Course:EOSC595 Climate/Past Projects
Outreach Goals
- Target audience: Our audience is the public. Particularly those who are not within the scientific community, or those who respond most strongly through visual learning and experiences.
- Main message: It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. Elements of the cryosphere are now in states unseen in centuries. The intention of the ‘Unprecedented Gallery’ is to help those less familiar with the status of the cryosphere better understand its vulnerable future in wake of human-induced climate change.
- Delivering the message: By presenting a series of stimulating and thought-provoking pieces, we aim to first expose the audience to the natural beauty of the cryosphere to build a sense of appreciation with these often-distant landscapes. Developing this emotional connection enables the audience to delve deeper into their feelings of empathy as we present compositions which embody the “unprecedented” change occurring in the cryosphere. It is this empathy which we hope will motivate viewers to make individual changes and encourage leading powers to address the climate crisis in alignment with the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) guidance.
- Work: See the attached presentation gallery
Observations of the Cryosphere - Unprecedented
Gallery Statement
“Most glaciers are shrinking (high confidence), the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets are losing mass (high confidence), sea ice extent in the Arctic is decreasing (very high confidence), Northern Hemisphere snow cover is decreasing (very high confidence), and permafrost temperatures are increasing (high confidence).” [1]
The cryosphere refers to components of the Earth System that are frozen, with around 10% of Earth’s land area being covered by glaciers or ice sheets[1][2]. It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land[2]. Elements of the cryosphere are now in states unseen in centuries[3]. The intention of the ‘Unprecedented Gallery’ is to help those less familiar with the status of the cryosphere better understand its vulnerable future in wake of human-induced climate change. The term ‘unprecedented’ is often used in scientific literature but its meaning is not well understood by the public[4]. We hope to share with the audience what unprecedented change is as it relates to the frozen components of Earth.
Frozen landscapes are illustrative indicators of climate change around the globe given their fundamental relationship with precipitation and temperature. Yet an unfortunate truth is that, to many, the cryosphere is a largely mysterious component of the Earth System given its inaccessible nature. Consequently, a report discussing the Greenland ice sheet, for example, may feel as foreign to the layperson as another world and the myriad of associated scientific data can become distant. Delivering scientific information alone is inadequate when it comes to communicating climate change and inspiring action[5]. There is increasing recognition on the important role psychology and perception play in addressing the climate crisis, and the negative effects of being psychologically distant to regions of concern[6]. Visual art can build a sense of connection and empathy with the cryosphere amongst the public. Perceiving art requires attention, and processing art demands elements of thought that are not normally accessed by typical communications about climate change[7].
By presenting a series of stimulating and thought-provoking pieces, we aim to first expose the audience to the natural beauty of the cryosphere to build a sense of appreciation with these often-distant landscapes. Developing this emotional connection enables the audience to delve deeper into their feelings of empathy as we present compositions which embody the “unprecedented” change occurring in the cryosphere. It is this empathy which we hope will motivate viewers to make individual changes and encourage leading powers to address the climate crisis in alignment with the International Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) guidance[8].
Gallery
^ Click above to download the gallery! ^
Works Cited
Artists
Check out what artists are doing to share their vision of the cryosphere.
Zaria Forman: https://www.zariaforman.com/
Diane Burko: https://www.dianeburko.com/au-seeing-climate-change-1
Paul Nicklen: https://paulnicklen.com/
John Pathchett et al.,: https://e3sm.org/scientific-visualization-of-e3sms-cryosphere-campaign-simulations/
Jill Pelto: https://www.jillpelto.com/
Milen Tod: https://milen.com/
Literature
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 IPCC, 2019: Technical Summary. In: IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate In press.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 IPCC, 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press. In Press.
- ↑ IPCC, 2021: Technical Summary. In Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Cambridge University Press. In Press.
- ↑ Bruine de Bruin, W., Rabinovich, L., Weber, K., Babboni, M., Dean, M., & Ignon, L. (2021). Public understanding of climate change terminology. Climatic Change, 167(3–4), 37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-021-03183-0
- ↑ Swim, J., Clayton, S., Doherty, T., Gifford, R., Howard, G., Reser, J., Stern, P. and Weber, E.. (2009). Psychology and global climate change: Addressing a multi-faceted phenomenon and set of challenges. A report by the American Psychological Association’s task force on the interface between psychology and global climate change. American Psychological Association, Washington.
- ↑ Leviston, Z., Price, J., & Bishop, B. (2014). Imagining climate change: The role of implicit associations and affective psychological distancing in climate change responses: Implicit associations with climate change. European Journal of Social Psychology, 44(5), 441–454. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2050
- ↑ Roosen, L. J., Klöckner, C. A., & Swim, J. K. (2018). Visual art as a way to communicate climate change: A psychological perspective on climate change–related art. World Art, 8(1), 85–110. https://doi.org/10.1080/21500894.2017.1375002
- ↑ IPCC, 2021: Annex VII: In Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press. In Press.