Lines of light showing projected sea level rise in Galway city is part of a collaborative project involving scientists and artists which will extend across a number of Irish coastal areas this year.
Línte na Farraige aims to provoke a dialogue around rising sea levels and the need to adapt societal behaviour to tackle climate change.
The installations comprise illuminated horizontal lines, based on predictions of future sea level rise from international benchmarks that represent future sea level and storm surges.
Galway City Museum has created a pop up “climate change gallery”, which features the Línte na Farraige exhibition and provides a viewing point for “lines of light” showing how the Atlantic may rise in the Spanish Arch area on the banks of the river Corrib.
The set of visual light installations has been created by Finnish artists Timo Aho and Pekka Niittyvirta who worked on similar projects in their home country of Finland, in Florida, USA, and in Scotland.
The scenarios draw on research published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) AR6 report and Irish tide gauge data.
As the IPCC reports have pointed out, sea level rise is driven by global greenhouse gas emissions.
It is estimated that sea level may rise by between 0.37 metres in a low emissions scenario, and by 1.88 metres in a high emissions scenario, by the year 2150 .
Línte na Farraige involves scientists, based at Trinity College Dublin, Maynooth University and University College Cork, the Climate Action Regional Offices (CAROs) and local authorities.
The Native Events sustainable event management company is also involved to ensure the installations have minimal environmental impact, while partners Algorithm are developing an interactive website.
The LED light installations will be located at the Spanish Arch and Ard Bia in Galway for six months, and at the Claddagh Basin for four days.
The project has been funded by Creative Ireland.
