The green man – cartoon

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Cartoon - the green man (as a tree)

The green man.

The concept of the green man stretches back to antiquity, and is usually depicted as a head covered in leaves and foliage.
In this cartoon version, the green man is depicted as a tree, where the only evidence of a human link is the man’s legs protruding below the tree’s foliage and forming the tree trunk.

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Air pollution cartoon

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Air pollution cartoon

An environmental cartoon about air pollution

Showing a man using breathing apparatus to breathe fresh air in a polluted atmosphere. The oxygen cylinder contains a plant that is generating oxygen

Part of the idea behind the cartoon is to convey the concept that plants are the lungs of the world, liberating oxygen from carbon dioxide via photosynthesis.
A cartoon about clear air, atmospheric pollution and toxic chemicals, smoke and smog
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Driving into a worrying future

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driving to the future - the collapse of civilisation

A car driving off the end of a road – symbolising the human race hurtling towards an uncertain future of its own making.

The car driver is following the sat-nav (GPS) unquestioningly as the car drives off the edge of the precipice (which metaphorically signifies the collapse of civilisation).

The road in this cartoon symbolises the human race’s road into the future, while the car is a metaphor for the human race itself, accompanied by its technological ‘life support system’.
The message is meant to be that if we’re not careful it will all end very badly.
This isn’t an anti-technology or anti-progress cartoon by the way – it’s just a view of how things might go if we aren’t careful.
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Blindly following progress (a metaphor)

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blindly driving to the future - and over a cliff

A car driving off the end of a road and over a cliff – with the car driver still unquestioningly following the sat-nav.

The scene is a metaphor for what may happen if the human race unquestioningly and uncritically follows technological progress. Not that I think that technological progress is bad – we just need to watch where it’s going.

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A car driving into the future – and plunging off the end of the road

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driving to the future - the collapse of civilisation

A car driving into the future – and plunging off the end of the road

The car driver is following the sat-nav (GPS) unquestioningly as the car drives off the edge of the precipice (which metaphorically signifies the collapse of civilisation).

This cartoon is about the inherent danger in the advance of technology (here symbolised by cars, transport systems sat-nav) and other aspects of human progress. The further we progress, the greater the consequences of anything going wrong, especially if we put too much faith in technology and, as here, follow it uncritically.
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Cartoon – climate change refugees

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Cartoon - climate change refugees

Cartoon – climate change refugees.

The cartoon shows the possible increase in mass migration that may be caused by global warming and climate change.
The cartoon compares the current (2015) crisis of mass migration to Europe caused by political instability in the middle east with the possible crisis of mass migration that may occur due to climate change.

A cartoon about mass migration, climate change refugees, impact of global warming.
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The End is Nigh cartoon

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Cartoon - the end is nigh crank

A cartoon showing a man with an “End is Nigh” placard.

A passing woman is saying “There was a time when I’d have dismissed him as a crank”.

A cartoon about the current feeling of pessimism about the state of the world and about its future.
This could refer to climate change, global warming, or the election of Donald Trump as president of the USA!
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The psychology of special offers – cartoon

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cartoon - a misleading special offer in a supermarket

A joke showing people being deceived by a special offer in a shop.

The customers see a sign with the special offer of “Two for the price of Three’ and they automatically think that this is a good deal due to the way that the offer is framed (interpreting it in the same way as “Two for the price of three”).
A cartoon about marketing, persuasion, selling, manipulation, misleading offers.

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How to ignore inconvenient truths.

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cartoon - television programme about tv manufacturing

A TV viewer wanting to ignore the evidence in a television programme as it would make him uncomfortable.

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A cartoon depicting a person ignoring an inconvenient truth. (The cartoon doesn’t actually imply that all televisions are manufactured in exploitative sweatshop conditions – the use of a tv in the cartoon is because the tv in the image is, ironically, the conduit for the information to be made available).

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Profiting from climate change

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profiteering from global warming cartoon

A businessman making his business diversify into boats due to increased flood risk

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As global warming results in more floods there will be a greater demand for boats.
The cartoon shows a businessman suggesting that his manufacturing company diversify into ship and boat building.

A cartoon showing manufacturing companies and businesses adapting to changing demands (as indeed they should),

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Environment-friendly holidays and eco-tourism

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Eco holidays cartoon

Cartoon caption suggesting that the most environment-friendly holidays are holidays spent at home (or at least not jetting off to an exotic location).

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A cartoon about choice of holiday destinations

Eco-holidays, eco-tourism, tourism

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Save the dolphins

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dolphins aren't vegetarian cartoon

Cartoon showing a campaigner for protecting dolphins being disappointed to discover that dolphins aren’t vegetarian.

