Frozen asset shows the art of climate change
A NEW public art installation made up of melting ice blocks which aims to show the reality of climate change has been unveiled in London.
Ice Watch, by Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Elisasson, is made up of blocks of ice from the waters of the Nuup Kangerlua fjord in Greenland, where they were melting into the ocean after having been lost from the ice sheet.
There are 25 blocks arranged in a circular formation outside the Tate Modern, where there will be a major exhibition of Eliasson’s work next year, and six in the City, outside Bloomberg’s European headquarters.
The project has been supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable endeavours of former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Speaking at the launch, the politician and UN special envoy for climate action said the work “highlights the urgency of climate change in a vivid and powerful way”.
Members of the public will see the effects of climate change on the ice blocks as the work thaws and melts away.
Depending on weather conditions, it is expected to be on display until December 21 and Mr Bloomberg said he hopes the work will inspire “bolder and more ambitious actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by government, businesses and communities”.
Meanwhile, Nasa scientists have detected signs that large glaciers in East Antarctica are melting away. The eastern half of the continent was previously considered to be more stable than the west.
But new maps of ice velocity and elevation have revealed that a group of glaciers covering one-eighth of the East Antarctic coast have been losing ice for a decade.
The findings will heighten fears that melting ice could lead to rising sea levels worldwide.
It “highlights the urgency of climate change in a vivid way”
Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg.