Transcript Observed changes are - Northumbria University

Professor John E Thornes
Professor of Applied Meteorology
University of Birmingham
Cultural Climatology
& the
Visualisation of Climate Change
Breugal Hunters in the Snow: Little Ice Age
Art a Proxy for Climate Change?
Lamb detected increased cloudiness in Little
Ice Age –small sample of 200 paintings
•
•Neuberger (1967) examined 12,284 paintings
in 41 art museums in 17 cities in 9 countries.
Also detected Little Ice Age
•All artists subconsciously depict climate?
Some more consciously than others?
CULTURAL CLIMATOLOGY
• The critical examination of the impact of
climate on culture and the impact of culture
on climate.
• Culture and Climate: “You can’t have one
without the other”
• Visual Turn/Visual Literacy
• Theory of Pictures/Picturing Theory
• Visualising Climate Change
Atmospheric Services
GWP
Entity
Service Type
1
The air that we breathe
1.5
O2, N2 etc
Provisioning
2
Combustion of fuel
1.5
O2
Provisioning
3
The extraction of atmospheric gases
<0.1
O2, N2 etc
Provisioning
4
The redistribution of water services
1.0
H2O
Supporting
5
The cleansing capacity of the atmosphere &
dispersion of air pollution
1.0
OH , Wind,
Temp
Regulating
6
Direct use of the atmosphere for
ecosystems and agriculture
1.0
CO2, N2, Solar
Provisioning &
Supporting
7
Direct use of the atmosphere for
communication and transport
1.0
Density,
Pressure
Supporting
8
Direct use of the atmosphere for power
0.15
Wind, Solar
Provisioning
9
Protection from radiation, plasma and
meteors
50
Density
Supporting
10
Natural global warming of 33 degrees
Celsius
50
CO2, CH4 , H2O
etc
Supporting
11
Atmospheric Recreation & climate tourism
0.2
Sun, Wind,
Clouds +
Cultural
12
Aesthetic, spiritual and sensual properties
of the atmosphere
<0.1
Sky, clouds +
Cultural
Picturing Theory
Causes for climate change
(attribution)
observations
global mean temperature 1900 – 2005
observations: black
multi-model ensemble mean: red and blue
natural and anthropogenic
forcings
natural forcings only
(solar+volcanic)
Observed changes are
- consistent with expected
response to a combination
of natural and anthropogenic
forcings
- inconsistent with alternative
explanations
(IPCC AR4, WG1)
Cultural Representations
The Next Generation (XRWIS)
RouteForecast: ENTICE Technology Ltd
Route-by-route suggested action
based on underlying RST and
condition forecasts.
Atmospheric Art
• Atmospheric Art is a new genre to describe
works of art that are not only directly
representational of form & process in the
atmosphere such as Constable’s Cloud Series
or Monet’s London Series but also works of art
that are clearly nonrepresentational and
performative such as Eliasson’s Installations
and Turrell’s Skyspaces.
• Theory of Pictures
Merleau-Ponty
• As I contemplate the blue of the sky, I am not
‘set over against’ it as an acosmic subject .... I
am the sky itself as it is drawn together and
unified, and as it begins to exist for itself; my
consciousness is saturated with this limitless
blue. (1962)
Landscape Noon: The Haywain 1821 John Constable
“We see nothing truly till we understand it” John Constable
Atmospheric Art
• Sky: a fantastic natural light show Cyanometer
• Atmosphere: aerial perspective, wind and air
pollution
• Weather: clouds, rain, fog, thunderstorms,
sunshine, overcast
• Light: sun, moon, rainbows, crepuscular rays
etc
• Climate: vegetation, season, clothing
• Climate Change: air pollution, flooding,
drought, harvest failure, new crops
Letter to Revd John Fisher
23rd October 1821
• “I have done a great deal of skying”
• “I have often been advised to consider my
skey - as a White Sheet drawn behind the
objects”
• “The skey is the key note - the standard of
scale and the chief organ of sentiment”
• “But these remarks do not apply to accidental
effects of skey”
Sepr. 10. 1821, Noon, gentle Wind at West. Very sultry
after a heavy shower with thunder. accumulated
thunder clouds passing slowly away to the south East.
Very bright and hot. All the foliage sparkling with the
wet
• Howard stated “Some thunder around
noon: heavy showers”
• Other weather data agrees
• 54 weather inscriptions have survived
• Possible to use weather evidence to
date 15 studies
New Constable Sky
Turner The Fighting ‘Temeraire’ 1838
David Cox Sun, Wind, and Rain
(Watercolour) 1845
David Cox Clouds 1857
Monet’s Mission in London
• ‘For me, a landscape does not exist in its own
right, since its appearance changes at every
moment; but the surrounding atmosphere
brings it to life, the air and the light, which
vary continually…For me, it is only the
surrounding atmosphere that gives subjects
their true value.’
• “L’enveloppe”
• “Instantanaity”
Figure 1 Days with Fog in London at Brixton and West Norwood 1878-1903
200
180
160
140
120
Days of Fog 100
80
Brixton
W. Norwood
60
40
20
Brixton
1902
1900
1898
1896
1894
1892
Year
1890
1888
1886
1884
1882
1880
1878
0
Figure 3 Visibility in the 35 Charing Cross Bridge Pictures
Mean = 1127m
2500
Visibility in metres
2000
1500
Series1
1000
500
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35
Z
N

W
O

How often can we see the sun setting over the
Houses of Parliament?? Probably only on
average once a week – less in winter 1900??
W1572: ‘Waterloo Bridge, le soleil dans le brouillard’ (the sun in the fog)
London : Private Collection, 73 x 92 cm
Range of possible dates: February 15th – February 19th at 8:14 – 8:17am
W1572
Sun azimuth 121.7°altitude +7.99°
+7.99°
+2.33°
-0.37°
-4.23°
114°
119°
121.7°
125.5°
Non-representational/ Performative
Atmospheric Art
Walter De Maria
The Lightning Field 1977
Antony Gormley
Angel of the North 1998
Olafur Eliasson 2003
The Weather Project
James Turrell Skyspace 2006
CULTURAL CLIMATOLOGY
• Ruskin stated that:
• ..the scientific and imaginative study of
clouds, weather and climate cannot be
divorced from the issues of society.
• We can all still learn from Ruskin’s call
that sustainable art is dialectically
linked to a sustainable environment