Global Warming

This interactive installation directly involves the public in the potential impacts of global warming. A bicycle-powered pump and a photovoltaic cell connect to a large water tank with a 3D map of a flooded San Francisco Bay Area in it. The walls of the tank are lined with interpretive cartoons describing the science behind global warming.

The visitor comes and pedals ferociously on the bicycle and produces energy. They then can choose between using the photo cell and bicycle energy to drain the Bay and return it to normal conditions, or use it to run a fan to cool themselves off. Apparently the Sisyphean task of keeping San Francisco dry is most often trumped by the desire to evaporate perspiration with the fan. As Baile explains, “We all have choices to make and comfort seems to be winning hands down these days.”