The terrible and avoidable carbon footprint of war

The war in Ukraine drags on
crayon, watercolour and ink
©2025 Charlene Brown

I happened to read about the two Advisories on Climate Change and Human Rights listed below in The Daily Difference - The Carbon Almanac the day after the Trump/Putin negotiations in Alaska made ‘progress’ but did not end the Russian-Ukraine war.  Couldn’t help wondering if, among the many immediate horrors of warfare, its long term cumulative (and avoidable) carbon emissions, and their effect on global heating was ever considered by either Russia or America. Or anybody.

1. On July 3, 2025, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) issued Advisory Opinion No.32, a 234 page document that is the longest advisory opinion that has ever been issue by the IACHR  ̶  pretty much guaranteeing that very few people will read it other than those who are being paid to do so.  In it, the court says “states have legal obligations to protect people alive today and future generations from the impacts of climate breakdown,” ruling that access to a stable climate is a human right that states must protect. Some of the actions that must be taken include working on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, cooperating internationally, guarding against the threat of climate disinformation, adapting to evolving needs and utilizing the best available science to inform decisions. 
2. On July 23, 2025, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is the United Nations’ top court, released an advisory opinion stating that “countries could be in violation of international law if they fail to take measures to protect the planet from climate change, and nations harmed by its effects could be entitled to reparations.” It affirms a simple truth of climate justice: Those who did the least to fuel this crisis deserve protection, reparations and a future.” 

One-off cards I’ve painted recently

Cascade Ponds at Banff

watercolour card

©2025 Charlene Brown

Spirit bear mother and cubs

watercolour card

©2025 Charlene Brown

Lakes above O’Hara

watercolour card 5” x 7”

©2025 Charlene Brown

Fall flowers in the Valley of the 10 Peaks

watercolour card 5" x 7"

©2025 Charlene Brown

As I mentioned in a blog post in May of last year, I have a large supply specially-cut pieces of heavy watercolour paper which can be folded into 5”x7” cards.  

So, occasionally I paint greeting cards and sometimes I get prints of these cards made.  But I prefer having cards made from larger paintings, which allows for more detail to be included.

Above are four examples of unique cards of which I won’t be getting prints made.  Only one person will get each of these.  

 

Painting an Entire Canyon with telescoped perspective

Johnston Canyon, Banff National Park
crayon, watercolour, and ink
©2025 Charlene Brown

Recently, I tried an experiment using a Google map of a canyon about 20 km west of Banff, as well as several Google Streetviews* along the canyon.  Each waterfall is placed with some accuracy but, as you might suspect, is much larger than it should be in a picture this size.

Originally, I considered including the Ink Pots, located about 3 km above Johnston Canyon, in the painting but soon realized that would be ridiculous.  I painted the Ink Pots in 2018. 

·      * Yes, Johnston Canyon has in fact been streetviewed and many of the waterfalls have also been photographed using a Google 360 degree camera. The photograph on the right, by Greg Belluomini, with the location just near the Upper Falls indicated in the square insert in the lower left corner, was one of my reference photographs.  You may recognize it in the painting above, about one third of the way down from the top of the picture.  Or you may not – I barely recognized it myself. 

 

 

When we weren’t allowed to go to Alberta

Victoria Glacier from Mt. Fairview

watercolour and crayon

©2025 Charlene Brown

I’ve been thinking lately of that awful time in the first stages of the pandemic before any vaccines were developed and interprovincial travel was discouraged. My obligatory Alberta Rockies paintings at that time were often based on pictures sent to me by our Calgary daughter.  She and her family, like many Albertans, found themselves exploring parts of their province even they had not been to before.

I put a small semi-abstract sketch of Victoria Glacier from Mt. Fairview in my 9 September 2020 blogpost using for reference a picture our daughter had taken of her daughter in July of that year.  After I finished the painting above, re-using that picture as one of my references, it occurred to me I should have tried including our granddaughter….  It was too late to paint her so I Photoshopped her in.  I’m not sure what she was pointing at in the original photo, but the way she was placed in my painting has her pointing at the Plain of Six Glaciers, a small green plateau which can be seen just below the right hand end of Victoria Glacier.

We’ve lived here longer than anywhere

Victoria
watercolour and crayon
©2009 Charlene Brown

We picked Victoria for retirement in 2000, of all the places in Alberta and British Columbia that we had been considering. 

Actually I think I was the only one considering Alberta, and I sometimes wonder if my husband decided on Victoria when he first came here to attend Royal Roads Military College in 1958.