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AR2 Fine Arts
Exclusive Representative of the Art of Visual Artist -  F. A. Rodríguez

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TwinTowersRemembered

Notice to our friends, the book titled: 'Twin Towers Remembered' by F. A. Rodríguez, has been published by the Outskirts Press and is available at: www.amazon.com  hard cover and kindle, also at: Barnes & Noble  www.barnesandnoble.com in the Nook format and hard cover. www.outskirtspress.com/twintowersremembered in the hard cover edition and  ebook format. The book is a visual essay about the Twin Towers, starting in the early 1970's to the year 2000. Photographs of the Twin Towers from different angles and lighting conditions as well as years. On the 10th Anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2001 we remember the World Trade Center. This book is dedicated to all the victims and their families. The book is now part of the permanent collection of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. Please, contribute to the Museum, let's never forget.

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TwinTowersRememberedVolume2

Notice to our friends the book titled: Twin Towers Remembered - Volume Two, has been published by Barnes and Noble, in the hard cover format: www.barnesandnoble.com. On the 20th anniversary of the attacks on September 11, 2001, we remember the World Trade Center, all the victims and their families. May God blessed them.

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9/11 Memorial Explored - 2013-2016

Notice to our friends the book of photographs titled: '9/11 Memorial Explored 2013-2016' by visual artist F. A. Rodriguez has been published by Barnes and Noble in the hard cover format, and it is avalaible a: www.barnesandnoble.com. 

Monday, November 13, 2023           Associated Press Reports: 

 Past 12 Months on Earth were the hottest ever recorded, analysis finds     

The last 12 months were the hottest Earth ever recorded, according to a new report by Climate Central, a nonprofit science research group. The peer-reviewed report says burning gasoline, coal, natural gas and other fossil fuels that release planet- warming gases like carbon dioxide, and other human activities, caused the unnatural warming from November 2022 to October 2023. over the course of the year, 7.3 billion people, or 90% of humanity, endured at least 10 days of high temperatures that were made at least three times more likely because of climate change. 

 

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

The Washington Post reports: The last eight years have been the warmest on record, researchers say

Last year was the fifth hottest ever recorded on the planet, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service announced Tuesday.It was part of a broader warming trent as humans continued to pump massive amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. The records show that the last eight years have been the hottest recorded in human history. Extreme heat waves in Europe, Asia and the U.S. helped drive 2022's warmth, researches found. The heat stemmed, in part, from more of a century of burning fossil fuels. In February, Antartic Sea ice reached its lowest minimum amount in 44 years of satellite records. A U.N. report las fall found that despite promises to boost climate targets, nations have shaved just 1% off their projected greenhouse-gas emissions for 2030. Scientist have said the world heeds to cut emissions roughly in half by the end of the decade to be on track to meet its most ambitious promises. 

Wednesday April 20, 2022  Washington Post Reports
 Biden restores climate safeguards in key environmental law
Washington: The White House on Tuesday Announced it has restored key protections to a landmark environmental law governing the construction of pipelines, highways and other projects. Then President Donald Trump had swept away the safeguards as part of an effort to cut red tape. The new rule will require federal agencies to scrutinize the climate impacts of major infrastructure projects under the National Environmental Policy Act, a 1970 law that required the government to assess the environmental consequences of federal actions, such as approving the construction of oil and gas pipelines.

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3 DaysInNewYorkCityApril5-7-2022

Notice to our friends the book of photographs '3 Days In New York City - April 5-7 2022' -By Visual artist F. A. Rodriguez, has been published in the hardcover format by: Barnes and Noble, and is available at: www.barnesandnoble.com 

The New York Times reports: Sunday, November 14, 2021

Climate Summit Reaches Accord Amid Contention

Urgin More Help for Vulnerable Nations and Delaying Details on Emissions

Diplomats from nearly 200 countries on Saturday struck a major agreement aimed at intensifying global efforts to fight climate change by calling on governments to return next year with stronger plans to curb their planet-warming emissions and urging wealthy nations to "at least double" funding to protect poor nations from the hazards of a hotter planet. Architects of the agreement hoped it would send a powerful signal to capitals and corporate boardrooms around the globe that more ambitious action on climate change is inevitable, which could in turn would empower civil society groups and lawmakers working to shift countries away from burning oil, natural gas and coal for energy in favor of cleaner sources like wind, solar and nuclear power.  

 Associated Press reports: Tuesday, August 10, 2021

'Code Red': U.N. warns of worsening global warming

Earth is getting so hot that temperatures in about a decade will probably blow past a level of warming that world leaders have sought to prevent, according to a report released Monday that the United Nations called a "code red for humanity". The authoritative Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which calls climate change clearly human-cause and "unequivocal" and "an established fact," makes  more precise and warmer forecasts for the 21st century than it did last time it was issued in 2013. With crucial international climate negotiations coming up in Scotland in November, world leaders said the report is causing them to try harder to cut carbon pollution. The 3,000-plus-page report from 234 scientists said warming is already accelerating sea level rise and worsening extremes such as heat waves, droughts, floods and storms. Tropical cyclones are getting stronger and wetter, while Artic sea ice is dwindling in the summer and permafrost is thawing. All these trends will get worse, the report said. Nearly all of the warming that has happened on Earth can be blamed on emissions of heat-trapping gases such as carbon dioxide and methane.  

