No Exit: Ecological Limits and Climate Change

Despite the fact that climate change is happening faster because of human activity, popular media reports doubt causing a public opinion split between admitting or denying our role in the acceleration of climate change.

The media’s influence on public opinion is huge and according to Al Gore’s film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ popular media show doubt in 53% of their reports on climate change. When art and design interacts with the media they can produce a new and innovative way of communicating a message. If art and design were to work with science to communicate the truth with objects and images, this doubt could be undermined. It is true that climate change is inevitable in the Earth’s natural lifecycle but ‘the challenge of anthropogenic climate change is that it is occurring on time scales short compared to the ability of societies to adapt easily.’¹ The human race has caused climate change to accelerate at a rate our evolution as a species and society cannot keep up with. Gore argues that ‘we can no longer afford to view global warming as a political issue - rather, it is the biggest moral challenges facing our global civilization.’²

Yet still there are skeptics, but whilst watching ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ I became hopeful that everyone could be convinced and ‘real’ action could be taken. Gore uses humour and showmanship to undermine skeptics along with strong and convincing graphics such as the so-called ‘hockey stick graph’. He mixes personal experiences and scientific information, the sort of approach which could be innovatively communicated by an artist or designer. It seems that public opinion is most influenced through design, be it fashion or object, so it is logical to use this medium for communication.

Communication design can help the public to distinguish between popular media’s false doubt and scientific fact, ‘the problem also is with the content and methods of science, we must rethink the ways that science is carried out, and how it is organized within our societies.’¹ This is where I believe our role as designers can be played out.

¹ ‘Lovely Weather: Asking What the Arts Can Do for the Sciences’ by Roger F. Malina in ‘Ecomedia’ 2007

² www.climatecrisis.net

Image: http://youmaybegreen.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/global-warming-earth.jpg