focus on the image of the Earth. observe the familiar contours of continents, the deep blue of ocean. watch as the ice coverage changes. icecaps grow and shrink with the seasons. this is the Earth, and this is one way that it breathes.

now turn your attention to yourself. listen to your own breathing, feel your ribs rise and fall. focus on your breathing for a few seconds. breathe in, then out. in, and out.

fix your gaze on the breathing earth gif on this screen. sync your breathing with the seasonal changes of the planet. as the icecaps expand in winter, breathe in. as vegetation grows in the light of summer, breathe out. align your breathing with the planet.

from microbial to planetary scales, and everything between, breathing connects us. this performance of aligning your breathing with the Earth, can be done anywhere, anytime. we are always breathing. so is our planet.

breathing earth was inspired by the work of mapmaker John Nelson.

satellite images come from NASA Blue Marble.

future iterations of this project will include projects of changes in sea ice extent, to model the shortness of breath that both we and our planet experience with the onset of anthropogenic climate change.