The Washington Post's climate change issue features 24 equally important covers

Ahead of Earth Day on 22 April, The Washington Post has released an all cover issue of the magazine, offering “A different way to read – and think – about the peril facing Earth.”

As climate change increasingly becomes a terrifyingly frequent news piece – particularly at the time of writing as the Extinction Rebellion [a non-violent group campaigning on environmental issues] protest in London enters its fourth day – The Washington Post highlights how “the sheer volume of news can make it tough for even the most conscientious citizen to comprehend the full scale of the crisis.” With the hope of making the topic engaging and understandable for everyone, the publication has looked back at each of the climate change related stories The Post has published this past year, creating a cover for each individual article and collating 24 in total.

The decision to commission and design covers for these stories, and in turn place visual importance on each, develops from the publication’s belief that: “A successful magazine cover accomplishes a few things: It elevates the importance of an article; it finds a way to grab your attention; it persuades you to learn more about the topic at hand,” explains its Earth Day issue. “Which is why a series of magazine covers may be the perfect way to read about climate change – a topic where the grim particulars all too often seem to run together. Each of the climate stories within the issue are critical to understanding the peril facing Earth. In other words, each is worthy of its own magazine cover.”

Topics discussed on the covers include a piece by Sarah Kaplan on how “Climate change could render many of Earth’s ecosystems unrecognisable” with visual accompaniment by Bobby Doherty, “When oceans warm, fish migrate. When fish migrate, problems ensue,” by Kate Furby and illustrated by Nancy Lang, through to others covering a wide range of topics from how climate change will affect the wine industry and, of course, a piece on climate change heroine, Greta Thunberg.

You can view a selection of the 24 covers below, and the full selection here.