The effects of the last half century's rapid climatic change on the distribution and abundance of biota is a
subject of central interest to economists, biologists, sociologists and ecologists developing conservation
strategies, and to artists calling attention to changing conditions. The watercolor Winter's End uses the
Lake Superior spring ice break up as a metaphor to represent cold-weather dependent flora and fauna that
are confronted with decreasingly hospitable habitat associated with rising temperatures. With that warming,
Lake Superior is no longer icing over. We see that as the region warms and loses winter ice, local plants and
animals (suggested in the chunks of ice) that favor cold winter conditions will be affected, leading to
declines if not local extirpations.
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