Visualizing Climate Change

Climate change may be all around us, but it is often difficult to see. Carbon dioxide is invisible, and the prevailing imagery of climate change is often remote (such as ice floes melting) or abstract and scientific (charts and global temperature maps). Nobody really knows what 2 or 4 of global warming might look like in their community. The causes of climate change that surround us are often only dimly perceived or concealed, and there are as yet few examples of effective community solutions that people can see. Using spectacular visual imagery, this book demonstrates new ways to make carbon and climate change visible where we care the most, in our own backyards and communities. It aims to change people's perceptions about their society, seen through the lens of climate change and the man-made carbon cycle that drives it. Using 3D and 4D visualizations of future landscapes, community mapping, and iconic photographs, it illustrates not only the impacts of climate change where people live, but also the local causes (sources of community greenhouse gas emissions) and the possible local responses, to reduce carbon emissions and adapt to the impacts. The colour imagery stunningly reveals how we often conceal, misinterpret, or overlook the evidence of carbon usage and climate change impacts, and demonstrates various ways in which these critical realities can be made more tangible and compelling for local communities. The book provides powerful new visual tools for communities, action groups, and planners to use in building awareness and neighbourhood capacity, as a catalyst for accelerated action. It links community outreach and planning through future visioning processes based on the available science. These tools offer every community the chance to visualize their alternative futures, and choose or design their own path into an uncertain future.

Stephen R.J. Sheppard is Professor in Landscape Architecture and Forest Resources Management at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, and Director of the Collaborative for Advanced Landscape Planning (CALP). He is an internationally recognized expert in visualization, and has over 30 years' experience in research and practice in landscape planning, public involvement, environmental perception, and, since 2003, in planning for climate change. He is a Fellow at the Institute for Sustainability Solutions Research, University of Plymouth, UK, and Adjunct Professor at the Nanjing Forestry University, China.