 

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Notice to our friends: The book of photographs 'A Day in Deadwood S.D - September 12, 2021'. Introduction by F. A. Rodriguez, has been published by Barnes and Nobles. And is available at: www.barnesandnoble.com

World News - Wednesday, March 10, 2021 

The U.S. has recently agreed to rejoin the Paris climate accord - Kerry, EU Discuss More Cooperation.

Brussels- Renewed trans-Atlantic cooperation on addressing climate change will prompt other countries to take more action and improve prospect for coming global meetings on the issue, said President Biden's special envoy for climate change, John Kerry, after meeting with allies here. Mr. Kerry, is meeting with leaders this week in London, Brussels and Paris, following the U.S. return to the Paris climate accord. Mr. Biden has made tackling climate change one of his top priorities, signing an executive order returning the U.S. to the 2015 agreement hours after taking office. The U.S. officially rejoined on Feb. 19. 

 

U.S. News - Friday, January 15, 2021

World Climate Grew Warmer in 2020 

Rising temperatures last year capped the world's warmest decade in modern times, federal climate scientist said Thursday. In a new climate study, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration ranked 2020 in a dead heat with 2016 as the warmest year since official record-keeping began in 1880. NASA and NOAA scientists labeled 2020 a year of extremes, driven by rising levels of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane that rrap heat in the atmosphere. In the Northern Hemisphere, last year's averaged land and ocean surface temperature was the highest in the 141-year record, at 2.30 degrees Fahrenheit (1.28 degrees Celsius) above the 20th century average, according to NOAA. The annual Southern Hemisphere land and ocean surface temperature was the fifth highest on record.

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The Associated Press reports February 28, 2021

Monarch butterflies down 26% in Mexico wintering grounds: 

The number of monarch butterflies that showed up at their winter resting grounds in central Mexico decreased by about 26%  this year, and four times as many trees were lost to illegal logging, drought and other causes, making 2020 a bad year for the butterflies. 

The Associated Press reported on Saturday, November 28, 2020:

Protection for Birds To Be Curtailed: The Trump administration moved forward Friday on rolling back a longstanding federal protection for the nation's birds, over the objections from former federal officials and many scientists that billions more birds will likely perish as a result. The US Fish and Wildlife Service published its take on the proposed rollback in the Federal Register. It is a final step that means the change-greatly limiting federal authority to prosecute industries for practices that kill migratory birds-could be made official within 30 days. The American Bird Conservancy said the change would accelerate bird population declines that have swept North America since the 1970s.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

The New York Times, reports: Friday, June 5,2020

Citing Pandemic, Trump Rolls Back Regulations On Climate Protections.

Washington - The Trump administration, in twin actions to curb environmental regulations, moved on Thursday to temporarily speed the construction of energy projects and to permanently weaken federal authority to issue stringent clean air and climate change rules. President Trump signed an executive order that calls on agencies to waive required environmental reviews of infrastructure projects  to be built during the pandemic-driven economic crisis. At the same time, the Environmental Protection Agency has propose new rules that changes the way the agency uses cost-benefit analyses to enact Clean Air Act regulations, effectively limiting the strenght of future air polutions controls. Together, the actions signal that Mr Trump intends to speed up his efforts dismantle environmental regulations as the nation battles the coronavirus and a wave of unrest protesting the death of black Americans in Georgia, Minnesota and Kentucky.

Associated Press reports:Thursday, January 16, 2020

Earth had its hottest decade on record in 2010s

Washington. The decade that just ended was by far the hottest ever measured on Earth, capped off by the second-warmest year on record, two U.S. agencies reported Wednesday. And scientists said they see no end to the way man-made climate change keeps shattering records. The 2010s average 58.4 degrees Fahrenheit world-wide, or 1.4 degrees higher than the 20th century average and more than one third of a degree warmer than the previous decade, which had been the hottest on record, according  to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The decade had eight of the hottest year on record. The only other years in the top 10 were 2005 and 1998. The United States which had only its 34th-warmest year, was nevertheless hit by 14 weather disasters that caused $1 billion or more in damage last year. According to NOAA.

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TheCosmicBallet-ElBalletCosmico-F.A.Rodriguez

Notice to our friends: The book of: Oil Paintings, Watercolors and Drawings, 'The Cosmic Ballet - El Ballet Cosmico' by F. A. Rodriguez has been published by Barnes and Noble in the hard cover format. With an introduction by the late Dominican intellectual Don Humberto Soto-Ricart. Art critic, translator and writer. A foreword by the Puerto Rican artist Luis Carrasquillo. The art explores the movement of enegy and dance. www.barnesandnoble.com 

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: Friday, Sept. 20, 2019

Study puts bird losses in the billions

Across North America, hundreds of species have been hit hard over the last 50 years, researches say.

Slowly, steadily, and almost imperceptibly, North America's bird population is dwindling. The sparrows and finches that visit backyard feeders number fewer each year. The flute like song of the western meadowlark- the official bird of six U.S. states- is growing more rare. The continent has lost nearly 3 billion birds representing hundreds of species over the last five decades, in an enormous loss that signals an "overlooked biodiversity crisis," according to a study from top ornithologist and government agencies. This is not an extinctions crisis- yet. It is a more insidious decline in abundance as humans dramatically alter the landscape: There are 29% fewer birds in the United States and Canada today than in 1970, the study concluded.

