Movies on Ice: An ArtSci Perspective on Communicating Antarctic Ice in the Climate Emergency

Abstract

AbstractIn order to minimise future harm there is urgency in how our societies must respond to the accelerating climate emergency. Despite clear evidence of a changing planet, the response across the socio-political spectrum is varied and certainly not fast enough. The future of the polar ice caps is a highly visible theme in this evidence-response path, both in terms of climate mechanics and in the public’s awareness of ‘climate science’. Much of this public understanding comes through media and often via images and video which the viewer connects with what they have as a mental context. With future climate extremes being beyond our present experience, fictional movies provide a connection. Here we describe an art-science collaboration built around Antarctic ice-ocean field research viewed through the lens of watching movies in Polar field camps. The movies relate to life in camp and at home, climate extremes and planetary futures. The research produces results ranging from data and research papers on the environmental physics, through to climate-informed art viewed by the public in exhibitions as well as collaborative activity with the young people who face the growing challenges of a changing planet.