Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Joins COP30 With Science & Art

At LDEO scientists are conducting extensive studies of the Amazon rainforest that align with the COP30's "Forests to Sea" theme.

The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) is a world-renowned research institution at Columbia University, founded in 1949 to study Earth's natural systems. LDEO scientists were among the first to map the seafloor, provide proof for the theory of plate tectonics, continental drift, and develop a computer model that predicted El Niño events. LDEO’s research covers everything from formation of the Earth, moon, and solar system, as well as the movement of carbon and other materials through the Earth System, including its atmosphere, oceans, and land, using different types of Earth materials from sediments to cave deposits to tree rings to identify past climate shifts and changes.

Columbia University, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory

Ahead of this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belem, Brazil with a “Forests to Sea” theme that recognizes the interconnectedness of these two vital ecosystems, during September, LDEO’s Tree Ring Lab celebrated its 50th anniversary. The Tree Ring Lab held a colloquium to highlight its contributions to climate and environmental research over the past five decades that focuses on using tree rings to understand past and future climate change. This includes creating global climate records, developing new quantitative methods, and analyzing how forests respond to events like heat waves, and droughts, with a specific emphasis on their role in the forest carbon cycle.

Climate Disasters Inspired by Great Masters an AI Art Show by Mary Tiegreen

Mary Tiegreen explained the inspiration for her exhibition at LDEO, which is featured at COP30’s Climate Heritage Network event: “Over the past eight years, I have had the opportunity to work as art director at ClimateChangeResources.org, an extensive not-for profit website dedicated to climate change issues. I began exploring Bing’s AI text-to-image creator to create images of climate impacts depicting the range of ecosystems and environmental issues that span from terrestrial (forests, wildfires, drought) to marine (sea-level rise, ocean acidification, plastic pollution) environments that complement COP30’s “Forest To Ocean" theme. 

Working with AI, I am able to create an image that seems to have been painted by a master artist from a distant past, depicting an environmental crisis from the future. And that was how my art project began.”

LDEO’s Research of the Amazon
At LDEO scientists are conducting extensive studies of the Amazon rainforest that align with the COP30's "Forests to Sea" theme. They are concerned about current deforestation rates in the Brazilian Amazon, since ongoing deforestation and climate change are driving substantial transformations, increasing water stress and potentially pushing the Amazon towards a critical tipping point or large-scale dieback, which would have global climate implications. Because forests are critical habitats for over 80% of terrestrial species, including numerous bird, butterfly and rabbit species, which is the focus of artist Hunt Slonem’s art work.

Hunt Slonem

Hunt Slonem explained the inspiration for focusing his paintings on butterflies, birds and rabbits that are on exhibit at COP30’s Climate Heritage Network event: “My focus on butterflies, birds, and rabbits is rooted in a blend of personal experiences, a deep spiritual connection to nature. This strong bond with nature and its symbolism offers a beautiful foundation for artistic expression. My life experiences living in tropical places like Hawaii and Nicaragua have given me a unique perspective, allowing the shapes, colors, and forms of these beautiful living creatures to continuously fuel my creativity with a profound influence on my life and art.”

The Amazon is home to at least 35% of the world's known butterfly species, with estimates of at least 7,000 species residing in the rainforest including well-known species like the striking Blue Morpho, known for its iridescent blue wings, and the Owl Butterfly, which has large eyespots on its wings to startle predators. And approximately 1,300 bird species, which represents about 14% of the world's total bird species including many endemic, native  species and birds with unique adaptations, such as a vast array of tropical birds, including iconic species like the Blue-and-yellow Macaw, Scarlet Macaw, and Toucan.  Deforestation in the Amazon directly causes the decline of forest-specialist bird species by destroying their habitat, which leads to population declines, reduced food sources, increased predation, and population fragmentation. And also disrupts the Amazon's "flying rivers," atmospheric rivers of moisture, which causes droughts in downwind regions that could potentially turn the area into a savanna. 

LDEO scientists study not only Amazon’s “flying rivers” but also the role of the Amazon river-- home to native Discus Fish-- in the ocean's food chain as well. They research how the Amazon River plume, which carries vast amounts of freshwater, sediments, and vital nutrients (like phosphorus and silicate) into the Western Tropical North Atlantic, fuels large algae blooms. This forms the base of a significant marine food web and plays a critical role in the ocean's carbon cycle.

Ocean & River Lovers by Selva Ozelli

Selva Ozelli who has an exhibition at LDEO with scientist, author and photographer Ian Hutton explained why she focused on Amazon rivers’ Discus Fish in her Ocean & River Lovers exhibition for Havre de Grace Maritime Museum  featured at COP30’s  Climate Heritage Network event “The Amazon River is home to the vibrant, disk-shaped cichlids known as discus fish (Symphysodon spp.) These colorful fish are native to the Amazon River basin and its tributaries, where they are typically found in slow-moving, heavily wooded areas. They prefer warm, soft, acidic, and highly oxygenated clean waters. Discus fish thrive on a diet rich in protein, which they forage in their specific habitats. However, their delicate ecosystem is under threat. Climate change and the ongoing deforestation of the Amazon directly harm these beautiful fish by destroying their habitat, reducing their food sources, and ruining their breeding grounds.“

LDEO’s Research of Ocean Warming
LDEO’s Ocean Carbon Group utilizes machine learning to estimate ocean carbon fluxes. Their work directly supports the general themes of climate change mitigation and understanding the ocean's role as a carbon sink, which aligns with the "Forests to Sea" theme of COP30.

Researchers have also investigated deep sea warming and the impact of rising temperatures on marine ecosystems and ocean currents. Increased temperatures in the oceans from climate change causes stratification, which alters currents by trapping heat and nutrients in the upper layer. This reduces deep ocean circulation and can weaken major current systems, impacting marine ecosystems through changes in nutrient and oxygen distribution, which leads to consequences like coral bleaching and shifts in species ranges. The bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef and the southernmost open-ocean reefs in Lord Howe Marine Park, and shifts in seaslug species ranges, highlight the existential threat climate change poses to marine environments.

Paradise by Ian Hutton and Selva Ozelli

Ian Hutton explained the impact of ocean warming on seaslugs featured in his exhibition at LDEO which is presented at COP30’s Climate Heritage Network event “Since 2013, Prof. Stephen Smith (Aquamarine Australia) and I (Lord Howe Island Museum) have been hosting a Sea Slug Census program a long-running citizen science project that has spread across Australia, and to sites in Indonesia and Vanuatu, with more than 4,000 participants photographically documenting the distribution of over 1,100 species to date. This program uses public contributions to document sea slug distribution, providing valuable data on how these seaslug populations are changing due to ocean warming.”

Art Meets Science at LDEO
The LDEO’s Forests to Sea themed research and exhibits for COP30 feature the interconnectedness of these two vital ecosystems through art and science to encourage the expression of original ideas that have long, and transformative impact.  Professor Steven Goldstein, the Interim Director at LDEO, notes that “Science and art share many common characteristics. The essence of science is to use our imagination with observation and logic to comprehend the world around us, how it is, was, and possibly will be, while art is also the expression of our imagination about what is, was, or might be.” He has encouraged using art and science together to communicate to the broad public the critical role of geoscience in our understanding of how our planet works, which must serve as the basis for finding solutions to the climate crisis. Art Meets Science