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F.A.Rodriguez-London9-25-2018

The New York Times International reports: Saturday, August 31, 2019

Amazon Forests Vanishing Fast, Not Just in Brazil

Deforestation at breakneck rate is depleting vast expanses of Amazon forest contained in South American countries neighboring Brazil. Forest loss in those nations, which host roughly 40 percent of the Amazon, underscores how the fires now ravaging parts of Brazil and provoking global alarm are just one piece of a broader regional crisis. The push by land speculators, ranchers and miners into forest around the Amazon basin also shows how advances in political stability and economic integration can drive deforestation, especially when safeguards remain weak. Researches are just beginning to reckon with the consequences of this year's fires. From January through July, deforestation and subsequent fires in the Brazilian Amazon released between 115 and 155 million tons of climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions, according to an analysis released Friday. 

The Associated Press reports: Friday, August 16, 2019

Scientist confirm July set new global heat record

July was the hottest month measured on Earth since records began in 1880, the latest in a long line of peaks that scientists said backs up predictions for man-made climate change. The U.S.  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday that July was 0.95 degrees Celsius warmer than the 20th century average of 15.8 C for the month. According to NOAA's records, 9 of the 10 hottest Julys on record have occurred since 2005 and last month was the 43rd consecutive July above the 20th century average.

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The New York Times reports: Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Civilization is accelerating extintion and altering natural world at 'unprecedented' pace, U.N. says

Humans are transforming Earth's natural landscapes so dramatically that as many as 1 million plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction, posing a dire threat to ecosystems that people depend on for their survival, a new U.N. assessment has concluded. The 1,500-page report, compiled by hundreds of international experts and based on thousands of scientific studies, is the most exhaustive look yet at the decline in biodiversity across the globe and the dangers that creates for human civilization. A summary of its findings, which was approved by representatives from the United States and 131 other countries, was released Monday in Paris. The full report is set to be published this year.

 

The Associated Press reports on Wed. August 7, 2019: Latest deforestation data in Brazil show significant surge.

Figures of the National Institute for Space research, a federal agency, show that more forest was lost between May and July this year than during the same period in 2018, 2017 and 2016. In July alone the rainforest lost 2,254 square kilometers (870 square miles) of vegetation, between three and five times the surfaces lost the same month in the past four years. This is the biggest surge in deforestation rates since the institute adopted its current methodology in 2014. 

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GilaMonsterRoyalPoincianaFlower-1-8-2009ink28x40in.

The Miami Herald reports on June 20, 2019

EPA finalizes its plan to replace Obama-era climate rules: Washington- The Trump administration on Wednesday replace former President Barack Obama's effort to reduce planet-warming pollution from coal plants with a new rule that would allow plants to stay open longer and slow progress on cutting carbon emissions. The new rule is also likely to prompt a flurry of legal challenges, this time from environmental groups.

 

Miami Herald reports on November 24, 2018                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

The Environment - Climate study warns of worsening U.S. disasters

A major scientific report issued by 13 federal agencies presents the starkes warnings to date of the consequences of climaate change for the United States. As California's catastrophic wildfires recede and people rebuild after two hurricanes, a massive new federal report warns that these types of disasters are worsening in the United States because of global warming. The White House report, which was quietly issued on Friday, also frequently contradicts President Donald Trump. The National Climate assessment was written long before the deadly fires in California this month and before Hurricanes Florence and Michael rake the East Coast and Florida. It says warming-charged extremes "have already become more frequent, intense, widespread or of long duration." The report notes the last few years have smashed U.S. records for damaging weather, costing nearly $400 billion since 2015. 

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Notice to our friends, the book of photographs titled: 'United Kingdom Vacation-September 13-26 2018' by F. A. Rodriguez. Has been published by Barnes and Noble and is available at www.barnesandnoble.com in the hardcover format.

The New York Times reports on Friday, August 10, 2018

The Year Global Warming Turned Model Into Menace

Crops Wilt, Fires Rage and a Scorching Summer Tell Us: We're Not Ready

This summer of fire and swelter looks a lot like the future that scientists have been warning in the era of climate change, and it is underscoring how unprepared much of the world remains for life on a hotter planet. Globally, this is shaping up to be the fourth-hottest year on record. The only years hotter were the three previous ones. That string of records is part of an accelerating climb in temperatures since the start of the industrial age that scientists say is clear evidence of climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions. For many scientists, this is the year they started living climate change rather than just studying it.                                                                                                                                                                                      

The Associated Press reports on April 23, 2016

175 Nations sign landmark deal on climate change - United Nations

 Leaders from 175 countries signed the Paris Agreement on climate change Friday as the deal took a key step forward, potentially entering into force years ahead of schedule. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, holding his granddaughter, joined dozens of world leaders for a ceremony that set a record for international diplomacy: Never have so many countries signed an agreement on the first available day. States that didn't sign on Friday have a year to do so. "We are in a race against time", U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the gathering. "The era of consumption without consequences is over." Many now expect the climate agreement to enter into force long before the deadline of 2020. Some say it could happen this year.  Ban warned that the work ahead will be enormously expensive. "Far more than $100 billion-indeed, trillions of dollars is needed to realized a global, clean energy economy," he said. Already, states face pressure to do more. Scientific studies show the initial set of targets that countries pledged before Paris don't match the agreement's long-term goal to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared with pre-industrial times. Global average temperatures have already climbed by almost 1 degree Celsius. Last year was the hottest on record. 

