Download - Using Natural History Collections and Art to Communicate About Climate Change

1by Julia Anderson, Kayce Bell, Xiangyun Chen Spring 2012

University of New MexicoClimate Change Dispersion ModuleUniversity of New MexicoClimate Change Dispersion ModuleUsing Natural History

Collections and Art to Communicate About

Climate Change

By Julia Anderson, Kayce Bell, and Xiangyun ChenUniversity of New MexicoCo-Evolution: Art and BiologyClimate Change Module


University of New MexicoClimate Change Dispersion Module

Using Natural History Collections and Art to Communicate About

Climate Change

Table of ContentsIntroductionCounter-Examples of Climate Change ArtPoster Assignment OverviewKey ConceptsClimate ScienceBiologySocial ScienceArtARCTOS Natural History Collection ActivityPoster Assignment DetailsPositive Example of Climate Change ArtConclusionWorks Cited




This module incorporates biology, physical scienc-es, social sciences, and art to discuss and com-

municate about climate change. Students will be re-quired to complete background readings on climate change, one from a biological and physical science perspective, one from a social and cultural perspec-tive, and one from an artistic perspective. The mod-ule begins by looking at some art and design pieces meant to communicate about climate change, but that are scientifically inaccurate. The class then has the opportunity to apply similar critique to other pieces. Students are challenged to create a more ef-fective poster, and given some background in climate science, biology, social science, and art to support them in thier goal of promoting accurate discus-sion of climate change or climate change research.

Introduction



2 3by Julia Anderson, Kayce Bell, Xiangyun Chen Spring 2012

University of New MexicoClimate Change Dispersion ModuleUniversity of New MexicoClimate Change Dispersion Module

Raising awareness about climate change is a cause that has inspired many individuals and organizations, but not all of them have focused on the accuracy of the concepts they are utilizing. This module will critique a selection of posters on global warming that visually discuss many of the key con-cepts around climate change, but in a way that is scienfifi-cally nonsensical.

All of the pieces selected display a high level of tech-nical skill, creativity, asthetic vision, and originate from a genuine desire to help. They are dynamic and attention getting, which is excellent for a publicity campaign.

However, simply visually representing the concepts “globe” and “warm” together doesn’t necessarily convey any useful knowledge about global warming. Although they may not be intended to be taken literally, it is also possible for awareness-raising material to create or perpetuate mis-information and confusion.

Metaphor is an essential tool for any artist, but it is important to be careful of creating straw men for opponents to knock down. And using hyperbole to construct drama and mythologizing the “evils” that contribute to this threat may make anthropogenic climate change seem more like an apoca-lypse or paranoia than something that can be addressed by citizen action.

Misinformation in Climate Change Awareness Art

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man



The sum of climate change is that the planet is warming...

Is the heating of the planet from the outside, the planet’s core, or is the earth generating heat by being burned? An image of a globe that is warm may raise awareness about global warming, but it does not necessarily give any useful information about the source of the heat.




...but where is the heat comming from, and what is it actually doing?

There is a connec-tion between fos-sil fuels, combus-tion, greenhouse gas, and the warm-ing of the planet, but the warming is not comming from the heat of burn-ing gasses.

The sun has something to do with it, but how might turning natural forces into storybook villains work to simplify or obscure real environmental and socio-political problems?



Living things are going to need to adapt, move, or face extinction...

Some organisms are going to die, but what does that actually look like? Do they burn to death? Starve? De-hydrate? How can we predict which living things will join the mass extinction?

Obviously a rhinocer-ous becoming a marine animal or a polar bear breathing fire are outrageous (but awe-some looking) adapta-tions. What adaptions should we expect, and can the process of evolution keep up with rapid climate change?




... what are the real biological responses to a warming climate?

Animals that are adapted to cold climates may need to move as their environment warms, or adapt to warmer temperatures. But, with other kinds of habitat loss, where will they go? What if they are already living in the coldest place on the planet? What about isolated creatures like those on islands?



Sea levels are rising, weather patterns are “weirding”, and ecosystems are changing...

