Today is Climate Impact Day, an international day that 350.org organized where various groups gathered to help “Connect the Dots” between climate change.

The idea was for people to organize rallies and events in order to generate images in places that have been affected by climate change or that create climate change. All of the events included taking a picture of a dot in some way. A huge black dot on a white banner, a “dot” of people holding hands, encircling a field where crops have dried up, or a “dirty dot” of something that is contributing to the high levels of CO2.

Today I participated in an event at 12 noon. Since Cleveland is one of the top producers of coal we met up near the First Energy Coal plant, and held up two “dirty dots” in front of the gate of the coal plant which said CO2 and the amoint of coal burned each year at this plant.

I sent in the image to 350.org, and the image will be added to the slideshow of events from today that is on the 350.org site. Check out the slideshow which already has images from India, Bali, the U.S., and other countries.

Links:

www.350.org

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Here in Cleveland, we have only had a few snowfalls, and only a handful of times when snowfalls were more than 2 inches.  The temperatures overall have been warmer, and I usually head out the door without gloves and a hat.  In the last few weeks, when discussing the weather with others – I have heard more and more people say that, “This Winter has not been that bad.  I have to say, I don’t mind global warming.”

This makes sense – since people hate the cold weather here, but it is short-sighted, since on the other side of the world, warmer temperatures are causing weather conditions that is causing death and starvation.

“2011 has been a year of extreme weather, the WMO reported. Drought in East Africa has left tens of thousands dead; lethal floods submerged large areas of Asia; the United States suffered 14 separate weather catastrophes with damage topping $1 billion each, including severe drought in Texas and the southwest, heavy floods in the northeast and the Mississippi valley, and the most active tornado season ever known.” – Huffington Post.

Here in Ohio it is hard to see the changes that are happening around the world.  What I have noticed is more rain, warmer temperatures, and plants blooming longer due to the warmer weather.

I find that my students don’t really care much about the issue of global warming, feeling like scientists will figure it out, and they can’t have much effect on what will happen in the future.

How can the bigger picture of the effects of global warming be present on a larger scale in our daily life?  I’m not sure – but I’m thinking about it.

Links:

Huffington Post – 2011 was the hottest year Global Warming

Scientific Report on Global Warming- .pdf download

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On Friday, I got an email update from Bill McKibben and 350.org who organized an event on the day of the Annual State of the Union Address.  At the protest, over 500 people dressed like referees and stood outside the U.S. Capital blowing whistles, and throwing penalty flags in order to draw attention to members of Congress taking money from the Oil Industry, and the subsidies that oil and coal companies receive.

The event and day were reported to be a success.  At the demonstration, Senator Bernie Sanders announced that he’s introducing a bill to remove all the subsidies from the fossil fuel industry.  On this same day eight hours later, Barack Obama gave his State of the Union address and talked about stopping the handouts to the world’s richest companies.

A new report from the International Energy Agency has shown that if subsidies for the fossil fuel industry were stopped, this would cut half the carbon emissions that are contributing to climate change.  The five biggest oil companies alone have made more than $1 trillion in profits over the last decade.

Feel like blowing a referee whistle?  Bill McKibben and 350.org are inviting others to lead an action to blow the whistle on your local Member of Congress who is taking money from the oil industry.  To do this – 5-10 people could form a “referee squad,” and meet up wearing referee or matching shirts and whistles, and bring strips of cloth to throw as penalty flags.

If you think you can get a group of 5 or more people together, 350.org can send you ref jerseys, whistles and flags, and a organizer will help you with planning.  You also can get facts and information about how much money your Congressperson or Senator has taken from the fossil fuel industry so you have accurate information you can use at the event.

These actions will be happening across the U.S., and 350.org is suggesting to do it this week, close to the run up to the Super Bowl, you will most likely get some media notice.

Image Source:
350.org

Links:

Blow the Whistle Action Info: 350.org

350.org

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I recently read an article about conference organized by the Scottish Government in June of 2010 which focused on the ways that psychology could work to address issues of climate change. The conference focused on examining human values and behaviors.

