New York artist draws the line for global warming

compiled by Rachel Simmons

A map of Mosher’s project; image held here

Here’s a good way to make people feel uneasy… New York artist Eve S. Mosher’s project High WaterLine consists of her drawing chalk lines around the city’s coastal neighborhoods, marking the boundaries 10 feet / 3 metres above sea level, of possible future flood levels. This is the same boundary which, according to the New York Times , federal and state agencies and insurance companies use to show where waters may rise to after a major storm. Also aided in part by research done by NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies at Columbia University, Mosher is trying to draw attention to the fact that flooding up to these lines or beyond could be increasing noticeably because of global warming. The process is slow-going as Mosher is determined to stop and explain her project to everyone she meets, especially those whose sidewalks and porches she is marking on. According to the Times , Mosher also is handing out what she calls “action packets” to the residents of the neighborhoods affected, which detail ways in which they can better conserve energy and slow the process of global warming and reduce the chances of flooding.

The artist herself walks along the chalk line she created, image held here .

According to the Times , in the worst-case scenario, dozens of New York neighborhoods would be flooded up to Mosher’s line or beyond, at an average of every eight years, by the year 2050, which would mean that these neighborhoods would develop to resemble Venice, or even ancient Alexandria. Mosher is currently working her way through Brooklyn and Canarsie, but over the next several months she will extend her line through southern Brooklyn and work her way into Manhattan, where her line will start at East 14th St., loop around the bottom of the island, and then end at back at West 14th St.

Circa Art