How does pollution interact or compound with increased temperatures and higher sea levels?

The effect of heat on cold parts of the planet gets a lot of attention but what about the hottest parts? Do higher temperatures make deserts warmer? Will more liquid water in the sea and changing weather patterns make them wetter or drier?

Here are two examples to con-trast how simplifying climate change concepts like “the po-lar ice caps are disappear-ing” can lead to very differ-ent assumptions. The artist on the left might have used their knowledge of the effect of heat on water (evaporation) to try to make sense of such a statement. (The title of the piece on the left is “Global Warming” but we do not have the full translation of the text.)




...but what are the real characters and scales of this change and how can

humans react?

Flooding is expected in some areas, but how suddenly will it happen and where? How does inequality in wealth and access to resources ef-fect which areas get protected and which will be allowed to flood? If one city or other area protects it-self with dykes, does their flood-water get diverted somewhere else?



States and corporations are accused of blocking attempts to act on climate change...

This 2007 ad campaign by fashion brand Diesel is in-credibly clever. Both people who accept climate change and those who deny it can see these ads as a parody making fun of the other side. In this case, the bad science is perfectly intentional.




...but who profits from, and who is exploited by, a warming climate and its

causes?

This stunningly well done piece is actually a statement about “greed” rather than climate change. However, it is an ex-cellent example of how an im-age can powerfully use concepts like globe, heat, corporation, consumption, mining, wealth, inequality, destruction, wa-setfullness, etc. that are all highly relevant to discussions of climate change without ac-curately utilizing any of the real science of global warming.

There have been accusations that scientists inves-tigating climate change are look-ing for reseach funding and may have falsified data or presented it misleadingly. Where did these claims come from, and how have they been addressed?



The alternative to misleading but attractive graphic posters with little scientific accuracy is often the dense school project style display that is appealing only to audi-ences who want to dedicate that much time to educating them-selves on climate change. Those people, of course, are not typically the ones who awareness campaigns need to reach.

The assignment for this module is to try to find a happy medium. Design a poster or other simple piece of art that is catchy and appealing but also uses some of the real sci-ence around climate change in a meaningful way. While read-ing through the background material, make a note of any information that is new or important to you, and any unan-swered questions you still have that you may want to find out more about and address with a poster.

Check out these links for more climate change posters and artwork to critique as a

class: 1 2 3Project Overview




*Species are adapted to their envi-ronment; *Species may respond to climate change by adapting, changing distri-bution, or going extinct; *Climate change has produced measur-able changes in biological systems; *Scientists use data about past cli-mate change to understand possible ways species may respond; *There is uncertainty about the fu-ture rate of climate change and how species will respond;*Natural history collections provide a record of species’ physical char-acteristics and distributions.

*Earth has experienced climate change in the past;*Past climate change was primarily driven by changes in Earth’s orien-tation and orbit;*Greenhouse gases(water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane) keep Earth habitable for life;*Human-caused increases in atmo-spheric greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide, are increasing the temperature of Earth’s surface.

*Denying anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change has political and economic origins.*Few members of the public are firm climate change deniers (<5%) or acceptors (<15%). Most people’s opinions are flexible and change with context. *The strongest single predictor of climate change denial is environmental apa-thy (not caring about environmental issues in general).*Climate change denial has been associated with ideological factors like free-market ideology and hierarchical-individualist values, and psychological fac-tors like sense of self-efficacy.*Factors affecting actions on climate change include journalistic over-repre-sentation of conflict, spread of mistrust of climate science, and structural inequality in policy making.*The human burden of the effects of climate change and related forms of envi-ronmental degradation is unequally distributed.

*As the urgency to address cli-mate change has increased, more and more artists create work based on the challanges we are facing. Us-ing climate science and biology in conjuction with art can help com-municate the seriousness and con-sequences of climate change to a broad audience.