There was an interesting chart that was included in the article, called Scwartz’s Value Circumplex which charts values such as achievement, power, security, benevolence, and others. Tim Kasser, who presented at the conference, writes about how in order to engage people in issues of global warming, people’s ‘intrinsic’ values such as universalism and benevolence need to be engaged as opposed to their ‘extrinsic’ values such as power and achievement.  These ideas and the chart are included in the The Common Cause Handbook, a publication which calls itself “A Guide to Values and Frames for Campaigners, Community Organizers, Civil Servants, Fundraisers, Educators, Social Entrepreneurs, Activist.”  This book available for free to  download from www.valuesandframes.org.

This book and website were developed out of an effort in 2009 when several organizations from the U.K. including OxFam and World Wildlife Federation), and came together to discuss the inadequacy of current responses to challenges like climate change, global poverty and biodiversity loss. Research by experts in in social science and cognitive science was at the core of the discussion of how to approach motivating specific behaviors in individuals for social and environment change.

The handbook and website give an overview to values, talking about how values represent our guiding principles: our broadest motivations, influencing the attitudes we hold and how we act, why values matter, and how we use values.

How do values develop and change?   Over time, repeated engagement of values is likely to strengthen them.   Our repeated interactions with institutions (such as a school classroom, library, forest, or park) will affect our development of appreciation, achievement, or other values.  The interesting outcome of this type of thinking and analysis is that it has recently been implemented in order to adjust communication in order to appeal to the primary motivations of different groups of people.

Some examples are in order to promote volunteering, educational activities and charitable giving – this could be presented as opportunities personal gain. To promote value of human rights, these ideas can be promoted through fear, stating that any human rights abuse makes it less safe for all of us. Motiving environmental behavior can be promoted as “eco-chic” for those who value status, or as a way to save money for those who value being frugal.

The website has a lot of great resources, including some case studies you can review, an extended reading list, working groups you can join, and also a case study and blog area where you can contribute or participate  in a dialogue about these ideas.

Image Source:
www.valuesandframes.org

Links:

The Common Cause Handbook

www.valuesandframes.org

What Works in Behaviour Change?” Conference (28 June 2010)

Video – of Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us

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The Mind & Life Institute is a non-profit organization that seeks to understand the human mind and the benefits of contemplative practices through an integrated mode of knowing that combines first person knowledge from the world’s contemplative traditions with methods and findings from contemporary scientific inquiry.

The institute organizes Mind and Life Dialogues with the Dalai Lama, publications with report on these dialogues, a research institute, and other programs.

The “Ecology, Ethics, and Interdependence,” Mind and Life XXII conference with the Dalai Lama and scholars, activitsts, and ecological scientists was held in Charamsalasa, India from October 17-21, 2011. The sessions were recorded, and you can watch sessions from the conference online.

In Session 2 of the conference : Interdependence Between the Environment and Our Health: Risk and Opportunities  the session began with a presentation by Jonathan Patz, director of the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and lead author of a new study highlighting the “four-way win” that comes with swapping cars for bikes: reduced greenhouse emissions and gains in air quality, fitness and the economy. Patz is also a professor in Madison’s Nelson Institute and Department of Population Health Sciences.

In the study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, Patz and his team looked at the Midwest states and  asked: What if during the nicest four months of the year, those residents biked instead of driving for round-trips of five miles or less?   According to their study, this could save approximately four trillion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, 1,100 lives and $7 billion in mortality and health care costs for the region every year.

You can watch present Patz present his study in the online video from the conference and talk about the health impacts and ethics of climate change, and the potential for environment and health improvements of interventions.

In the session, Patz said “Fighting global climate change could be one of the greatest public health opportunities we’ve had in a century.  “This is where I look to your wisdom and writing,” he added. “Everything starts with the individual — we start with ourselves.”

“Wonderful,” Dalai Lama replied, bowing his head to Patz. “Wonderful. Very good.”

