Arctic Shifts

The Arctic is the region of our planet most affected by climate change. Sea ice is melting, coastlines are eroding, permafrost is thawing, and as a result, ecosystems are changing rapidly. The animated short “Arctic Shifts” asks the viewer to consider the connection between our human activity and the emergence of this “New Arctic.” How does a breath you take affect the lives of phytoplankton in the Arctic? What happens to all the other creatures in the Arctic and around the world when the lives of these single-celled photosynthesizing organisms at the base of the food web change?

“Arctic Shifts” grows from a collaboration between artist Anna Lindemann and scientist Dr. Alice DuVivier, a polar climate modeler at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The animation draws extensively from scientific research on the changing Arctic and incorporates visualizations of the Arctic’s future climate generated using a state-of-the art global climate model. At the same time, “Arctic Shifts” depicts speculative futures about Arctic food webs that currently fall outside the scope of scientific simulations. The animation presents three stories about possible Arctic futures.