These haunting underwater photos portray climate change in a new way

Akessa stares straight ahead with a look of fierce indignation.

The 15-year-old is sitting in a rickety chair. Her hands are clasped in her lap. Her white skirt is billowing ever so slightly in what, at first glance, you might assume is the wind.

The scene seems nearly normal until more details come into focus: The background is an eerie shade of blue you wouldn’t see on land. Thousands of broken shards of coral cover the ground. And a reef looms behind her.

There is no breeze blowing here.

This girl and her searing gaze are underwater.