The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) has launched a traveling climate exhibit, designed to connect with communities across the country to share the science of climate change and the impact it’s having on people’s everyday lives.



The exhibit, called “Real People, Real Climate, Real Changes,” builds on NCAR’s popular onsite climate exhibit, which draws an estimated 100,000 visitors a year to the research center’s Mesa Laboratory in Boulder, Colorado. NCAR is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.



“While we get national and international visits to our lab in Boulder, we wanted to extend the reach of our exhibit and engage with people in their own communities,” said Becca Hatheway, exhibits manager for the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, which manages NCAR. “We want to start a conversation and hear about the changes people are experiencing close to home.”



Using pictures, infographics, and personal stories, the traveling exhibit explains how scientists know the climate is changing, what that future may look like, and how the impacts are affecting people, from flooding and drought to sea level rise and severe weather. The exhibit also allows visitors to explore how their own choices make a difference.



 Like the permanent exhibit in Colorado, the traveling exhibit also invites people to contribute their own climate stories. Visitors can write (or draw) a response to a variety of prompts at the end of the exhibit and then hang those responses up for others to see.



“It was important to us to design an exhibit that allows people to be involved,” said Lorena Medina Luna, an education and outreach specialist at NCAR. “We want to share the science going on at NCAR but we also want to learn about what climate change really means for people in their own hometowns.”

Where is it now?

Boulder Public Library

1001 Arapahoe Ave.

Boulder, CO

80302

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