Using scientific data used to create the most depressing song in history
University of Minnesota student Daniel Crawford is using music to explain the scientific data that the world is getting way too hot and we will soon all die in a ball of fire. From Open Culture:
Crawford based his composition on surface temperature data from NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies. The temperature data were mapped over a range of three octaves, with the coldest year on record (–0.47 °C in 1909) set to the lowest note on the cello (open C). Each ascending halftone is equal to roughly 0.03°C of planetary warming.
In Crawford’s composition, each note represents a year, ordered from 1880 to 2012. The pitch reflects the average temperature of the planet relative to the 1951–80 base line. Low notes represent relatively cool years, while high notes signify relatively warm ones.
Watch the song Our Warming Planet below:
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