The document discusses the historical representation of climate data through various means, including music and visualizations, emphasizing the need for innovative communication methods to convey climate change information. Key figures and quotes from historical and contemporary sources illustrate the evolution of scientific understanding regarding climate and its changes over the centuries. It highlights that 14 of the 15 warmest years on record occurred in the early 21st century, with significant temperature increases noted globally, particularly in the Arctic.

1. Sing
Buffe Institute at Northwestern | Northwestern University | February 9, 2016
MAKING
CLIMATE DATA
SING

5. VISUALIZATION

6. Source: Halley (1686)
IN 1686, EDMUND HALLEY PREPARED THE FIRST KNOWN BIVARIATE PLOT DERIVED
FROM OBSERVATIONAL DATA, RELATING BAROMETRIC PRESSURE TO ALTITUDE.

7. Source: Nightingale (1858)

8. DOT MAP BY JOHN SNOW SHOWING THE CLUSTERS OF CHOLERA CASES
DURING THE LONDON EPIDEMIC OF 1852

10. KEELING CURVE

11. “HOCKEY STICK”
Source: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2001)

12. 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
−.4
−.2
0.
.2
.4
.6
.8
1.0
Annual Mean
5−year Running Mean
Global Land−Ocean Temperature Index
TemperatureAnomaly(°C)GLOBAL TEMPERATURE
Source: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

18. SONIFICATION

21. THE GEOCODA PROJECT

22. If you really want to
communicate with
someone, it’s best
not to show a graph,
but to express
something artistically.
“ ”
Commander Chris Hadfield
November 12, 2014

23. Daniel Crawford University of Minnesota

24. Source: Toshiyuki IMAI

25. Source: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
TEMPERATURE ANOMALY FOR 2015

28. cello
viola
violin II
violin I

33. Source: Miriam Mezzera

34. Source: Miriam Mezzera

35. THE MUSICAL ‘GEOGRAPHY’
OF OUR WARMING PLANET

36. 1880 2015

37. PLANETARY BANDS, WARMING WORLD
DANIEL CRAWFORD

39. “ ”
1880s
The aqueous vapour of the air absorbs a considerable amount of
the heat which is being constantly radiated by the ocean…
James Croll (1885)

40. “ ”
1890s
… if the quantity of carbonic acid [CO2] increases in geometric
progression, the augmentation of the temperature will increase
nearly in arithmetic progression.
Svante Arrhenius (1896)

41. “ ”
1900s
For centuries these magnificent pines have stood there enduring
all the vicissitudes of heat and cold, flood and drought.
They should contain some record of such alterations.
A.E. Douglass (1909)

42. “ ”
1910s
The warming effect of a layer of clouds at night is commonly
ascribed to radiation from the clouds, but it seems more likely to
be due to radiation that is reflected back…
W.N. Dines (1917)

43. “ ”
1920s
Moreover, the amount of oil that can be sold locally is very small
and it is necessary to export the greater proportion to distant
countries…
British Political Agent in Kuwait (1923)

44. “ ”
1930s
The course of world temperatures during the next twenty years
should afford valuable evidence as to the accuracy of the
calculated effect of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
Guy Callendar (1938)

45. “ ”
1940s
While the individual day-by-day weather conditions are
proverbially fickle, the climate remains fairly constant, at least
within a human lifetime.
Helmut Landsberg (1946)

46. “ ”
1950s
The extra CO2 released into the atmosphere by industrial
processes and other human activities may have caused the
temperature rise during the present century.
Gilbert Plass (1956)

47. “ ”
1960s
A systematic variation with season and latitude in the
concentration and isotopic abundance of atmospheric carbon
dioxide has been found in the northern hemisphere.
Charles Keating (1960)

48. “ ”
1970s
Although there may no immediate cause for alarm about the
consequences of carbon dioxide increase in the atmosphere,
there is certainly need for further study.
J.S. Sawyer (1972)

49. “ ”
1980s
Global warming has reached a level such that we can ascribe to a
high degree of confidence a cause and effect relationship
between the greenhouse effect and the observed warming.
James Hansen (1988)

50. “ ”
1990s
[P]rojections of future global mean temperature change and sea
level rise confirm the potential for human activities to alter the
Earth's climate to an extent unprecedented in human history…
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1990)

51. “ ”
2000s
Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures
since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed
increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007)

52. “ ”
2010s
The pressures caused by climate change will influence resource
competition while placing additional burdens on economies,
societies, and governance institutions around the world.
United States Department of Defense (2014)

54. 14 OF THE 15 WARMEST YEARS ON RECORD
OCCURRED IN THE FIRST 15 YEARS OF THIS CENTURY.

55. EVERY REGION HAS GOTTEN WARMER. BUT THE ARCTIC
HAS WARMED MORE THAN ANY OTHER PART OF THE PLANET.

56. GLOBALLY-AVERAGED TEMPERATURES IN 2015 SHATTERED
THE PREVIOUS MARK SET IN 2014.
2015

57. THE GEOCODA PROJECT

58. 2013

65. 2015

68. 68

70. ?

72. STRAUSS’S PIECE
IS IN NO WAY
A LITERAL TRANSCRIPTION OF A HIKE UP A MOUNTAIN,
IT’S AN IMAGINATIVE CONSTRUCT
WHICH CAPTURES THE EMOTIONAL IMPORT OF THAT HIKE.
THE CLIMAX ISN’T JUST HIGH IN PITCH,
IT’S EXALTED IN FEELING.
“ ”
Ivan Hewi , Telegraph (London)
August 30, 2013

73. @djspooky

74. 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000
−.4
−.2
0.
.2
.4
.6
.8
1.0
Annual Mean
5−year Running Mean
Global Land−Ocean Temperature Index
TemperatureAnomaly(°C)GLOBAL TEMPERATURE
Source: NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

77. HOWEVER, SOMETIMES CONVERTING
A SIMPLE GRAPH INTO
SOME DIFFERENT FORM
OF INFORMATION
CAN DELIVER THE MESSAGE
FAR BETTER, AND MORE EFFECTIVELY
THAN DOTS ON A PAGE.
“ ”
Phil Plait, Bad Astronomy
July 18, 2013

79. Sing
Buffe Institute at Northwestern | Northwestern University | February 9, 2016
MAKING
CLIMATE DATA
SING