 

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Notice to our friends: The book titled, 'Visual Social Commentary' by: F. A. Rodriguez, has been published and it is available at www.barnesandnoble.com and www.amazon.com  This series of artworks, are in reference to some of the most outrageous acts of abuse of power I have witness in my lifetime. This social commentary, are the impressions I received as a human being and observer of humanity, and its behavior towards each other. Starting with the human race, with all the different shades of colors and shapes, languages, customs and believes. We must remember that perhaps, humans are the only species on this planet that at an early age knows the fact, that humans die as well as all life forms. (Except from introduction) F. A. Rodriguez.

 The Philadelphia Enquirer reports on Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018

Facts about the agency behind climate report:

The report was written by 91 authors from 40 countries, members of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It had 6.000 scientific references and tens of thousands of expert reviewers, including governments, worldwide. The report found that the world is already seeing consequences from a single degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) of global warming, with more weather extremes, rising sea levels, and melting Arctic sea ice. The document looked at what would happen at 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels. The report was release Monday, Oct. 8, 2018. The goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement was to cap temperature rise at 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). The scientists projected that 1.5 degrees would be bad enough, but that a 2-degree rise would be catastrophic. The report's conclusion is that the world is rapidly running out of time to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was founded in 1988 by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to assess what was then an emerging worry about global warming cause by the burning of fossil fuels. 

 

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TheReturnOfTheGilaMonster-6-1-2007oil45x48in.

The New York Times reports on Sunday, December 13, 2015

Nations Aprove Landmark Climate Deal

In France, Consensus on a Need to Lower Carbon Emissions 

LE BOURGET, France- With The sudden bang of a gavel Saturday night, representatives of 195 nations reached a landmark accord that will, for the first time, commit nearly every country to lowering planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions to help stave off the most drastic effects of climate change. The deal, which was met with an eruption of cheers and ovations from thousands of delegates gathered from around the world, represents a history breakthrough on an issue that has foiled decades of international efforts to address climate change. The accord, which United Nations diplomats have been working towards for nine years, changes that dynamic by requiring action in some form from every country, rich or poor.    "This is truly a historic moment", the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said in an interview. "For the first time, we have a truly universal agreement on climate change, one of the most crucial problems on earth."

 

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MyNewYorkAVisualMemoir

Notice to our friends: The book titled: My New York A Visual Memoir - by F. A. Rodriguez - Oil Paintings, Watercolors, Prints and Drawings - Has been published in the hard cover format by Barnes and Noble: www.barnesandnoble.com 

Miami Herald reports on June 22, 2018

Trump plan to expand Gulf drilling ignores impacts on wildlife, lawsuit claims

A handful of environmental groups sued the Trump administration Thursday for failing to protect whales, sea turtles and other marine life in the Gulf of Mexico even as it pushes to expand drilling amid safety cutbacks. In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Tampa, Earthjustice claimed the administration has yet to complete a long overdue study of hazards to wildlife from drilling following the 2010 explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig. The explosion, which left 11 workers dead, dumped at least three million barrels of oil into the Gulf, killing baby dolphins, causing heart problems in mahi mahi and leaving trail of damage to marine life, from plankton to shrimp to oysters, that scientist are still trying to understand. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity, The Sierra Club and the Gulf Restoration Network, asks the court to order the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to complete a new study in three months. The study would likely lead to new protections for endangered species given the breadth of the 2010 spill, Earthjustice said. 

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GuitarPianoGilaMonsterObserving-11-4-2008oil20x36"

The Associated Press reports on Saturday, July 14, 2018

4-mile-wide iceberg breaks off from Greenland glacierl

London

An iceberg four miles wide has broken off from a glacier in eastern Greenland and scientists have captured the dramatic event on video. In northwestern Greenland, another large iceberg was apparently grounded on the sea floor near the village of Innaarsuit which has a population of 169. Innaarsuit is about 620 miles north of Nuuk, Greenland's capital and largest city. Earthquakes and tsunamis have created major floods in Greenland in the past year.'  

Miami Herald reports on Friday, June 2, 2017

Trump withdraws U.S. from Paris climate accord

Washington. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would make good on a top campaign promise to withdraw from the so-called Paris climate agreement, a global pact to combat global warming. "One by one, we are keeping the promises I made during my run for president," Trump said. But Trump quickly said he would immediately begin to negotiate reentering the deal, which is supported by more than 190 nations.

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January 18, 2017  NASA - NOAA Report:  Global heat sets record for 3rd straight year.

Earth sweltered under the hottest temps in modern times for a third straight year in a row, raising concerns about the quickening pace of climate change. The main reason for the rise is the burning of fossil fuels like oil & gas, which send carbon dioxide methane and others pollutants known as greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere and warm the planet. Glaciers and polar ice caps melt, accelerating sea level rise that will eventually swallow many of the globe's coastal communities, home to some one billion people.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

 

 

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GilaMonsterOnFlowers-4-3-2012-ink-8x14in.

The Miami Herald reports on Thursday, May 9, 2018

Miami now nation's top importer of shark fins; many states have bans

 Since 2015, Miami has led the nation in the amount of shark fins imported from Hong Kong, the historic hub for the fin trades blamed for killing about   73 million sharks every year. According to a review by the nonprofit Oceana, the number of fins arriving at PortMiami from Hong Kong, the historic center of the fin trade, was dwindling between 2010 and 2014. But after California and New York banned imports in 2011 and 2013, fin shipments began rising.   Twelve states, not including Florida, currently ban imports.

