Capturing climate change
By Mary Dennehy
A UNIQUE exhibition that captures the visible climate changes in the Arctic is currently showing at the County Library in Tallaght.
The exhibition, On Thin Ice documents the story of a Norwegian Polar Institute research vessel, which was purposely frozen into the Arctic ice in the winter of 2015.
The exhibition, On Thin Ice documents the story of a Norwegian Polar Institute research vessel
The floating laboratory spent six months frozen into the polar ice, drifting, while 68 scientists from 11 countries completed numerous tests and research activities on the environmental changes in the Arctic.
According to the research team, climate changes are most visible in this area.
The exhibition brochure alone details a chilling and challenging future for people and animals, as glaciers are “melting and retreating”.
The sea ice cover, essential for species like seals and polar bears, is also “thinning rapidly”.
Information on the exhibition explains how our current knowledge of why global temperature is increasing and the ice melting is still limited.
However, the knowledge gathered by the research team will “contribute towards making us better equipped to understand and predict our global destiny”, with the work of analysing and understanding the data collected continuing for several years.
The Norwegian Embassy in Dublin, in conjunction with An Taisce’s Climate Ambassador Programme and South Dublin County Council, has brought the exhibition to Tallaght.
Gar Tyrrell, current Tallaght Person of the Year and an education officer with An Taisce’s Climate Ambassador Programme, told The Echo: “Climate change is affecting us all.
“It’s affecting the whole world in different ways and while we learn about the work of the [Norwegian Polar Institute research vessel] it is so important to realise that we need to approach climate change from both ways – including ground up.
“We all need to look at the choices we make every day, there are things we can do as a citizen like changing to LED lights, talking to politicians.”
Gar stressed how the exhibition is “huge and very impressive”, encouraging people living across South Dublin County to drop by and take it in.
The official launch of On Thin Ice was in the County Library, Tallaght, on Thursday, January 10.
