revise my paper

Global Warming

One of the causes of climate change today is global warming. Global warming is the increase in the average temperature in the atmosphere. It is caused by the accumulation of carbon dioxide, greenhouse gases, and other air pollutants in the atmosphere. They absorb solar radiation that has bounced from the Earth’s surface and trap it in the ozone layer. That increases the average temperature in the atmosphere. Global warming has resulted in a lot of negative effects on Earth. Although people know about its existence, most people do not know how it affects them directly. According to studies done in the US, about 19% of the US residents agree that they do not know how global warming affects them (Ballew et al., 2019). Thus, to increase awareness about global warming, effective strategies need to be formulated.

The topic and its relevance to the future of the climate

Global warming is increasing by the day. That calls for measures that may be used to mitigate global warming. For a long time, humans have been working on animal protection, which stems from people’s empathy for animals. Therefore, a performance that advocates people to pay more attention to global warming to protect animals may cause considerable repercussions and educate about global warming and effective ways to mitigate global warming. As we all know, the polar bear is the world’s largest land predator and its main source of food is the marine life of the Arctic Ocean, seals, all kinds of sea fish, and so on. Because of melting sea ice, it is likely that more polar bears will soon starve, warns a new study that discovered the large carnivores need to eat 60 percent more than anyone had realized. Turns out they are high-energy beasts, burning through 12,325 calories a day—despite sitting around most of the time, according to a unique metabolic analysis of wild bears published Thursday in Science. (Polar Bears Really Are Starving Because of Global Warming, 2018). Polar bears spend most of their lives in a “resting” state, such as sleeping, lying down, or waiting for prey, and the rest of the time walking or swimming on land or ice, so this is why ice floes are essential for them. Unfortunately, according to a study published in the journal Nature on July 20, 2020, the Arctic ice floes have begun to melt as global temperatures rise, and polar bears have suffered some damage to their homes. Although the polar bear can swim, it is not able to soak in water for long periods, and with the loss of a foothold in the glaciers, the polar bear may even become extinct. Indeed, polar bears are the proverbial canary in the coal mine indicating the health of the Arctic and global ecosystem. If they are struggling, it follows that we humans may be the next to experience problems (Polar bears and humans, 2019). I was inspired to design an interactive performance that allowed the audience to experience Arctic climate change from the perspective of a polar bear.

Elements of the Performance

The performance in this case will be an immersive experience in the VR headset. A life-size sculpture of a polar bear is going to set up. The sculpture will show a polar bear in a fully standing position. It is important to note that half of the sculpture must be hollow, allowing people to walk into the sculpture. Meanwhile, the polar bear’s head is designed as a VR headset, simulating through virtual reality technology what might happen after the Arctic ice melts and sea levels rise. The virtual scenario would simulate a scene where the polar bear becomes thin and bony after a failed poster hunt, due to the lack of ice floes as camouflage. Or simulate the scenario that polar bears cannot find ice floes to rest and finally drown due to physical exhaustion. These are the upcoming fates of polar bears living in the Arctic. The show cannot be recorded in any way, as one must walk inside the polar bear sculpture and see the scene through the VR headset, which no one else can. This special experience is also a metaphor for the inability of people to truly understand the situation of polar bears. The purpose of this performance is to provoke people to think about the polar bears’ loss of their homes due to rising global temperatures, after seeing what they see and hear.

Location and Duration of Performance

The performance will be held at the zoo. In addition to collecting and raising various animals for public viewing and science, zoos are also places where scientific research and conservation education are conducted. This performance is in line with the direction advocated by the zoo. Another reason for holding the performance at the zoo is to raise people’s imagination that the world’s only remaining polar bears will be transferred to the zoo to be treated as rare animals under the greenhouse effect. Is this the outcome we want to see? If not, should we be paying more attention to the issue of global warming? The competition will take six months. The duration has been prolonged to achieve a big impact on society. The longer it lasts, the more visitors will come and get to see it.

Annotated Bibliography

Bentz, J. (2020). Learning about climate change in, with, and through art. Climatic Change, 162(3), 1595-1612.

Bentz (2020) indicates that effective strategies to teach people about climate change play a significant role in addressing the challenge. The study indicates that some strategies remain untapped to date. The study identifies strategies such as the use of art and humanities.

Polar Bears & Humans book

, March 2019

Polar Bears & Humans – The book

It argues against the fact that most people believe polar bears are protected given the real impact global warming has already had on their habitat. It also reveals the various serious problems currently facing polar bear claims.

Yilmaz, V., & Can, Y. (2020). Impact of knowledge, concern, and awareness about global warming and global climatic change on environmental behavior. Environment, Development, and Sustainability, 22(7), 6245-6260.

The study investigates the impact of global warming awareness and how it affects the global change in environmental behavior. The study indicates when people are aware of global warming, they are more likely to implement strategies to mitigate it.

SAGALA, R., NUANGCHALERM, P., SAREGAR, A., & EL ISLAMİ, R. A. Z. (2019). Environment-friendly education as a solution against global warming: A case study at Sekolah Alam Lampung, Indonesia. Journal for the Education of Gifted Young Scientists, 7(2), 87-97.

Sagala et al. (2019) investigated the impact of environmental-friendly education as a solution to global warming. The study concluded that the use of different forms of art to promote global warming awareness is effective. Thus, such strategies should be used to promote global warming awareness so that people may engage in activities that will reduce global warming and desist from those that increase global warming.

STEPHEN LEAHY, Polar Bears Really Are Starving Because of Global Warming, 2018

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/polar-bears-starve-melting-sea-ice-global-warming-study-beaufort-sea-environment