Key Concepts Biology Concepts

Climate Concepts

Art Concepts

Social Science Concepts



Climate Background Earth’s climate has changed in

the past, primarily due to changes in the shape of Earth’s orbit, the “wobble” of Earth’s axis, and the amount of tilt of the axis. Other factors such as plate tectonics and ocean circu-lation also likely played a role. Beginning in the 1900’s human activities drastically increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide

(along with water vapor and meth-ane) are naturally occurring gas-es in the atmosphere that do not absorb in-coming short wave ra-diation from the sun, but do ab-sorb and re-radiate long wave ra-diation back to Earth’s surface. Increases in greenhouse gases intensify the greenhouse effect, leading to an increase in the surface temperatures on Earth.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2007 Report, Frequently Asked Questions (IPCC2007_FAQ.pdf)(additional material can be found at the IPCC website)

What is the evidence that Earth’s climate is warming?What is the evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide are causing

warming?What are other consequences (besides temperature increase) of climate change?What is the evidence that increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide are caused

by human activity?

Schematic view of the components of the climate system, their processes and interactions from IPCC2007_FAQ

Discussion Questions

Readings


http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_and_data_reports.shtml#.T0utVPGiFv5

http://www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/publications_and_data_reports.shtml#.T0utVPGiFv5




Changes in temperature and precipitation re-gimes impact an organism’s ability to survive in a particular environment. To deal with a changing climate organisms may change their distribution (shift to a more favorable cli-mate), adapt to the new climate, or go ex-tinct. Adaptations may include changing timing of reproductive or other life history events, changes in body size, or other physical chang-es. Scientists study how species have responded to natural climate change in the distant past as well as how species are responding to con-temporary climate change. Scientists are un-certain exactly how many species will respond.

What impact is climate change having on biodiversity?

Are all species anticipated to respond to climate change in similar ways?What is the evidence for species re-

sponding to climate change?What role do natural history collec-tions play in studying biological re-

sponses to climate change?

Parmesan, C. & G. Yohe. 2003. A globally coherent fingerprint of climate change im-pacts across natural systems. Bellard, C. et al. 2012. Impacts of climate change on the future of biodiversity. Myers, P., et al. 2009. Climate-induced changes in the small mammal communities of the Northern Great Lakes Region.

Biology Background

Readings




Political History of “Global Warming”Oreskes, Naomi, Erik M. Conway, and Matthew Shindell. From Chicken Little to Dr. Panglossi: William Nierenberg, Global Warming, and

the Social Deconstruction of Scientific Knowledge. Causes of Climate Change Denial

Heath, Yuko, and Robert Gifford. Free-Market Ideology and Environ-mental Degredatation: The case of belief in global climate change.

Environmental JusticeSharife, Khadija, and Patrick bond. False Solutions to Climate Cri-

sis Amplify Eco-Injustices.

Discuss the power struggle between the sci-entific community and powerful political and ce-lebrity influences. Whose voices are not being heard in the public discussion of global warm-ing and its effects? How can we listen to them and show solidarity for their issues and rights without taking over? Along what lines are envi-ronmental burduns unequally distributed now, and how might it be in 20 or 50 years from now?

The creators of the posters in the ex-amples are well-meaning, but there has also been an effort by interested par-ties to spread misinformation and dis-trust about climate change, much like tobacco companies and cancer research. Nevertheless, the academic and profes-sional science foundations of near-ly every nation are in agreement on the reality of anthropogeninc climate change and 247 countries have signed or ratified the Kyoto Protocol (the United States has not). The claim that people don’t believe in climate change because they don’t have access to information has been disproven. Major demographic variables like race, sex, socio-econom-

ic class, political party, and religion are very wealky correlated to climate change belief, but idological variables like positions on market regualtion are much better predictors. Media cover-age of climate change has been studied in many ways in many countries but its effects are complex and not straight-forward. Environmental struggles are also political and increased resource stress will intensify existing social injustice. Globally and locally, envi-ronmental burdens like disease, waste disposal, and lack of access to fertile land and other natural resources are already diverted to the living spaces of the poorest, most exploited people.

