There's much debate on the causes of climate change. Scientists, politicians and opinion leaders all take the stage to present their vision or ideas. However, cool(E)motion is not focused on the possible causes of climate change. We merely note that the climate is changing, whatever the cause. Let's now focus on what this means for the Arctic. And more specifically, what will happen to traditional culture, when hunters can't trust the ice, when seals disappear and wheater condition deteriorate?

Cool(e)motion urges those in power to focus on the cultural effects of climate changes. We seek attention for this message by creating giant sculptures on ice bergs that will float when spring comes. This way, the sculptural 'hunters' can search for new hunting grounds for people in the Arctic.

cool(E)motionWNF

Tuesday 4 May 2010

'The angle between earth and the sun changed'

Since I travel through the Arctic, I ask people what's their explanation for climate change. Some of the older hunters, who rely on the position of the sun for reasons of navigation, have an answer I never could explain: 'The angle between earth and the sun changed'. I got this answer many times in all different places.
Last week I read an article from a Belgian journalist who interviewed a hunter in Gjoa Haven, Northern Canada, and he told her the same answer: 'The angle of the sun changed'. I couldn't resist and contacted a friend of mine who next week will receive his Ph.D. in astronomy. His response was overwhelming: he asked me if I had a brain collapse. The angle between earth and the sun didn't change, and never will in the next thousands of years!
I can't get it out of my mind. Did the composition of atmospheric gasses change so that the breaking angle changed? I still don't have an explanation, but am sure that something changed. Who knows the answer?

posted by Ap Verheggen at 02:42

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