This melting globe in Gurgaon is the climate wake-up call we all need

The climate is suffering, but most of us don’t notice. Not because we don’t care, but because it doesn’t always feel immediate. It’s not a tap running dry in your home, or a flood on your street. It’s quiet, gradual, and often invisible. So we scroll past the headlines, look away from the data, and carry on. That’s exactly what climate activist and artist Aakash Ranison hopes to change—with a melting globe that refuses to be ignored.

Below2°, a striking art installation created in collaboration with the Greener Earth Foundation and hosted by Karma Lakelands, is a visual reminder of what’s at stake. On the surface, it’s a five-foot globe made from 1,000 repurposed golf balls, hand-painted by children. But beneath the playful exterior lies a deeper truth.

The core of the sculpture is crafted from a special wax blend that begins to melt at 53°C. As the temperature rises, the structure softens, sags, and slowly disintegrates—mirroring the fragile state of our planet. The name Below2° refers to the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping global warming under two degrees Celsius. But we’re already at 1.5°C. And it’s getting hotter.

“Most people don’t realise what 2°C of warming actually means,” says Aakash. “They think of it as just another number. But it’s glaciers melting, homes flooding, species disappearing. It’s personal.” This is why Below2° isn’t just art. It’s a message. A slow, visual heartbreak.

The globe artwork has about 14 endangered species surrounding it; these are 3D-printed using recycled plastic. They’re not mere decoration—they’re reminders. almost hidden, just like the real species we’re losing every year, quietly and without notice. One of them, the Bramble Cay Melomys, is already extinct. It was the first known mammal to vanish because of climate change. You’ve probably never heard of it. And that’s exactly why it’s there.

Ranison wanted this piece to feel more like a mirror than a science project. Because climate change isn’t unfolding in some faraway land; it’s right here. In our air. In our food. In the heatwaves we now expect every summer. And above all, it’s emotional. “We’re not just logical creatures,” he says. “Data can tell us what’s happening. But art helps us feel what’s at stake.”

Below2° sits on the lush grounds of Karma Lakelands, a luxury eco-resort where sustainability isn’t just a buzzword—it’s built into the resort’s DNA. The resort harvests rainwater, composts their waste, and grows its own food. It’s a place that reminds you just how beautiful our planet is—and how much of that beauty we’re taking for granted.

But despite the grief carried by the melting globe, there’s hope woven into it, too. 

Ranison calls himself a climate optimist—not because he’s blind to the destruction but because he still believes we have the power to change things. “My activism doesn’t come from anger. It comes from care. From love. For the forests, the animals, and the people who will live in the world we leave behind.”

For over a decade, he’s lived as a nomad, travelling across India and building installations that make people stop, reflect, and reconnect with the earth. For him, Below2° isn’t about fear. It’s about feeling enough to act. And maybe that’s the whole point. In a world flooded with headlines, warnings, and statistics, this quiet, melting globe doesn’t scream for attention. It simply asks you to look. To feel. To remember what’s at stake.

Lead image credit: Greener Earth Organisation 

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