Liam Gallagher is mad fer it… raising awareness of climate change, that is. The former Oasis singer has lent his voice to a new animated short designed to encourage people to take notice of the effect our warming climate is having on their area at what in Britain should be the coldest time of the year.
The minute-long cartoon – The Very Hot Snowman – was launched in December and quickly went viral. Produced by fashion and portrait photographer Rankin, its focus is a cute snowman, Sammy, standing in a snowy field in the middle of winter.
“It’s cold this time of year, isn’t it?” says Gallagher – before going on to explain that the opposite is increasingly true. The film makes it clear that, when you look at the bigger picture, the planet is warmer than it should be and the seasons are becoming confused. Sammy the Snowman watches birds nesting earlier than they should, and flowers springing up through the snow before their time.
Soon, beneath the heat of the sun, Sammy himself begins to melt, eventually turning into a puddle. Gallagher puts it clearly and simply: “This is what climate change looks like.”
The animation launches the Climate Coalition’s new “citizen science” activity, Noticing Change. It asks those who view the film to start taking note of the signs of early spring all around them. You can download a checklist from the organisation’s website and upload details of what you’ve noticed to the Nature’s Calendar project, which will enable scientists to keep track of them.
The aim is to get people talking about the very real effects of climate change, visible all around us, and to encourage them to tell others. As the film says: “We have hope. Because we know that together we can protect [the things we love] – if we act now, and everyone does their bit.”
Watch The Very Hot Snowman, visit the Climate Coalition website and of course keep on supporting Meat Free Monday to do your bit.