About the exhibition '+6°'
and subsequent discussion.
The aim of this exhibition is to encourage reflection and inspire action. It is my hope that the exhibition will arouse strong feelings and provoke much thought and debate.
A discussion after the exhibition can be offered to organised groups such as school classes, societies, groups of personnel, etc.. . In dialogue participants are encouraged to learn more about climate change and the threats to human survival that it causes.
It is possible to tailor the subsequent discussion to suit a special target group. More information on these discussions is given at the end of this presentation.
acrylic, 110x145 cm
Cissie Hultberg
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Welcome to +6° - 'an exhibition about global warming'
by Cissie Hultberg
The aim of this exhibition is to encourage reflection and inspire action.
Climate change is now a scientifically established fact. The Earth is warming because we release more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from burning oil, coal and gas than the planet can cope with.
An increase in the Earth's average temperature of more than two degrees will have very serious consequences for all life on Earth. Today it is the poor of the Earth that bear the brunt of climate change, tomorrow it will be humanity as a whole.
Climate change raises profoundly important questions about social justice, equality and human rights across countries and generations. It is one of the greatest moral challenges any generation has ever faced.
There is hope - if we act now! We have less than a decade to radically change our way of living in order to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to sustainable levels. For that to happen we need big changes and ambitious new policies.
This exhibition is dedicated to all children of the world and to future generations.
acrylic, 110x55 cm
Cissie Hultberg
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Likely consequences of a rise of 1° - 2° in average temperature:
- The oceans become the new "deserts" of the world when coral reefs disappear. Changes to sea temperature also mean that many sea organisms may die.
- Large coastal areas submerge when the ice covering Greenland and the Antarctic melts.
- There will be a shortage of water in some parts of the world when glaciers disappear and probable flooding in others. Together with other extreme weather events it will affect millions of people.
- Food production in Africa, South America and Southern Asia will be reduced and billions of
people will starve.
- In Sweden there will be warmer summers and milder winters with a great deal of rain.
- People in Southern Europe will tend to migrate northwards, away from extreme heat-waves and forest fires.
- A third of all the vegetable and animal species in the world will most likely become extinct.
acrylic 110x55 cm
Cissie Hultberg
acrylic 150x50 cm
Cissie Hultberg
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Likely consequences of a rise of 3° - 4° in average temperature:
- Large fires within the Amazon rainforest will contribute to the rapid release of carbon dioxide.
- Hurricanes become stronger and will appear in new regions.
- Scandinavia may suffer summer droughts, extreme amounts of rain in winter, and violent storms.
- Mediterranean countries will suffer severe water shortages and Sahara desert will gradually
move northwards forcing the population to move northwards in great numbers.
- Southern Africa becomes a desert with its centre in Botswana.
- Enormous amounts of methane gas, much more damaging to the climate than carbon dioxide, will be released from a thawing Siberian tundra.
- The sea level may rise by five metres when the ice cover of Antarctic breaks away.
- Migrations of unimagined proportions will take place.
acrylic, 145x60 cm
Cissie Hultberg
acrylic, 150x70 cm
Cissie Hultberg
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Consequences of a rise of 5° - 6° in average temperature:
- The sea bed can start to leak huge amounts of stored methane. The escape of this methane may
cause enormous landslides and tsunami waves which will destroy large coastal areas.
- 251 million years ago, the earth's average temperature went up by 6°, and then most of life on earth was destroyed. In all likelihood the same thing may happen again.
acrylic, 70x40 cm
Cissie Hultberg
acrylic, 95x55 cm
Cissie Hultberg
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Who makes the decisions today?
- To earn more money, the large transnational companies want us to consume more.
- These companies respect no borders and their guiding star is unrestrained profit.
- The leaders of these companies make decisions today which increase our emissions of carbon dioxide in an unsustainable way.
- Our politicians have little to say and do not dare to make the difficult decisions that are needed to bring us on a road to sustainable living. One example is the European Unionšs climate targets, which have been set far below its own promises.
acrylic, 55x45 cm
Cissie Hultberg
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The five stages of mourning according to Kübler-Ross:
Denial
Denial is a natural reaction to loss and change. We refuse to acknowledge reality as it is. In denial we are protected until we are ready to deal with the pain which loss causes us.
