| Story | The glaciers are melting faster than ever. And with them 69% of the global drinking water supply. The environmental sensor company METER has been documenting glacier retreat for decades. But the scientific articles resulting from the data usually only reach an expert audience. The initiative around the Meltdown Flags aims to make the general public understand what is at stake.Meltdown Flags visualizes global glacier retreat, by reducing the color white in flags of countries with glaciers. From 1995, year of the first UN Climate Change Conference, to present day, until 2050, the point of no return for glaciers. For each country with glaciers, a separate data-based flag was created, showing the retreat of the glaciers in the coming years.The Meltdown AR filter let people interact with the flags in an exhibition, now at the Messner Mountain Museum. In classrooms, the filter was used in schoolbooks to learn more about glacier retreat. Online, visitors could access further information, offset their carbon footprint, download and buy the flags, and share their message with a type generator. |
