Climate Planet — An Experience In Multiple Dimensions

This summer I had the great fortune of being invited to the grand opening of this exceptional construction called Climate Planet at the harbor of Aarhus, Denmark.

Aarhus is the European Capital of Culture 2017 and so it is no coincidence Climate Planet startet out here. It was a great opportunity to make some noise about the concept.

It has since moved on to Copenhagen where it will stay till the end of October. The plan is to continue through Europe next year.

Giant hollow globe

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The globe is an awe inspiring steel frame construction reaching 6 stories high enclosed in a canvas illustrating our whole planet earth. Upon entering the big globe an unexpected sight unveils itself in the dark. Another globe. Still quite big and measuring 4 meters in diameter hovering in the middle of this giant room that can seat 200 people.

Live planet

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Several projectors transform the hovering spherical screen to a representation of our planet earth in real time, with actual NASA satellite imagery.

It was quite a mesmerising experience sitting next to our own planet spinning slowly on a black backdrop covered with tiny LEDs illustrating a starry sky.

The show

After welcomes from the creators of this concept and comments from the local politicians, the very competent meteorologist Jesper Theilgaard took the stage and introduced us to what we were going to witness next. He told us about the motivation behind this visual experiment:

The climate issue facing humanity may potentially be a disaster for our kind, but with common sense we have the opportunity to alleviate the worst effects. However, it requires information and knowledge spread to all corners of our society. 

He could not help adding that a couple of days prior to this event the president of The United States had abandoned the Paris Agreement, and thus he stressed that now would be a good time to mix facts with emotions. Climate Planet does exactly this. It is so grand that one cannot help feeling directly involved.

Jesper Theilgaard narrated the overwhelming show of stunning visuals on the globe itself telling the story of our planet’s creation, accompanied by 4 giant screens surrounding it. A powerful sound system made our bodies shake when volcanoes erupted and storms ravaged the lands.

Throughout we had cuisine from all corners of the world served, to underline that this was supposed to be a truly global experience.

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The hope

After being inside our planet a couple of hours having all your senses bombarded, you could not escape the feeling of connection to our small blue dot in space. This is all we have. This is our home. Despite the grueling facts also presented in this production, you were struck with a genuine sense of hope. The sheer beauty of our earth made sure of that.

It is possible to save this planet from doom. It really is.

 

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