The warnings about global warming and climate change started in 1965 when “President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Scientific Advisory Council cautioned that constant increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide could modify the heat balance of the atmosphere” (Marshall, 2014). In 2014, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that “continued emission of greenhouse gases will cause further warming and long-lasting changes in all components of the climate system, increasing the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems” (IPCC, 2014). Yet, globally, we have made little progress on addressing this large-scale, human-induced environmental threat. Dr. Renee Lertzman explains that it is “environmental melancholia” (Gregoire, 2016), an unprocessed sense of anxiety that causes powerlessness and paralysis, that is contributing to societal inertia to address this problem.

Current climate change strategies are focused at the policy level and do little to address the emotional state surrounding climate change. Visual art presents an opportunity to explore emotions and unconscious thoughts, and allows exploration of feelings surrounding climate change. It also may be a way to humanize climate change in a way that data and science cannot.

This project involves participatory design research through individual photography, personal anecdotes and small group image sorting and discussion. It attempts to evoke personal meaning associated with climate change and suggests ways to scale the dialogue.

KEYWORDS: climate change, photography, participatory research