Anger
When we eventually understand that we are about to lose something for ever, denial turns into rage, bordering on frenzy. We are angry with ourselves, others, things, and God.
Bargaining
If we have not been able to see the sad truth in the eye during the first stage and have been angry with people and God under the second phase, we can maybe manage to make a sort of settlement to postpone the inevitable.
Depression
When we can no longer deny to ourselves that we must suffer a great loss, we fall into a depression. We are filled with sorrow, alone, abandoned and guilty. At this stage we can be thrown back into the other stages, and can be cast back and forth.
Acceptance
If we have time and help to work our way through the above stages, we can reach a stage where we are neither depressed nor angry over our fate. We realise that something has been lost, our dreams have been crushed, our plans are no longer relevant. We are now ready to deal with the problems even if we feel vulnerable.
acrylic, 150x45 cm
Cissie Hultberg
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It is a matter of choosing!
- If the warming of the earth is to stop at +2° or rise to +6° during this century depends on you
and me.
- We must radically change our way of living and consuming if we are to stop at +2°.
- That forces us to make difficult choices.
- It is what we choose to do, as individuals and as citizens, which will decide the future for coming generations.
- But we must make these choices now, not tomorrow or the day after, then it will be too late.
acrylic, 175x100 cm
Cissie Hultberg acryl
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There is no time to lose - but there is hope - if we act now!
acrylic, 185 x 85
Cissie Hultberg
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About the follow-up discussions
A follow-up discussion with the aim of encouraging participants to learn more about climate changes can be offered to organised groups such as school classes, societies, personnel groups, etc. It is possible to design the follow-up discussion to suit a particular target group.
Here is an example of how the follow-up discussion can be structured:
As an introduction, I ask what feelings the exhibition has aroused among the participants. The answers are often: Fear, worry, frustration, depression, hope, despair.......
In small groups we then discuss whether or not we must radically change our way of living in order to prevent a serious climate change, and motivate our standpoint. In plenary we share our opinions and we usually arrive at the conclusion that we have varying opinions and knowledge of the problem.
The participants are then challenged to raise questions about the climate changes before we return to the feelings aroused by the exhibition. Strong feelings - emotions - can motivate us to do something. We cannot, however, learn all about climate change in the short time we have at our disposal today, nor agree about what should be done. But a good first step on the way can be to find out how we can learn more about climate change.
In small groups and then in plenary the participants discuss what they can do to learn more about climate changes. Answers we have had are: Read books; Discuss with friends, colleagues, neighbours; Go to meetings; Join a study circle; Find out how much CO2-emission I cause; Join an organisation (such as Friends of the Earth/Nature Protection Society/Klimax, etc.); Start a discussion group oneself; Join demonstrations,.....
In conclusion, a short lecture:
Climate change has an intrinsic slowness.
When carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have been emitted, they stay in the atmosphere for a long time. The emissions we make today will still be in the atmosphere at the beginning of the 22nd century
Radical reductions in our emissions today will not affect the average temperature until about the year 2030 - and the temperature will not reach its maximum before 2050.
The conclusion of this is:
that because climate changes are intrinsically slow, our politicians must make long-term
decisions which must also be respected by future politicians.
The problem is global and is a question of justice.
The earth's atmosphere does not distinguish between greenhouse gases from Sweden, China or the USA. One land'ss emissions become another land's problem also. Therefore, one land cannot solve its climate changes alone. To find collective solutions is a must, not an alternative. In this connection it is important to remember that white men in the west cause many times more emissions than black women in the south, but it is these last who suffer worst from the global warming.
The conclusion of this is:
- that this is a global crisis which threatens all peoples and all countries, but which can
be prevented if we work together to find common, just solutions across national
boundaries.
It is urgent!
Every year that a binding agreement to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases is delayed, the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere increases, and coming generations are doomed to unavoidable temperature rises. To have a fifty percent chance of keeping the temperature rise within +2°, the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere must be stabilised below 450 parts per million CO2 equivalents. We only have 8-10 years to do it in!
The conclusion of this is:
- that if we don'st do something now, we are on a certain road to the destruction of mankind. We have only less than 10 years in which to radically reduce our emissions, if we delay it will be too late. Since our politicians do not dare to make the difficult decisions, we
citizens must help them!
We must act now - you and me - both locally and globally!
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