The Loop has been living a harmonious life with all beings around. They have been mutually respectful and kind to each other. However, recently some of the beings have discovered a way to manipulate the Loop and control it.
But is it possible to predict how it is going to behave?
The task
Your movement matters. The way you approach the Loop will make it react in certain ways – can you predict how it is going to behave? Can you control its reaction?
Enter the white square in front of the Loop – it is the interface for your meeting with the Loop.
Pause here and spend some time exploring your connection with the Loop before scrolling down this page.
What’s it all about?
What can we learn from the Loop? Well, it works very similarly to our climate, so our connection with it helps us understand climate science better.
Forcings
Your interactions with the Loop are like forcings – the drivers of our climate such as the solar irradiance, greenhouse gases, aerosols and volcanic eruptions. Changes in these factors change the climate, just like your movement modifies the Loop. For instance, volcano eruptions have a cooling effect on the climate as the spewed particles block the incoming sunlight, whereas greenhouse gases trap the heat in the atmosphere and hence have a warming effect. Does your forcing have warming or cooling knock on effect?
Warming
When you come closer to the Loop, you may have noticed that it changes into warmer colours – this represents the warming of the climate. When humans comes closer to the Loop, it starts to warm even more. But what happens if we observe it from afar in stillness?
Equilibrium
Have you noticed how the Loop gets back to its original state after the change has been made to its shape through the interaction? The Loop is designed to return to the state of harmony, just like our climate does. When opposing forces are balanced e.g. incoming solar radiation reaching the surface of the Earth and the outgoing radiation leaving the Earth, we say they are in an equilibrium state. But when a change occurs in the system, the forces are unbalanced until they reach a new equilibrium state with time.
Tipping Points
At some point the Loop does not resemble a loop anymore when there’s more than one person interacting with it, and it starts to create some new shapes and patterns. This is triggered when you interact with the Loop for a while. When the Loop reaches that threshold it reorganises itself. Climate tipping points (CTPs) work in a similar way – certain changes in the climate system may bring about disproportionately large changes in the system which lead to abrupt or irreversible reorganisation in the system. Feedback processes play important role here.
Climate Feedbacks
You might have observed that the Loop reacts strongly to some of your movements, but sometimes it is not that reactive. Even if you move a little bit, some movements may be picked up by the Loop and amplified. This is how the climate feedback loops work. Climate feedback loops are processes which either amplify the initial impacts of certain climate factors leading to accelerated warming (positive feedback loop), or dampen those effects (negative feedback loop).
Disclaimer
- The Loop prefers to meet people one-on-one, so please enter the square only one person at a time.
- Be mindful of others, the space is dark and your movement matters.
- Note that the visual effects may pose health hazards for those with photosensitive epilepsy. If you feel unwell at any point, please inform member of staff.