Image Source:
www.performancebike.com

Links:

Video of – Mind and Life XXIII – Session 2 – Ecology, Ethics and Interdependence

Patz’s Study highlighting the “four-way win” of biking and health

The Mind and Life Institute

The Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

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Last week I wrote about the Climate Change exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Art and about how the exhibit relied on text and information in an attempt to gain attention to global warming, which can be ineffective of informing and engaging visitors. There is another exhibit on display of photography at CMNH that is a good example of how imagery and art can spark interest in viewers about the issue of global warming.

The exhibit Polar Obsession features the work of photographer Paul Nicklen, who uses his camera to capture unique images of animals who live in the polar regions, whose livelihood is threatened due to the polar melting away caused by human-induced global warming.  The show features over 60 images that are unique images of polar animals in their natural settings.

Nicklen calls himself an interpreter or translator and says that through photography he can translate what he hears from scientists. “If we lose ice, we stand to lose an entire ecosystem,” Nicklen says.  “I hope we can realize through my photography how interconnected these species are to ice.”

Instead of using telephoto lenses, Nicklen  likes to get close to his subjects, which gives his images a unique presence.   Nicklen writes that, “Two colleagues at National Geographic have nicknamed me the Underwater Street Photographer, because it’s the street photographer who gets as close as possible to each subject, sometimes bringing the camera lens to within centimeters of the subjects.  Many wildlife photographers mainly use a long telephoto lens to shoot full frame images.  If I am using my 600mm lens, I don’t feel close enough.  If I am diving under the ice face to face with a walrus, filling the frame with my fisheye lens in a potentially dangerous situation, where no one has been before – then I know I am getting something good.”

Nicklen’s images have a unique quality than other nature photographs.  The photographs often depict animals from  different angles,  rare interactions of animals, and in a sharpness in the photo quality rarely seen in wildlife photography.

Recently there has been an increase in articles and posts about nature photographers who photograph endangered species as  activists.  Nicklen’s work aims to generate global awareness about wildlife and environmental issues, and is an example of how images can get others to become aware and appreciate polar species.

“I realize that if I really want people to care about polar species such as the polar bear, leopard seal, walrus and narwhal, my images have to be wild and raw.  I want people to feel what it’s like to be in the water, swimming a meter from a polar bear,” Nicklen says.  “I want them to experience what it’s like to be offered a penguin as food by a leopard seal.  Only then will they care about that habitat and that species.”

To do this work, he has gone on expeditions that include tracking Stellar sea lions in the Aleutian Islands, diving with narwhals off of Northern Baffin Island, swimming with leopard seals in Antarctica, photographing walruses on sea ice in Nunavut, and living on the open tundra with bears and wolves for a three-month solo trek. .

In one of his talks he mentions the power of the animals themselves to bring attention to a larger issue.  Nicklen says, “If you tell people ‘We are going to lose ice,’ no one is interested  because we hear it all the time.   If you tell people,  ‘We are going to lose polar bears,’  you get peoples’ attention.”

The exhibition supports his book, Polar Obsessions, which was published by National Geographic in November 2009.

Most visitors at the museum that I saw stopped to view the images, and many watched the TEDtalk of Nicklen that is playing as part of the exhibit.  Even if you have seen lots of imagery of bears and seals – this  show will capture your attention and provide a way to see polar animals and their habitat in a new way.

Polar Obsession is on display at CMNH until January 22, 2012.

Images:

Paul Nicklen

Links:

Paul Nicklen’s Website

Paul Nicklen’s TED talk video

Polar Obsession Exhibit :  at CMNH page

Extreme Exposure: Paul Nicklen Talk (Feb. 24, 20111)

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Got a good game idea about climate change?  Creative agencies (advertising, design, digital and otherwise) and brand teams are invited to contribute ideas based on a brief around the needs of organizations like The Climate Reality Project .

