Images of Climate Crises. Critical Remarks on Climate-Technical Imagery Production and the Possibilities of Desirable Futures

Abstract

Satellite technology produce imagery to monitor the status and changes of human and natural environments; AI-driven technology creates models for calculations and predictions that serve purposes of optimization and adaption. These two core technologies that originate from modernity´s socio-technological order provide the epistemic access to facilitate the triple planetary ecological crisis. Both operate at necessary scales and symbolize (Western) epistemic success for humankind. However, their technological production interacts with the societal urgency to address the climate crisis in complex ways. Beyond conventions of scientific-technological progress, situated climate imaginaries are urgently needed for productive future visions as foundation for political actions.