Projektdetails
Beschreibung
Research project within the “Embracing Transformation” program at Leuphana University of Lüneburg, key subject area “Climate Futures in Digital Cultures”
This project examines modes of representation, including their underlying aesthetic and epistemic implications, of ‘critical zone’ science and of the complexities of digital data it produces. In climate science, the critical zone demarcates “the heterogeneous, near-surface environment in which complex interactions involving rock, soil, water, air and living organisms regulate the natural habitat and determine availability of life-sustaining resources” (NRC 2001, 2). It is often described as the ‘thin biofilm’ or ‘fragile skin’ of Earth – a few meters down until the bedrock and up into the lower atmosphere – where life exists and through molecular reactions creates, sui generis, the conditions for the existence of life. In recent years, the notion of critical zone became ever more important for climate science, particularly in Earth system science (ESS) (Brantley, Goldhaber and Ragnarsdottir 2007; Giardino and Houser 2015; Gaillardet et al. 2018; German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina 2022), with ramifications for complementary fields such as STS or the various domains of the environmental humanities (Latour 2014, 2020; Etelain 2023; Irrgang 2024, 2025a). For the latter, the concept carries significant weight as a viable alternative to the powerful European Nature-Culture dualism and its powerful distinctions and extractivist hierarchies (Arènes 2025; Irrgang 2025b).
This project examines modes of representation, including their underlying aesthetic and epistemic implications, of ‘critical zone’ science and of the complexities of digital data it produces. In climate science, the critical zone demarcates “the heterogeneous, near-surface environment in which complex interactions involving rock, soil, water, air and living organisms regulate the natural habitat and determine availability of life-sustaining resources” (NRC 2001, 2). It is often described as the ‘thin biofilm’ or ‘fragile skin’ of Earth – a few meters down until the bedrock and up into the lower atmosphere – where life exists and through molecular reactions creates, sui generis, the conditions for the existence of life. In recent years, the notion of critical zone became ever more important for climate science, particularly in Earth system science (ESS) (Brantley, Goldhaber and Ragnarsdottir 2007; Giardino and Houser 2015; Gaillardet et al. 2018; German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina 2022), with ramifications for complementary fields such as STS or the various domains of the environmental humanities (Latour 2014, 2020; Etelain 2023; Irrgang 2024, 2025a). For the latter, the concept carries significant weight as a viable alternative to the powerful European Nature-Culture dualism and its powerful distinctions and extractivist hierarchies (Arènes 2025; Irrgang 2025b).
| Status | Laufend |
|---|---|
| Zeitraum | 01.10.25 → … |