Sea Surface Temperature Data: A Musical Representation
One well-known impact of energy extraction on the planet is the warming temperature of the ocean. As greenhouse gases from fossil fuels continue to enter the atmosphere, the oceans absorb more and more heat.
This data can be difficult to conceptualize when change is incremental over decades. Therefore, I decided to use music to illustrate the data in a different way in order to communicate the increasing temperatures more memorably. Using the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sea surface temperature data from 1880 to 2020, I made the 1971-2000 average middle C, and then each tenth of a change was represented in a half note up or down. I then added supplementary notes to build the data into more of a song.
As I brainstormed for my project, I was thinking about marine mammals, particularly whales because we briefly discussed the history of whale oil extraction in the course cluster. Since echolocation is a significant form of communication for whales, I chose sound as my medium for representing this data.
Bibliography
Climate Change Indicators: Sea Surface Temperature | US EPA, www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/climate-change-indicators-sea-surface-temperature. Accessed 21 Dec. 2023.
Coral reef. 5 Feb. 2008. Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coral_Reef.jpg.
Daily Sea Surface Temperatures 60S-60N 1979-2023. 8 Nov. 2023. Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Daily_Sea_Surface_Temperatures_60S-60N_1979-2023.png.
Ocean Splashing on Rocks. 20 Oct. 2020. Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ocean_Splashing_on_Rocks.jpg.
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- Musical Afterlives José Vergara
