Art

Over the past few years, Climate Change has been one of the most discussed topics worldwide. Though its impacts have been comprehensively explained by experts, majority of the worlds population are left asking as to how Climate Change can actually make a difference in their day-to-day living. For most people, concepts such as global warming, rising sea level and changing landscape are hard to visualize, leaving them to brush off the idea of Climate Change altogether. As a result, environmental advocates find it difficult to make the people act on the problems of Climate Change. One solution identified to address this growing concern is to use visual images and other forms of media to more effectively explain the complex issue of Climate Change.

The countdown to global catastrophe began a few years ago when world leaders started talking about Climate Change. Since then, almost every forum and conference in the world has attempted to clearly define the challenges brought about by Climate Change, and to find workable solutions to stop this looming disaster.

Climate Change Defined
Across the globe, there are a number of definitions of Climate Change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), for instance, adopts the following definition

Climate Change refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g. using statistical tests) by changes in the mean andor the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. It refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity. This usage differs from that in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), where Climate Change refers to a change in climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and that is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods. (p. 30)

Climate Change is also said to bring about life-transforming impacts such as higher temperatures, rising sea levels, changing landscapes, heightened risk of drought, fire and floods, stronger storms, prevalent heat-related health hazards, as well as economic losses.

For those who are scientifically-inclined, this description is appropriate and sufficient, but for most people, it is problematic because it defines Climate Change by introducing a number of equally complex concepts and issues.

There are four obstacles to understanding Climate Change
Some people believe that scientists lack consensus on the human contribution to Climate Change
Scientists work with probabilities, risks, ranges, uncertainties and scenarios  approaches that are foreign to many citizens.

The vocabulary, science and policies of Climate Change are complex and
The environmental and social effects of Climate Change are not discreet (DiMento, 2007, pp. 2  7).
Consequently, experts have recognized the need to transform complex Climate Change-related terminologies into easy to understand everyday scenarios. Learning is more meaningful when a learner can apply facts, concepts, and principles to realistic situations or examples. Visuals can provide that realistic context (Anderson, 2008, p. vii).

Visualizing Climate Change
Climate Change has been getting more exposure in visual arts, films, documentaries and other media. For instance, Climate Change has inspired Hollywood movies like The Day After Tomorrow and 2012 where Climate Change is depicted as the all-powerful global enemy wreaking havoc on humankind and almost bringing the Earth to its end. In both cases, powerful images of ice shelf breaking off, irregular weather patterns in key cities in the world, and unusually strong volcanic eruptions and earthquakes were used to illustrate the destructive impact of Climate Change. The films also showed extreme panic and turmoil among the people, as well as other traumatic human scenarios to more dramatically convey how Climate Change can and will affect the people.

The documentary An Inconvenient Truth is considered one of the most instrumental tools in raising public awareness on Climate Change. It effectively does so by presenting academic and research-based information in graphs, flow charts and statistics, as well as vivid pictures of the Earth then and now. The award-winning documentary does more than just describing how serious the Climate Change challenge is it actually shows how everyone can do his or her share in addressing this global concern by doing simple things at home, in the community, and at work. Similarly, National Geographic and United Nations Foundation have joined forces to produce a short documentary film entitled A Way Forward Facing Climate Change.

In an effort to explain Climate Change across all age groups, some organizations such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the European Space Agency (ESA) have developed Climate Change websites for kids. Aside from the simplified language used to discuss Climate Change, the websites include colorful graphics and bold words, animations, and games and puzzles to encourage young people to learn more about Climate Change.

In recent years, Climate Change-related materials have also occupied a number of museums and art galleries. The American Museum of Natural History, for example, ran a year-long exhibit themed Climate Change Threat to Life and a New Energy Future.

Photographers have also spent more time to go on location and take captivating photos of the impacts of Climate Change worldwide. The British Council and The Climate Group launched a photographic exhibit entitled NorthSouthEastWest A 360 View of Climate Change which features real-life examples of the adverse social and environmental effects of Climate Change.

Lastly, information on and visual representations of Climate Change have been made available and accessible to a wider audience through the use of current media such as web magazines (Our World 2.0), blogs (Real Climate, Climate Progress, Climate of Our Future), social networking sites (OneClimate.net, Friendster, Facebook, Twitter), and video sites (YouTube, Metacafe).
Visual Culture as a Tool to Address Climate Change

The first step to addressing the global challenge of Climate Change is to fully understand what it is all about, how relevant it is to peoples lives, and what everyone can do to prevent Climate Change from becoming a global catastrophe. Evidence of Climate Change and its impacts on society and the environment has become generally accepted by scientists, along with the importance of mitigating and adapting to Climate Change. However, public awareness and policy changes are lagging behind (Sheppard, 2005, p. 1).

