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Clouds above, clouds below
uncovering connections between atmospheric and digital clouds
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How to use it:
right keyboard arrow to move forward in narrative
hover over elements for details on their role in the system
Legend:
Clouds above, clouds below
by Annelie Berner
in collaboration with Susanne van den Heuvel
Clouds above, clouds below presents artistic research into the connections between atmospheric clouds and digital clouds, through the seemingly invisible vector of carbon dioxide. The project uncovers a system in the future-present where the "cloud" is as dependent on the clouds' behaviour as the understanding of the clouds is on the "cloud".
The visualisation presents a system that is held by feedback loops between atmospheric and digital clouds. Atmospheric clouds are the least known factor in modelling the futures of our climate. This much is known though - when low and broad, clouds protect the earth from the sun's radiance, whereas when high and small, clouds allow the radiance to pour through, in turn pushing us closer and closer to the planetary tipping points. As the tipping point of permafrost is released, more carbon dioxide is released, again pulling the clouds from low to high. Extreme weather events become more frequent, crumbling the physical infrastructure upon which our digital communications rely.
Far below their atmospheric counterparts, the digital clouds churn and whir with information, not stopping if the tipping points tip, not slowing if the sun shines through, never overheating though the ice melts around them. And they must continue, as they enable us to understand their atmospheric counterparts as we sense, send, process and store data. Yet again, the more the digital clouds are cooled, the more CO2 we emit, the more the low atmospheric clouds will turn into high clouds, the more radiance will shine through, the more tipping points tip, extreme wind twists our digital infrastructure and humidity dampens our communications.
Thus the digital "cloud" is as dependent on the atmospheric clouds' behaviour as the understanding of the atmospheric clouds is on the digital "cloud".
This visualisation is one part of a broader research project into visualising climate data, which lives here:
cloudsabove.us