'The  Art of the 21st  Century  Must  Address  Our  Environmental  Challenges'

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F.A. Rodriguez - Athens, Greece-1973-Photo:Angeline Rodriguez

In the background, the Acropolis in Athens, ancient meeting place of the Greek philosophers and  intellectuals.
En la parte posterior el Acrópolis, el lugar de reunión de los antiguos filósofos Griegos.

The New York Times reports on Saturday, January 17, 2015

2014 Breaks Heat Record, Challenging Global Warming Skeptics

Last year was the hottest on Earth since record-keeping began in 1880, scientists reported on Friday, underscoring warnings abouth the risks of runaway green-house-gas emissions and under-mining claims by climate-change contrarians that global warming had somehow stopped. Extreme heat blanketed Alaska and much of the Western United States last year. Records were set across large areas of every inhabited continent. And the ocean surface was unusually warm virtually everywhere except near Antarctica, the scientists said, providing the energy that fueled damaging Pacific storms. In the annals of climatology, 2014 surpassed 2010 as the warmest year. The 10 warmest years have all occurred since 1997, a reflection of the relentless planetary warming that scientist say is a consequence of human activity and poses profound long-term risks to civilization and nature.  Several scientist said the most remarkable thing about the 2014 record was that it had occurred in a year that did not feature a strong El Nino, a large weather pattern in which the Pacific Ocean pumps an enormous amount of heat into the atmosphere. Skeptics of climate change have long argued that global warming stopped aroung 1998, when an unusually powerful El Nino produced the hottest year of the 20th Century. Some politicians in Washington have seized on that claim to justify inaction on emissions'. 

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BookOnTableWithGilaMonster-6-16-2009Oil22x46in

AR2 Fine Arts, Inc. 
Presents - Presenta
F. A. Rodríguez

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F.A.Rodriguez-Athens,Greece1973-Photo:AngelineRodriguez
Selections from the series: 'From Death to Birth'
For the protection of our planet
 Obras selectas de la serie: 'De la Muerte al Nacimiento'
Por la protección de nuestro planeta

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TheGilaMonsterVisitsTheSeashore 4-2-1998drawing53x53in. PrivateCollection

Tribune Washington Bureau Reports: Climate Change  

2012 one of 10 warmest years on record. Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Temperatures are rising and the planet we know is transforming, according to a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"The State of the Climate in 2012," released Tuesday, paints a sobering portrait of swaths of the planet transformed by rising temperatures. Artic sea ice reached record lows during the summer thaw. In Greenland, about 97 percent of its ice sheet melted in the summer, far greater than in years before.

'Greenhouse emissions continued to rise.  Heat-trapping greenhouse gases emitted by the burning of fossil fuels are the primary cause of higher global temperatures'. The NOAA report underscored the effect that oceans have on temperatures. Oceans store much of the planet's heat, but ocean heat storage is at near-record levels, the report said, and increases  were detected even in the ocean's depths.

 At the end of the page links to other exhibitions by F. A. Rodriguez   About the artist on link to 'Analysis In Variation'-  Note: the art on this site is not for sale.

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LizardMiltiplicityII-8-23-2007oil36x40in

Dear Friends...

All the news and satellite photographs are showing a very fast melting of the poles, north and south. We were glad when Vice President Al Gore released to the public his documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth'. It was well received and has been very helpful in calling to the attention of the world this very eminent disaster, which will happen sooner than predicted if we don't do anything about it. We must help to protect the oceans and the forests.

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GuitarPianoGilaMonsterObserving-11-1-2011ink9x12in.

Miami Herald wire services report: Sunday, May 10, 2015

Climate Change-Hollande Touts Green Fund

French President Francois Hollande told Caribbean leaders on Saturday that a planned international fund could help the vulnerable, tourism-dependent region mitigate the effects of climate change. Hollande headline the Caribbean Climate Summit, which drew about 40 leaders or top officials from regional nations including the Bahamas, Trinidad and Cuba, as well as experts talking about renewable energy, waste and water management. The summit was held in Martinique. The meeting came ahead of a global climate conference in Paris that activists hope will mark the first time that all countries take collective action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally. Hollande said the Paris session would highlight the importance of the U.N. climate fund, which is struggling to find donors. 

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Gila Monster Multiplication-10-26-2007-WCink-38" x 42"

Miami Herald Wire Services reports: Tuesday,  June 23, 2015

Climate Change

Failure to act on climate change could cause an estimated 57,000 deaths a year in the United States from poor air quality by 2100, the Obama administration argued in a report. The report also said inaction could cost billions of dollars a year in damage from rising seas, increased wildfires and drought, as well as higher costs for electricity to cool homes and businesses due to hotter temperatures. 

 

Information about F. A. Rodriguez award winning documentary: 'Freewheeling, Bicycling in New York City', on link to The Spirit of the Butterfly.

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StillLifeWithGilaMonster-3-14-2008ink30x42in.

The exhibition we are bringing to you is part of the series 'From Death to Birth', this segment represents the surface section of the series and it is comprised of: prints, etchings, monoprints, digital photographs, relief prints and drawings. The series is divided in two parts, the surface which is represented by the lizard, and the underwater section which is represented by the fish. The underwater segment is a series of watercolors and oil paintings on canvas; they are studies in abstract form of the colors of fish from different parts of the world. These incredible color combinations and existing documentation is all that is left of many species of animals and trees, which shared this planet with us in the endless universe.

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MosaicLizard-8-26-2009-PapierCollage-32x40in.

