On Thursday September 10, 2015, I attended the panel discussion called Frozen Earth at The Noyes Museum of Art. The event was based around the issue of climate change. In attendance was a panel of 5 distinguished speakers. These panelists were each allotted a ten minute time block in which they could speak about the issues of climate change and how to combat it,  as well as their personal work.

Dr. Jeff Niemitz spoke first. His discussion focused on how the Earth’s environment has never changed as much as it is in this day and age. He also refuted a common misconception that the greenhouse effect is negative. He argued that this very effect was keeping the Earth at a moderate temperature and protecting its inhabitants. Next was Michael Lemonick who explained how the ozone layer is depleting and the positive feedback loop of climate change. Amy Lipton, an artist, spoke next. She described a work of art in which a chalk line was drawn at the ocean’s water line and explained how the water continued to rise closer and closer to the line of chalk. Andrew Revkin took the microphone next and spoke about how fixing climate change will be a long process. The last speaker was Aaron O’Connor. He spoke about the founding of his The Arctic Circle residency program.

This program was very informative and interesting. During this program visitors got the opportunity to view artwork related to the issue of climate change and listen to five distinguished panelists speak about their work in that field. This allowed the event to encompass many different aspects of the issue and show artistic and scientific views of climate change.