<h2>Are pictures more powerful than words? Today, a stunning photograph of an elderly Greek woman's anguish as her village burns has sparked a conversation on the impact of climate change.</h2>

The wildfires on the Greek island of EviaThe second largest Greek island after Crete, it is situated in the Aegean Sea. have been burning with a ferocious rage. The flames are flickering at her home, Panayiota cannot find her husband.

She clutches her hand to her chest, tilts back her head and screams.

Photographer Konstantinos Tsakalidis clicked his shutter. The next day, Panayiota's image appeared on front pages around the world. Her cries of agony shocked readers. One newspaper even named her "the new face of global warming".

"I want to get up one day and see everything as I knew it," Panayiota told reporters after reuniting with her husband.

For art critic Philip Kennicott, Tsakalidis's image "works on every level". Its contents are dramatic and harrowing.

For many psychologists, the reaction to Tsakalidis's photo of Panayiota Noumidi is not surprising. 

When a photograph of an unknown man blocking the path of tanks in Tiananmen SquareA huge open space in the middle of Beijing. It is known for a large-scale student protest that took place there in 1989 before being brutally crushed by China's communist rulers. spread in 1989, Time magazine declared it "revived the world's image of courage".

In 2015, an image of three-year-old Alan Kurdi's lifeless body washed up on a beach in Turkey opened the eyes of millions to the plight of Syria's refugees.

<h2><strong>Striking a chord</strong></h2>

Psychologists believe pictures showing individual suffering can trigger the "identifiable victim effect," enabling people to perceive the extent of a tragedy by seeing the victims as individuals.

For some, photographs are more powerful than any words. Shortly before her death in 2004, American essayist Susan Sontag was horrified by pictures of American soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners. 

"The pictures will not go away," she remarked. "That is the nature of the digital world in which we live... up to then, there had been only words, which are easier to cover up and so much easier to forget". 

Are pictures more powerful than words?

Yes. Humans think in pictures. We remember the feelings iconic images provoke long after we forget the specific details of a tragedy. It is possible that one picture could finally shock the world into action.

No. Pictures can be misleading - they are two-dimensional snapshots, often lacking context. Even the most shocking images change nothing without words. It is great speeches that truly change the world.

Evia - The second largest Greek island after Crete, it is situated in the Aegean Sea.

Tiananmen Square - A huge open space in the middle of Beijing. It is known for a large-scale student protest that took place there in 1989 before being brutally crushed by China's communist rulers.