New York Times reports on Thursday, July 17, 2014

White House unveils climate change initiatives

President Barack Obama announced a series of climate change initiatives Wednesday aimed at guarding the electricity supply; improving local planning for flooding, coastal erosion and storm surges; and better predicting landslide risks as sea levels rise and storms and droughts intensify. The actions, involving a variety of federal agencies, were among the recommendations of the president's State, Local and Tribal Leaders Task Force on Climate Preparedness, a group of 26 officials who have worked since November to develop the proposals. The plan takes direct aim at coal-fired plants, the nation's largest source of carbon pollution, and lawmakers from coal-dependent states have called it a "war on coal." The plan is expected to curb demand for coal, shutter coal plants and reduce coal mining jobs.

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Dragon & Beetle-4-1-1998 Etching 22" x 30"

The New York Times reports Tuesday, October 14, 2014

   Climate-                                                                                                                                                                                                            Pentagon: Global warming security issue                                                                                                            

Washington- The Pentagon on Monday released a report asserting that climate change poses an immediate threat to national security, with increased risks from terrorism, infectious disease, global poverty, and food shortages. It also predicted rising demand for military disaster responses as extreme weather creates more humanitarian crisis. The reportlays out a road map for how the military will adapt to rising sea levels, more violent storms, and widespread droughts. The Defense Department will begin by integrating plans for climate-change risks across all of its operations. If the Pentagon requests funding from Congress for its initiatives, it will clash directly with congressional Republicans, many of whom question the established scientific evidence that human activities are causing climate change.

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F.A.Rodriguez-June, 1974- NYC- Photo: Angeline Rodriguez

Miami Herald reports on Friday, September 26, 2014 - Science-                                                                                                              
Some Water Is Older Than The Sun-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Some of the water molecules in your drinking glass were created more than 4.5 billion years ago, according to new research. That makes them older than the Earth, older than the solar system-even older than the sun itself. In a study published Thursday in Science, researches say this primordial water makes up 30 percent to 50 percent of the water on Earth. The discovery bolsters hopes of finding life on other planets.   

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4Lizards-6-3-1998Monoprint19"x24"

On April 20, 2007 ABC News reported that: '50.000.000 acres of rainforest is destroyed every year on planet earth.'
El 20 de Abril, 2007 la cadena de televisión ABC reporta que: '50.000.000 de acres de selvas tropicales estan siendo destruidos anualmente.'

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GilaMonsterRoyalPoinciana-64Hexagrams-9-10-2009WCink32x42in.

The Washington Post reports Thursday, May 21, 2015

The Environment: Obama: Climate change is a 'serious threat'  to national security

President Barack Obama warned Wednesday that climate change is a growing and "serious threat" to national security, tying severe weather to the rise of the extremist group Boko Haram in Nigeria and the civil war in Syria. Obama challenged 218 newly commissioned officers at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy to take the threats of climate change as seriously as they would a cutter in peril. "You don't sit back; you take steps to protect your ship," Obama said. "Anything less is a dereliction of duty. The same is true for climate change". "Climate change constitutes a serious threat to global security, an immediate risk to our national security," he told the graduates. "And, make no mistake, it will impact how our military defends our country. And so we need to act now."

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Picasso's Chapel At Vallauris-7-27-2009-Oil-30" x 32"

Associated Press reports: Tuesday, February 18, 2014 - Climate

Melting Arctic ice warming Earth

The Arctic isn't as bright and white as it used to be because of more ice melting in the ocean, and that's turning out to be a global problem, a new study says. With more dark, open water in the summer instead of ice, less of the sun heat is reflected back into space. So the entire Earth is absorbing more heat than expected, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The Arctic grew 8 percent darker between 1979 and 2011, measuring how much sunlight is reflected back into space. The North Pole region is an ocean that mostly is crusted at the top with ice that shrinks in the summer and grows back in the fall. At its peak melt in September, the ice has shrunk on average by 35,000 square miles- about the size of Maine- per year since 1979. 

 

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Lizard Cutout - 4-2006 - Digital Photograph

Miami Herald reports Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Florida critical to birds at risk from climate change

Climate change will likely threaten the survival of half of North America's birds in the coming decades and no place will play a more crucial role in saving them than Florida, the National Audubon Society said Monday after releasing a seven-year study. Rising temperatures and changes in rainfalls could shrink ranges for about 21 percent of the continent's birds by as much as half by 2050, the report found. Of the 588 species examined, Audubon scientists found 314 risked sharp declines in populations. That puts Florida, the continent's great way station for many migrating birds, in a unique position, said Julie Wraithmell, director of wildlife conservation for Audubon Florida. Because Florida gets a combination of birds nesting, breeding and migrating, saving conservation land is important not just to native birds, but the hemisphere's birds, Wraithmill said.

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LizardsSeagrapeLeaf-5-20-1998Monoprint19"x24"

2015 the hottest year in recorder history. NOAA

 New York Times reports Sunday October 16, 2016

170 nations agree to cut use of harmful coolant

Kigali, Rwanda - Negotiators from more than 170 countries Saturday reached a legally binding accord to counter climate change by cutting the worldwide use of a powerful planet-warming chemical used in air-conditioners and refrigerators. The talks in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, did not draw the same spotlight as the climate change accord forged in Paris last year. But the outcome could have an equal or even greater impact on efforts to slow the heating of the planet. The new Kigali deal has a single target: chemical coolants called hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, used in air-conditioners and refrigerators. So, narrow as it is, the new accord may be more likely to yield climate-shielding actions by industry and governments, negotiators say. And given the heat-trapping power of HFCs, scientists say that the Kigali accord will stave off an increase of atmospheric temperatures of nearly 1 degree Fahrenheit. Overall, the deal is expected to lead to the reduction of the equivalent of 70 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere about two times the carbon pollution produced annually by the entire world. 

