On Earth Day we're reminded how precious our planet is and what will happen without meaningful change.
You probably don't spend much time thinking about your computer's screensaver. But what if something so simple could help make a difference for endangered wildlife around the globe?
Graduate student Lauren Race and three creative partners (Carl Jannerfeldt, Beth Kushner, and Nancy Black) retouched some of the most common screensaver images to reflect what they might more accurately look like due to the effects of climate change.
"There had been a discussion about how the current Mac screensaver images almost looked too perfect, too pristine," Race says. "They were beginning to feel obsolete due to climate change."
Images via Earthsaver.
The updated images are a harrowing reminder of what's happening to the planet and everyone who occupies it.
The ensuing project became Earthsaver, which uses the images to raise awareness and funds for the World Wildlife Fund. Those who download the images for their computer are taken to a direct donation page, where they can support the WWF, which is currently raising funds aimed at adding 3,000 new members to its roster of supporters before April 22.
Race and her partners worked with 17 creative retouchers to update each image in a way that accurately reflects how the artist sees the original composition being affected by climate change. Images in the Earthsaver collection include:
A whale and other fish dwarfed by a looming set of plastic drink rings:
A polar bear is replaced with a plastic bag:
Tourists visit the last of the dwindling ice caps:
A mother lion and her cub begin to starve from lack of available food:
Nonetheless, even stark messages can carry a ray of hope.
It can be difficult to look at these images, even knowing they are photo illustrations. However, the impact they show is a real possibility, and may soon become reality if more isn't done to stop the increasing effects of global climate change.
These images are also an opportunity for hope.
Organizations like the WWF are working every day to change the narrative of our wildlife and environment. And we can help that change — even by something as simple as updating the backdrop images on our computers.
"We know that downloading a screensaver that displays extremely depressing nature images drifting across your computer screens every day is a tall order," Race says. "For us, getting a conversation started and donating to the WWF is more important than downloads."
You can view and download all 17 of the Earthsaver images here and donate directly to the WWF here.
A Generation Jones teenager poses in her room.Image via Wikmedia Commons
An office kitchen.via 
An angry man eating spaghetti.via 
Gif of baby being baptized
Woman gives toddler a bath Canva
An Irish woman went to the doctor for a routine eye exam. She left with bright neon green eyes.
It's not easy seeing green.
Did she get superpowers?
Going to the eye doctor can be a hassle and a pain. It's not just the routine issues and inconveniences that come along when making a doctor appointment, but sometimes the various devices being used to check your eyes' health feel invasive and uncomfortable. But at least at the end of the appointment, most of us don't look like we're turning into The Incredible Hulk. That wasn't the case for one Irish woman.
Photographer Margerita B. Wargola was just going in for a routine eye exam at the hospital but ended up leaving with her eyes a shocking, bright neon green.
At the doctor's office, the nurse practitioner was prepping Wargola for a test with a machine that Wargola had experienced before. Before the test started, Wargola presumed the nurse had dropped some saline into her eyes, as they were feeling dry. After she blinked, everything went yellow.
Wargola and the nurse initially panicked. Neither knew what was going on as Wargola suddenly had yellow vision and radioactive-looking green eyes. After the initial shock, both realized the issue: the nurse forgot to ask Wargola to remove her contact lenses before putting contrast drops in her eyes for the exam. Wargola and the nurse quickly removed the lenses from her eyes and washed them thoroughly with saline. Fortunately, Wargola's eyes were unharmed. Unfortunately, her contacts were permanently stained and she didn't bring a spare pair.
- YouTube youtube.com
Since she has poor vision, Wargola was forced to drive herself home after the eye exam wearing the neon-green contact lenses that make her look like a member of the Green Lantern Corps. She couldn't help but laugh at her predicament and recorded a video explaining it all on social media. Since then, her video has sparked a couple Reddit threads and collected a bunch of comments on Instagram:
“But the REAL question is: do you now have X-Ray vision?”
“You can just say you're a superhero.”
“I would make a few stops on the way home just to freak some people out!”
“I would have lived it up! Grab a coffee, do grocery shopping, walk around a shopping center.”
“This one would pair well with that girl who ate something with turmeric with her invisalign on and walked around Paris smiling at people with seemingly BRIGHT YELLOW TEETH.”
“I would save those for fancy special occasions! WOW!”
“Every time I'd stop I'd turn slowly and stare at the person in the car next to me.”
“Keep them. Tell people what to do. They’ll do your bidding.”
In a follow-up Instagram video, Wargola showed her followers that she was safe at home with normal eyes, showing that the damaged contact lenses were so stained that they turned the saline solution in her contacts case into a bright Gatorade yellow. She wasn't mad at the nurse and, in fact, plans on keeping the lenses to wear on St. Patrick's Day or some other special occasion.
While no harm was done and a good laugh was had, it's still best for doctors, nurses, and patients alike to double-check and ask or tell if contact lenses are being worn before each eye test. If not, there might be more than ultra-green eyes to worry about.