Listening to the Lakes: What the earth is telling us about climate change, and how we can listen

The climate crisis is becoming increasingly evident through headline-grabbing events such as floods and wildfires; but the signs of a climate in distress are also evident through a multitude of less obvious but equally significant markers. This talk will discuss the composition of two acousmatic pieces, both of which draw on data provided by colleagues in Bangor’s School of Ocean Sciences. Three Storms (2022) uses ocean wave data from buoys located around South West England and North Wales, and focuses on February 2022 – a month that saw three consecutive named storms in the course of a single week. Two Lakes (2023) draws on water-level data from lakes in Mexico and Wales, where frequent droughts see the re-emergence of drowned buildings, with increasing regularity. Both pieces turn the science data into sound, making the earth’s 'cries of distress' audible. They pose the question: are we listening?