 

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LizardCutout#8-11-2007-DigitalPhotograph

Associated Press reports on Tuesday, Feb. 26,2008
'Norway is opening a 'doomsday' vault burrowed deep in the Arctic to protect millions of seeds from disasters.' 'It's been dubbed a Noah's Ark for plant life and built to withstand an earthquake or a nuclear attack.'  All the seeds are kept at: 'Just below zero, a temperature at which experts say many seeds could survive for 1,000 years.'

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PurpleRainLizards-5-20-1998Monoprint19"x24"

Environment- Cox Newspaper Reports on Thursday, May 15, 2014

Climate change poses national-security risk

In a CNA Corp. report. titled " National Security and the Accelerating Risks of Climate Change", a military advisory board of 16 former admirals and generals for the nonprofit research group concluded the impact of climate change is already being felt and in some cases faster than expected. The former military leaders called on the United States to take a more leading role on an international response to the problem. They compared the challenge of climate change to facing the Soviet nuclear threat in the Cold War and to terrorism in recent years. "The national security risks of projected climate change are as serious as any challenges we have faced", they said in a signed letter in the report. Former Air Force Materiel Command leader and retired Gen. Donald J. Hoffman was among those who signed the document and is a member of the federally funded research and development center's military advisory board. But Michael Breen, executive director of the Truman National Security Project and the Center for National Policy, said climate change is a threat to national and global security and that the United States should take a stronger leadership role to address that threat. He said "This is a real thing in the real world and there's no political difference of opinion here. It's happening whether you believe in it or not."

June 07, 2008 - The Caribbean Monk Seal becomes extinct from human causes. NOAA's Fisheries Services southeast region confirmed.

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BulletHolesInTheLightWithGilaMonsterObserving9-22-2009WCink32x42in

Miami Herald reports Friday, October 28, 2016

Wildlife Populations, on average, have been halved since 1970, report says 

London.  Global wildlife populations have fallen an average of 58 percent from 1970 levels, with human activity reducing the numbers of elephants in Tanzania maned wolves in Brazil, salamanders in the United States, and orcas in the waters of Europe, reasearches say. Deforestation,  pollution, overfishing and the illegal wildlife trade, together with climate change, "are pushing species populations to the edge," according to the Living Planet report released Thursday by WWF and the Zoological Society of London. "For the first time since the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago, we face a global mass extinction of wildlife," said Mike Barret, director of science and policy at WWF-UK. "We ignore the decline of other species at our peril- for they are the barometer that reveals our impact on the world that sutains us." The assessment predicts that by 2020, populations of vertebrate species could have fallen by 67 percent from 1970 levels unless action is taken to reverse the damaging impacts of human activity. One of the actions pushing the decline is the growing number of humans, which is driving overfishing, hunting and the destruction of habitats. The report  detailed the strain that agriculture places on freshwater systems. "Human behavior continues to drive the decline of wildlife populations globally, with particular impact on freshwater habitats," said Ken Norris, director of science at ZSL.   

 

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GilaMonsterUpClose-12-24-2007oil24x44in.

Associated Press - Reports Wed. March1, 2017

 Washington - Trump orders review of Obama rule protecting small streams

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order mandating a review of an Obama-era rule aimed at protecting small streams and wetlands from development and pollution, fulfilling a campaign promise while earning the ire of environmental groups.The order, signed at the White House on Tuesday, instructs the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers to review a rule that redefined "waters of the United States" protected under the Clean Water Act to included smaller creeks and wetlands. At a White House signing ceremony, the president called the rule, which has never been implemented because of a series of lawsuits, "one of the worst examples of federal regulation" that he said "has truly run amok." But Democrats have argued that it safeguards drinking water for millions of Americans and clarifies confusion about which streams, tributaries, and wetlands should be protected in the wake of decades long uncertainty despite two Supreme Court rulings. Environmental groups such as the Sierra Club have said they will sue to fight any attempt by the Trump administration to roll back the rule.

 

 

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LizardCutout#11-1-2007-DigitalPhotograph

Wednesday, February 20, 2008 -
The McClatchy News Service reports: 'Global Warming: Mass extinctions forecast if eco crisis isn't tackled.' The answer from the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was jaw dropping: 'More than 40 percent of known plant and animal species could become extinct by the end of this century.' Last month (january), 600 scientists wrote to congress saying that it's time to act.

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PowerOfNatureWithGilaMonster05-08-2008oil22x36in

La exhibición que les traemos es parte de la serie 'De la Muerte al Nacimiento', la cual esta dividida en dos partes, la superficie del planeta y la submarina. La sección de la superficie esta compuesta de trabajos impresos y dibujos, y esta representada por el lagarto. La parte submarina esta representada por el pescado, es una serie de acuarelas y pinturas al óleo sobre lienzo. Son estudios en forma abstracta de los colores de peces de diferentes partes del mundo. Estos colores y la documentación existente, es lo único que queda de muchas especies de animales y árboles que han cohabitado con nosotros en este planeta, viajando en el infinito universo.