People should be able to embrace the problem as real and imminent, but this will be impossible if the public will only be presented with hard and raw data or reports filled with scientific and technical jargons. This is where visual culture can play a key role.

Studies show that the ability of visual imagery to communicate messages quickly and powerfully has long been recognized in fields of human activity ranging from commercial advertising, to the media, to political campaigns seeing is believing (Sheppard, 2005, p. 2). The same principle can be applied to Climate Change. For instance, people will more positively respond to an image of a city devastated by big floods rather than a plain text saying that Climate Change can cause floods to be more frequent and severe. Similarly, people will be moved to save energy by or conserve water to help prevent Climate Change if they will be shown a nice photo of a blue and green nature spot with happy people living in it.

Sheppard (2005) concludes by saying
There is strong evidence of the cognitive effectiveness of visualizing global change, and a strong likelihood of the ability to engender emotional responses. It also appears theoretically possible that the use of landscape visualization could affect behavior with regard to Climate Change, if the imagery provides (1) disclosure a window into the future which is personally meaningful and tangible, making the global both local and personal, showing possible negative and positive outcomes (2) drama a vivid and compelling presentation with emotional content. (p. 11)

Visualization attempts in recent years have significantly contributed to the increasing public awareness on Climate Change. A US study returned the following interesting results
71 percent of Americans are now convinced global warming is real, and the percentage who say it is currently having, or will soon have, a negative impact has risen 20 points since 2004
68 percent of respondents said they favor passing a protocol that would require the United States to reduce its carbon emissions by 90 percent by the year 2050  regulations that far surpass those laid out in the Kyoto Protocol that many European and Asian countries have adopted and
82 percent said they agree they can personally take action to reduce the effects of Climate Change. (Bushan, 2007, p.1)

Clearly, visual culture is an innovative way of making the public better appreciate the realities of Climate Change and see the need to do their part in addressing this global problem. In trying to make visual representations of Climate Change and its impacts, however, one must ensure that these are not (1) biased or misleading to avoid sending confusing messages (2) exaggerated to prevent unnecessary anxiety and fear and (3) sugarcoated to such an extent that the people will no longer see the full scale of the problem.

Visual culture should not only be viewed as an academic subject or a specialized field of study. Instead, it should be welcomed as a powerful tool to educate the public on pressing issues such as Climate Change, and ultimately be an instrument to effect societal change.

Project Expos Climate Change Kiosks for Kids
Rationale
The complexities of Climate Change make it hard for scientific experts to explain it to the general public, and even harder to do so with schoolchildren and younger kids. Existing Climate Change visualization projects are mostly geared toward adults, and the few kid-friendly materials available have limited access because they are usually web-based and therefore require regular internet connection.

Objectives
The project aims to bring Climate Change education closer to kids aged 5 to 12 by installing Climate Change Kiosks in schools, shopping malls, restaurants, libraries and other public locations. The project will extend the visual learning experience to kids who do not have computers or regular internet connection at home.

The project also hopes to rally the kids as ambassadors of Climate Change who will eventually influence their parents and other adults in the family to join in the global fight against Climate Change.

Description
The kiosks will offer information about Climate Change through the use of interactive audio-visual presentations that are kid-friendly, entertaining, easy to understand, but at the same time comprehensive and accurate based on solid scientific findings. Dramatic and eye-opening photographs as well as colorful graphics will be used so kids will better appreciate the information on

Climate Change.
The kiosks will not only focus on basic facts about Climate Change rather, they will also show animations of what a kid can do to help prevent this looming disaster. To further reinforce this, a Save the Earth game will conclude every session. Here, kids will be depicted as a superhero that has the power to save the Earth from succumbing to Climate Change if he or she makes wise decisions on simple day-to-day activities. This will also double as a review quiz to measure the kids understanding of the information.

Though kid-friendly and colorful materials will be used, it is not the intention of the project to downplay the seriousness and urgency of Climate Change. Instead, the project aims to make Climate Change as real and current as possible to kids by using elements which they can easily relate to.      

Each kiosk will have a set of computer (screen, monitor, keyboard and speakers), and chairs for a maximum of two kids who can occupy the kiosk at any time.

Implementation
The group will develop the modules and materials to be included in the Climate Change Kiosks. Then, the group will coordinate with interested officials of schools, shopping malls, restaurants, libraries and other public commercial establishments for the installation, maintenance and security of the facilities.

Monitoring
Monitoring of the extent of use and effectiveness of the Climate Change Kiosks will be based on number of logins or guest registry and game  quiz scores, respectively.