THE silence is broken by the pop of an air bubble and it's crackle lingers in the darkened room. 

Wayne Binitie pauses to look at his creation. The flash of a camera goes off and for a moment his face lights up. But as quickly as it was gone, the darkness returns and only the sound of the air bubble remains. 

Normally, that wouldn't be anything to write home about but when it's the same air that James Watt, George Washington, and King George III breathed in it's enough to make you stand up and take notice. 

Glasgow Times: The air was around during George Washington's day The air was around during George Washington's day

That's certainly the plan for a new exhibit unveiled today at the Glasgow Science Centre and, ahead of a climate change conference in the city next month, it's hoped it will get conversations started around the future of the planet. 

Polar Zero, which opens this weekend to the public, features two pieces inside a simple room at the hub, which were shown to the Glasgow Times today. One – a cylindrical glass sculpture encasing Antarctic air from the year 1765 – was created by Wayne while the other is an Antarctic ice core containing trapped air bubbles from the same time. The sound of the bubbles escaping is played on loop inside the room. 

“I look at the ice and hope it’s a way of people connecting with something that’s quite distant or remote," said London-based artist Wayne. “The more we have been putting exhibitions together, the more we realise people are interested.

Glasgow Times:

“I am interested in what people bring to the work rather than telling people what to think of it. People will have their own cultural associations.

“Climate change means nothing to some people but it should mean something when we talk about the earth.

“I think this is probably our last chance to get it right. It’s a pivotal point for people to work together." 

Created in collaboration between the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), global engineering and consulting firm Arup, and the Royal College of Art (RCA) student Wayne, the exhibit comes just weeks ahead of COP26. 

The United Nations summit at the Scottish Exhibition Centre (SEC) will see world leaders – including Pope Francis and US President Joe Biden – descend on the city with the hopes of striking a new accord.

For those involved in Polar Zero, the air bubbles' evidence of the past shows the importance of the event. 

“We are losing altitude and mass in Antarctica as the sea levels rise," said BAS glaciologist Dr Robert Mulvaney, who brought the ice back to the UK around 30 years ago. "The ice is there to give people an idea of the fragility of the Antarctica landscape.

“It’s a chance for me to explain my emotional attachment to the ice and to see it melting away is hard but it’s important. The polar regions and ice are melting away.

Glasgow Times: Robert Mulvaney with his ice Robert Mulvaney with his ice

“What’s in the glass is air from 1765, right at the start of the industrial revolution. By getting the air from there into the sculpture I have tried to capture that point where society was starting to change.

“The level of carbon dioxide in that sculpture is around half of what we have in the air today.”

Polar Zero was made possible by funding from the Arts & Humanities Research Council.

“To be able to look at that and see a sample that’s been scientific extracted and not a created thing shows how we have changed the whole atmosphere," said Arup fellow, Graham Dodd, who helped to come up with the design. “That has been a sobering experience.

Glasgow Times: Graham Dodd outside the exhibit Graham Dodd outside the exhibit

“We hope people engage with it and think about what decision we make now that can reduce the carbon emissions and cope with the changes we have already set in motion."