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LizardsInBlack-6-15-1998Monoprint19"x24"

New York Times reports Friday, April 7, 2017

Nearly two million acres of the Brazilian amazon were destroyed between August 2015 and July 2016, according to estimates by the National Institute for Space Research in Brazil.                                                                                                                                                                                                     

 

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LizardCutout#18-11-2007DigitalPhotograph

Miami Herald reports Thursday, March 2, 2017

White House proposes cutting EPA staff by 20% and eliminating key programs

Washington: The Office of Management and Budget has suggested deep cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency's budge that would reduce its staff by one-fifth in the first year and eliminate dozens of programs, according to details of a document reviewed by The Washington Post. The proposal also dictates cutting the agency's grants to states, including its air and water programs, by 30 percent, and eliminationg 38 separate programs in their entirety. Programs designated for zero include grants to clean up brownfields, or abandoned industrial sites; a national electronic manifest system for hazardous waste; environmental justice programs; climate-change initiatives; and funding for native Alaskan villages. The document eliminates funding altogether for the office's "contribution to the U.S. Global Change Research Program," a climate initiative that then-President George H.W. Bush launched in 1989. S. William Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA),  said in an email that the proposed cuts would devastate critical federal financial support for communities across the country. "These cuts, if enacted by Congress, will rip the heart and soul out of the national air pollution control program and jeopardize the health and welfare of tens of millions of people around the country," Becker said.                                                                                  

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Gila Monster Inside My Memories & Influences-12-11-2008ink30" x 42"

The New York Times reports Friday, September 26, 2014 Washington- Obama to Expand Marine Preserve In Pacific, Making It World's Largest                             President Obama is carving out a wide swath of the Pacific Ocean for an expanded marine preserve, putting the waters off limits to drilling and most fishing in a bid to protect fragile underwater life. The expanded Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument will cover 490,000 square miles, an area roughly three times the size of California, an become the largest marine preserve in the world. Millions of seabirds, sea turtles and marine mammals live in the biologically rich expanse covered by the new monument. It will also add protections for more than 130 seamounts, underwater mountains where rare or undiscovered species are frequently found.                                                                                                                                                                                                             

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Black Dragon Seagrape leaf 2-26-2009 WC Ink 16"x40"

The Washington Post reports: Sunday, April 16, 2017

The Arctic sets record for low levels of sea ice

Floating sea ice at the top of the world has set another troubling record for its low spatial extent, shattering a prior record set just two years ago for this key component of the planet's climate system. According to the National Snow and Ice Data Center, the sheet of Artic sea ice,which expands and contracts in an annual cycle, probably reached its maximum size this year on March 7, when it spanned 14.42 million square kilometers or 5.57 million square miles atop the Artic ocean. And this is part of a trend, notes NASA, which funds the National Snow and Ice Data Center and also hailed the record. "The Artics's sea ice maximum extent has dropped by an average of 2.8 percent per decade since 1979," noted the agency. 

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LizardCutout#13-11-2007DigitalPhotograph

 Associated Press reports Wednesday, September 10, 2014

UN says CO2 pollution levels at a record high

Carbon-dioxide levels in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2013 as increasing levels of man-made pollution transform the planet, the UN weather agency said Tuesday. The heat-trapping gas blamed for the largest share of global warming rose to global concentrations of 396 parts per million last year, the biggest year-to-year change in three decades, the World Meteorological Organization said in a annual report. That's an increase of 2.9 ppm from the previous year and is 42 percent higher than before the Industrial Age, when levels were about 280 parts per million. CO2 emissions are growing mainly in China and other large developing countries as their economies expand. Top climate scientists are now becoming increasingly skeptical that countries across the globe will meet the voluntary goals they set at the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit of limiting global warming to about 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) above preindustrial levels.

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Split Lizards 5-11-1998 Monoprint 19" x 24"

Miami Herald reports: Saturday, April 4, 2015

Environment: Study: Climate change may trigger coral bleaching sooner

A new study that sifted through data on sea temperatures suggest that the fatal change might happen 12 years earlier.

Parts of Florida's vast coral reefs, including a pristine tract in the Dry Tortugas, might get seared by climate change as early as 2030- about a dozen years sooner than scientists previously projected. And that could mean that coral bleaching- a whitening that can be damaging and potentially deadly to colorful corals- migh become an annual event in the Tortugas west of Key West but also in the middle Keys and reefs south of Turkey Point popular with divers. The findings are important because scientists consider reefs an important indicator of more serious trouble. More information could also improve existing conservation programs and heighten awareness about the dangers of coral bleaching, which is already a leading killer of Florida's reefs." 

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GilaMonsterRugRoyalPoincianaFlower2-8-2009WCink30x40in

AR2 Fine Arts, Inc. From Death to Birth 2

F. A. Rodríguez - Selected Sculptures 1967-2007

Circular Abstractions - Circulos Abstractos

Miniature Imaginary Landscapes - Paisajes Imaginarios

Link to: Analysis in Variation - Humberto & Silvano - Análisis en Variación

Link to: The Spirit of the Butterfly -El Espiritu de las Mariposas

For the preservation of the environment and the protection of wildlife. Those are our stated goals. Art is the medium that unites us all.
LizardSkin4-1-1998Etching10x11in.jpg
LizardSkin-4-1-1998Etching10"x11"
AR2 Fine Arts, Inc.
Located in South Miami, Florida 
Email:
arodri4@bellsouth.net

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AR2 Fine Arts, Inc. 
For the protection of our planet
Located in South Miami, Florida