Sociology Background


Readings




Art Background U-N-F-O-L-D

Portrait of an Artist as a Climate Activist

Cape Farewell - Art & Cli-mate Change

Art and Climate The Rise of Climate -

Change Art

What do we know about historical climate based on art?

Do you think art can effectively communicate about climate change? Why or why not?

ArtBackground

Readings


Communicating about Climate Change

People are more likely to act on local and immediate climate change concerns than global and distant ones. The stronger their attachment to their local area, the more this is true. Increasing people’s awareness of mortality makes them defend their existing ideologies more agressively. So dire warnings may influence con-vinced people to take action but may not be effective in changing opinions. Low self-efficacy is a huge barrier to action and acceptance of climate change, and most people, regardless of belief in climate change, respond with less skepticism to optimistic messages about possible solutions, than to doomsday predictions that are unaviodable.

http://www.capefarewell.com/art/unfold.html

http://grist.org/living/2009-08-05-portrait-of-an-artist-as-a-climate-activist/

http://grist.org/living/2009-08-05-portrait-of-an-artist-as-a-climate-activist/

http://www.capefarewell.com/art.html

http://www.capefarewell.com/art.html

Art and Climate

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/dec/02/climate-change-art-earth-rethink

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/dec/02/climate-change-art-earth-rethink



Based on the background readings and discussion, students will choose one topic related to climate change and create a poster on that topic, simi-lar to the ones in the beginning of the module, but more accurate. Students will use the knowledge they have gained from this module, plus anything they might learn independently. Students are encouraged to use natural his-tory collections for ideas and data. Posters will be assessed on their vi-sual discussion of climate change concepts, but artistic skills will not be asssessed unless appropriate for the class (such as a part of a studio arts course). The final poster should include a short artists statement, includ-ing the student’s intended audience and how they have targeted that group. Posters may be construted in any media, and the class may decide whether they wish to set a standard size.

ARCTOS Natural History Database Activity

Click in the window below to watch a tutorial on Arctos

Assignment Details




Example poster by Julia Anderson



Alice, Smeets. Cite Soleil. Digital image. Http://www.spiegel.de. Spiegel Online, 19 Dec. 2008. Web. 6 May 2012.

Heath, Yuko, and Robert Gifford. “Free-Market Ideology and Environmental Degradation : The Case of Belief in Global Climate Change.” Environment and Behavior 38.48 (2006): 48-71. Sage Publications. Web. 10 Dec. 2011.

Hulme, Mike, and John Turnpenny. “Understanding and Managing Climate Change: The UK Experience.” The Geographical Journal, Environment and Development in the UK 170.2 (2004): 105-15. JSTOR. Web. 10 Dec. 2011.

Joireman, Jeff, Heather Barnes Truelove, and Blythe Duell. “Effect of Outdoor Temperature, Heat Primes and Anchoring on Belief in Global Warming.” Journal of Environmental Psychology 30 (2010): 358-87. ScienceDi-rect. Web. 10 Dec. 2011. Oreskes, Naomi, Erik M. Conway, and Matthew Shindell. “From Chicken Little to Dr. Pangloss: William Nie-renberg, Global Warming, and the Social Deconstruction of Scientific Knowledge.” Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences 38.1 (2008): 109-52. JSTOR. Web. 10 Dec. 2011.

Ryghaug, Marianne, Knut Holtan, and Robert Naess. “Making Sense of Global Warming: Norwegians Appro-priating Knowledge of Anthropogenic Climate Change.” Public Understanding of Science 20.6 (2010): 778-95. Sage Publications. Web. 10 Dec. 2011.

Scannell, Leila, and Robert Gifford. “Personally Relevant Climate Change: The Role of Place Attachmentand Local Versus Global Message Framing in Engagement.” Environment and Behavior (2011): 1-26. Sage Publica-tions. Web. 10 Dec. 2011.

Sharife, Khadija, and Patrick Bond. “False Solutions to Climate Crisis Amplify Eco-injustices.” Women in Action 2 (2009): 96-101. GenderWatch. Web. 6 May 2012. <http://libproxy.unm.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.unm.edu/docview/233368262?accountid=14613>.