{"id":2464,"date":"2022-05-13T16:56:55","date_gmt":"2022-05-13T15:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/curiousabout.glasgowsciencecentre.org\/ourplanet\/?post_type=exhibit2&p=2464"},"modified":"2022-05-19T14:02:14","modified_gmt":"2022-05-19T13:02:14","slug":"adrift-%e2%88%86asea-ice","status":"publish","type":"exhibit2","link":"https:\/\/curiousabout.glasgowsciencecentre.org\/ourplanet\/the-greenhouse\/adrift-%e2%88%86asea-ice\/","title":{"rendered":"Adrift (\u2206Asea-ice)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The calculus of one\u2019s own contribution to a warming climate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Borrowing a groundbreaking scientific formula* the filmmaker-artist saws off the exact amount of Arctic sea-ice (15.69m\u00b2) destroyed by his carbon emissions flying economy return, Sydney to Greenland, to film it (5.23 tonnes of CO\u2082e).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adrift (\u2206Asea-ice) visualises and mythologises the consequences of a Western way of life. It touches upon disconnects \u2014 of cause from effect; of emissions here and now from melting there and then \u2014 that underly our psychological responses to global warming. Disconnects that have perhaps kept the problem comfortably abstract for us \u2014 until now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notz and Stroeve\u2019s equation \u2014 \u0394Aseaice = dFnonSW,in \/ dECO\u2082 x \u0394ECO\u2082 \u2014 states that the total area of sea-ice lost equals a constant \u2014 derived from research into energy flux at the ice edge \u2014 of 3.0 \u00b1 0.3 square metres per metric tonne of carbon dioxide emitted, multiplied by the sum of emissions. Inserting the artist\u2019s own 5.23 tonnes of CO\u2082 equivalent into the equation, this works out at 15.69 \u00b1 1.57 m\u00b2 of sea-ice that will not regenerate naturally in northwest Greenland come winter. With less sea-ice to reflect sunlight back into space the ocean absorbs more heat, hastening Arctic melt further. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A video vignette from an Arctic tipping point exploring the nascent science of climate event attribution. The soundtrack comprises \u00e6olian sounds from an empty water tank in northwest Greenland that ‘sang’ when it was windy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can watch the short film and our discussion with artist-filmmaker Adam S\u00e9bire and sea-ice physicist Dirk Notz above. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Notz, D., & Stroeve, J. (2016): Observed Arctic sea-ice loss directly follows anthropogenic CO\u2082 emission. Science, 354, 747\u2013750. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Film by Adam S\u00e9bire. See the full triple-screen exhibition version and more of Adam’s climate change video art series \u201canthropoScenes\u201d here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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