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A cartoon about the concept that some animal lovers prefer animals that are thought of as nice, cute, gentle etc (which interestingly extends to pet cats, which I frequently see tormenting and killing wildlife)..

The idea refers to some extent to the ‘natural fallacy’, which states that nature is inherently good.

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Why there were no unicorns on Noah’s ark – cartoon

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Why there were no unicorns on Noah's ark - cartoon

A cartoon showing Noah’s ark full of consumer goods (cars, shipping containers etc). Noah is telling the two unicorns that are wanting to enter the ark that there is no room for them.

The cartoon about the human race’s impact on wildlife (particularly as a result of our consumption of the earth’s resources, but also as a result of anthropogenic floods).

A cartoon about endangered species, extinction, wildlife in danger.

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We are depleting the earth’s mineral resources at our peril

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depleting the earth's resources cartoon

A cartoon showing people mining the earth’s mineral resources to an irresponsible extent.

The cartoon about the depletion of the earth’s resources – and the possible dire consequences.

The image shows the earth represented by a boat, with the people in the boat digging out so much of the earth’s minerals that they have made a hole in the bottom of the boat, meaning that it will sink. A cautionary image.

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Genetically modified pigs will fly.

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pigs will fly gmo cartoon

A cartoon showing a genetically modified pig flying.

A cartoon about gmo food and genetics.
The cartoon strip shows people talking about ‘scare stories’ about ‘Frankenstein food’, with the final frame of the strip showing a flying pig.

A cartoon about gmo, genetically modified organisms, pigs will fly.

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The Ethics of Coffee – illustration

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Coffee cash crop cartoon

An illustration showing coffee beans with currency symbols on them as a symbol of the profit-motivated production

This illustration was created to depict coffee grown by multinational companies primarily for the profit.

The image is to draw attention to fair trade crops and ethically produced food products
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Atmospheric pollution cartoon. Breathing clean air in a polluted atmosphere

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Oxygen cylinder tree cartoon

An environmental cartoon about air pollution

A cartoon showing a man using an oxygen cylinder to breathe fresh air in a polluted atmosphere. The oxygen cylinder contains a tree that is generating oxygen

PArt of the idea behind the illustration is to convey the concept that trees are the lungs of the world.
A cartoon about atmospheric pollution, clear air and toxic chemicals in the atmosphere, smog
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Carbon footprint cartoon

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carbon footprint cartoon

A carbon footprint cartoon from my selection of environment cartoons.

The illustration shows a climate change conference, with the US delegate (Uncle Sam) wearing gigantic clown shoes. He is thinking ‘No one will take me seriously in these shoes’

A cartoon about the fact that (at the moment) the western world uses most of the world’s resources and thus is in no position to lecture about the impact of consumerism to the developing world
Ref: env001

The ship of fools

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globe - Ship of Fools cartoon

Ship of Fools environment illustration

Is the earth, and the human race, heading for disaster (because people seem to be only capable of short term planning)?

An environmental cartoon showing the earth as a ship, represented by half a globe, with people on the deck enjoying themselves, oblivious of the fact that they are steering the world towards catastophe

The illustration shows the world’s population as the passengers and crew of the Ship of Fools (or the fools on the ship)

Ref: a449

Self-driving cars cartoon or driverless cars cartoon

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Self-driving or driverless car cartoon

A cartoon about driverless cars.
How driverless cars may affect society

Driverless cars are also known as driver-free cars, self driving cars, autonomous cars or robot cars.

This is a futurology cartoon, predicting the future when self-driving cars are ubiquitous.
My view is that people will drive round whether they need to or not, simply because they can – a bit like the way people currently spend large amounts of their time glued to mobile phones even though they don’t necessarily have anything pressing to say. You can read an article of mine on the subject of driverless cars here.

a674

Environment cartoons – polar bear and penguins marching to save the ice caps

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penguins and polar bear environment cartoons

Environment cartoons – penguins marching to stop global warming

An illustration showing an environmental protest march of penguins and a polar bear

The penguins in this image are inspired by natural history documentaries about penguins that show the penguins marching in line from their nest site to their feeding ground many miles away.
This cartoon is meant to be a motivational and inspirational image, motivating people to get up and do something for the benefit of the environment (specifically in the areas of climate change and global warming).

Ref: a664

Businesses profiting from climate change

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business opportunities created by climate change

Environment cartoon about profit from climate change

Showing business opportunities created by global warming.

The joke is based on the saying “It’s an ill wind that blows nobody good” (meaning that someone always benefits from any situation, including bad ones).
The cartoon is meant as a criticism of cynical profiteering from climate change – it’s not a criticism of pragmatic approaches to job creation as a result of climate change.

Ref: a648