Wax sculpture melting in Florida to raise climate change awareness

Sept. 25 (UPI) -- A wax sculpture of a man and his granddaughter is being left to melt outside a Florida city hall to raise awareness of the dangers of climate change.

The nonprofit CLEO Institute installed the sculpture, depicting an older man and his young granddaughter sitting on a park bench, outside Orlando City Hall on Thursday as part of the "Melting Florida" campaign.

The wax figures are designed to melt in the outdoor heat over the course of a few days to eventually reveal the message: "More heat, less health."

"Rising temperatures and the climate crisis are impacting our way of life," CLEO Institute Executive Director Yoca Arditi-Rocha said at the sculpture's unveiling. "As temperatures continue to rise, we see ground ozone levels also rise and that really creates problems in respiratory diseases (and) cardiovascular problems."

The "Melting Florida" campaign previously installed a wax sculpture of Florida panthers in Tampa and a wax lifeguard house in Miami Beach.