Emojis make it fun and easy to talk with your friends about almost anything. But until recently, there were no ready-made symbols for two of the most pressing issues on the planet: climate change and pollution.
Media artists Viniyata Pany and Marina Zurkow created Climojis to fill in this gap. They hope these emoji-like mobile stickers will make it easier for people of all ages to talk about the problems facing our planet.
Climojis represent some of the causes and effects of climate change and pollution. One Climoji shows a factory pumping out pollution. Another portrays a tree affected by severe drought. Zurkow thinks the “Grey Rainbow” Climoji is particularly compelling. “It communicates a dark reality: the reduced visibility caused by air pollution,” she says.
Pany and Zurkow hope the Unicode Consortium—a group that approves new emojis—will someday add their climate-themed icons. Until then, you can download Climojis and share them with your friends.