the company accountable. 8"We are tired of being a country, a continent where we and the natural resources we have here are exploited. ... We have to regenerate our planet instead of destroying it," the artist said in an interview. 9Cargill did not immediately answer a request for comment. 10Over the past few months, human-caused wildfires have severely damaged protected places in the Amazon area. The fires burned in parts of both the large Cerrado savanna and the world's largest tropical wetland, the Pantanal. 11Smoke spread over a very large area and affected the air quality in some Brazilian cities. 12Drought has caused a critical situation nationwide. Weather predictions show that this will continue in much of the country through at least the rest of October. This information comes from Cemaden, Brazil's disaster warning center. 13Droughts & floods 14On October 22, the depth of the Amazon's Negro River measured 12.46 meters, representing a small increase from 10 days earlier. At that time, the river was at its lowest point since measurements started 122 years ago. 15And this last reported measure is still about 6 meters below normal for the same date in earlier years. 16Rivers in Brazil's Amazon always rise and fall with its rainy and dry seasons. But the dry season this year has been much worse than usual. 17Earlier this year, a severe flood in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul killed more than 180 people, affected over 2 million people, and destroyed city communities. 18Mundano, who calls himself an "artivist" (a combination of "artist and activist), used mud from that flood to create the new mural. The activist group Movement of People Affected by Dams collected the materials. 19Mundano also used ashes from Brazil's fires in the Atlantic Forest, the Pantanal, and the Cerrado. He also used earth found in waste containers in Sao Paulo and clay collected from the Sawre Muybu Indigenous land in the Amazon, where Alessandra Korap is from. 20"From floods to droughts, everything is connected!" Mundano said recently in an Instagram post. He included a video showing the mural in Sao Paulo. The artist said it is his biggest mural ever. 21Three years ago, he used ash from the Amazon to create a similar mural in Sao Paulo. That work showed a firefighter standing in deforested areas. It also showed a cow farm and trucks loaded with cut trees. 22I'm Anna Matteo. 23Eléonore Hughes And Felipe Campos Mello reported this story for the Associated Press. Anna Matteo adapted it for VOA Learning English. 24______________________________________________ 25Words in This Story 26cracked - adj. broken (as by a sharp blow) so that the surface is fissured 27drought - n. a long period of dry weather 28eliminate - v. to put an end to or get rid of 29supply chain - n. the chain of processes, businesses, etc. by which a commodity is produced and distributed : the companies, materials, and systems involved in manufacturing and delivering goods 30accountable - adj. responsible for giving an account such as one's action 31exploit - v. to make use of meanly or unfairly for one's own advantage 32savanna - n. a tropical or subtropical grassland (as of eastern Africa or northern South America) containing scattered trees and drought-resistant undergrowth 33tropical - adj. of, being, or characteristic of a region or climate that is frost-free with temperatures high enough to support year-round plant growth given sufficient moisture 34We want to hear from you. Do you have a similar expressions in your language? In the Comments section, you can also practice using any of the expressions from the story. Our comment policy is here.