'Reflections in Pink' from the Art x Climate Gallery

Released in 2023, the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA5) includes an Art × Climate Gallery. The gallery collection features the work of 92 artists, selected from more than 800 submissions. This photograph of a spoonbill may only be reproduced or re-used in connection with the Fifth National Climate Assessment. Any other use must be negotiated with the author.

In its chapter on Ecosystems, Ecosystem Services, and Biodiversity, the NCA5 reports that many plant and animal species are shifting their ranges. Some are moving to high elevations, and some are moving to higher latitudes, driven by climate change. The timing of some seasonal events is also changing, in response to warmer temperatures and/or different precipitation levels. Species are adapting with varying degrees of success. When certain species of flowers bloom earlier in the spring, for instance, the pollinators that both sustain and depend on them might not arrive in time.

Pamela Dechellis took this photograph in 2022. This is her statement:

Early in the morning at Huntington Beach State Park in South Carolina, I found myself alone with this beautiful spoonbill, who was gently wading and preening in the morning light. Traditionally the spoonbill is most common in coastal Florida, Texas, and parts of Louisiana. Recently, we have seen spoonbills expand their range into South Carolina, in part because of climate change. As more northern areas get warmer they 'flock' to these areas. As the sea level rises, the more southern waters also get too deep for them to forage.