Galoshes Good For Viewing Oslo Global Warming Installation
by April Streeter, Gothenburg, Sweden on 03.23.08
"Is there a problem?" asks the ad for a new climate change exhibit in Oslo
The Nordic Museum of Science and Technology has found a great way to teach patrons about the possible coming effects of a changing climate: visitors must borrow and wear bright yellow galoshes to experience the 400-square-meter "underwater" installation called Klima X.
The floor of Klima X is covered with a 10-centimeter deep layer of H2O which will continue to rise a few centimeters over the course of the two-year-long exhibit as two huge blocks of ice sitting on the floor (representing the two poles) melt in real time. Visitors can also use floating boats to wander through exhibit stations that recreate climates in Greenland, China, the Amazon, Nepal and hypothesize some of warming's effects. The Technical Museum is trying to get Norwegians, who have been promised a CO2 neutral society by 2030, to get more interested in finding solutions to emissions reductions, and this week will combine Klima X with a push to get people to make tabulate their emissions and make personal CO2 resolutions through Klimaloftet. Via ::Camino Magasin (Swedish)
Does global warming threaten to permanently cripple the global economy? According to a new report from the British Treasury prepared by economist Nicholas Stern, that's exactly what will happen unless we cut greenhouse gas emissions to 25 percent below current levels by 2050. Should we do it? A close reading of the report reveals that the answer is "not necessarily."