PSFK (the website which calls itself a source for new ideas) and the Climate Reality Project are  collaborating to create and share concepts that support revealing the complete truth about the climate crisis.

The concepts that best meet the brief will be published on the pages of PSFK.com, included in a downloadable PSFK x Climate Reality Project report, given a PR push to relevant national and international publications, and presented at events including PSFK’s New York launch in December.

The Climate Reality Project is an initiative that aims to bring the facts about the climate crisis into the mainstream and engaging the public in conversation about how to solve it. We help citizens around the world discover the truth and take meaningful steps to bring about change.

Founded and chaired by Al Gore, The Climate Reality Project has more than 5 million members and supporters and is guided by one simple truth: The climate crisis is real and we know how to solve it.

Currently on the Climate Reality Project website you can see highlights from the 24 hours of reality project, an event where 24 presenters were broadcast in 24 Time Zones talking about climate change.  The presentations were by citizen activists and Al Gore, who presented extreme weather events around the world and talked about the issue of pollution changing the climate.

PSFK will be presenting the brief in person on the evening of November 7th at their offices in NYC. They also will also be distributing a digital copy of the brief to those that cannot attend. Responses must be received by November 16 and after vetting by the PSFK staff, Al Gore’s team at The Climate Reality Project will judge the best concepts. These will be announced on December 2nd at a special event.

You can sign up here to attend the briefing or get the digital version of the brief emailed to you : http://www.psfk.com/gaming-for-good#ixzz1cXaj74lf

Links:

Climate Reality Project Website

Climate Change 101 Video by the Climate Change Reality Project

Gaming for Good – PSFK Brief sign up

PSFK.com

Image Source: Picture of Game from the Climate Change Exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History

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This weekend I went to the Climate Change exhibit at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

The exhibit has some interactive exhibits, and lots of printed text information which talks about the changing atmosphere, ice, ocean, and land. – and promotes the idea that climate change is the defining issue of the 21^st century.

The exhibit is organized in a roundabout matter – there was not a clear entry or access point – and I observed other visitors entering and exiting from various points of the exhibit.   There are some things that are interesting to see -  including a large saltwater tank with coral, a stuffed polar bear who appears to be walking on a giant pile of garbage, and lots of exhibits with buttons to push.

Though I found some of displays interesting, I found the use of text to be overwhelming – it was like walking through a book.  I also found the layout of the show to be confusing.  I ended up wandering around cruising the exhibits – “power skimming” the text and content.  I saw lots of kids climbing on the large windmill wing that was on display, and admiring the large buoy at the front of the show while their parents looked on – but I did not hear many people talking about the content.

The show had a 10 minute movie which featured charts, text, and information – and was inline with the information heavy quality of the show.

One engaging interactive piece of the show is a interactive large ipod-like table – where you can interact with a large touchscreen – and pick topics that you would like to learn more information about – and put in your email to get the information sent to you.  This piece was added to the show by CMNH.  This was a place that I saw many visitors go to and interact with.

The show overall made me think about the power of art  – and how art can engage an audience and  communicate a message  – and not depend on text as its sole point of engagement.

One of the highlights of the show was a exhibit on a curved wall that used small color strips to show temperature change over time. It had a abstract quality to it – and the wall showed strips that were different values of red and blue – The piece was visually interesting and in a quiet, simple way – showed the climate temperature change through color.  The strong visual impact of the piece drew me in to learn more – and I read the information, reviewed the charts and maps, and probably learned the most from this exhibit which was at the back of the show.

When I talked to museum staff about the reaction to the show, they said that many visitors avoid the show  – perhaps to avoid the topic, or due to disinterest.

Overall, the show demonstrated the challenge of trying to introduce the controversial topic of climate change and do it in a engaging and informative matter.

Seeing this show for me was a reminder of the power of art to engage and inform an audience – and the potential of metaphor, abstraction, and aesthetics as a tool to get visitors interested in a topic.

Links:

See images and read about the Exhibit at the CMNH website

Online aricle about the exhibit with video clips on Cleveland.com

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