Photo of an adult and a child looking at a museum exhibit about climate change.

Exhibits

Visitors to the Museum of the Earth and the Cayuga Nature Center in Ithaca, NY can learn about climate change and energy through permanent and temporary exhibits, both in-person and online.

Changing Climate: Our Future, Our Choice

This permanent exhibit at the Museum of the Earth highlights how the Earth’s climate has changed many times in the past, is changing now at an unprecedentedly rapid rate due to the actions of humans, and how we have the power to take action and make positive changes.

Photo of an adult and child looking at a museum exhibit.

The online version of this exhibit has several interactive elements, including:

  • An interactive timeline of climate events in the last 800,000 years
  • A presentation that highlights the time scales of climate change we can learn about from climate proxies
  • Exploration of 3D sediment core and fossil specimens
  • An interactive map of US electric power generation and greenhouse gas emissions from power sources
  • A household carbon footprint calculator
  • A “feedback station” with current climate and energy news and the opportunity to give your response to a question about the news.
Online Exhibit
Teacher's Guide to the exhibit

Climate Change in Central New York

In this exhibit visitors can learn about the local impacts of climate change in Tompkins County, NY, especially for ecosystems and agriculture. The exhibit also connects visitors to local organizations that are taking climate action.

Picture of summer and winter scenes and examples of the appropriate clothing for each season.

The online version of this exhibit has several interactive elements, including

  • A simple, clickable game that uses clothing to teach about the difference between climate and weather
  • An interactive that reveals projected changes in future extreme storms and extreme heat in Central New York
  • Icons for specific weather hazards that link to National Weather Service weather safety information
  • A downloadable infographic with ten climate actions you can take
  • Videos, resources to learn more, and downloadable pamphlets
Online Exhibit

Other Climate-themed Exhibits

The Museum of the Earth has developed other permanent and temporary exhibits on climate change and energy.

Photo of two people inside part of a museum exhibit that looks like a blue ice tunnel.

Visitors to the Museum of the Earth's Glacier exhibit can immerse themselves in an ice cave environment as they learn about how glaciers form, move, and change, and how glaciers worldwide are changing in response to a changing climate.

Image of an adult and a child looking at an aquarium with a coral reef.

The Museum of the Earth's live coral reef aquaria focus on two different reef ecosystems—the Indo-Pacific and the Caribbean—and provide opportunities for learning about how these sensitive ecosystems and the oceans are affected by climate change.

Image from above of a museum exhibit with a large picture of the Earth on the floor.

Moving Carbon, Changing Earth was a temporary exhibit about the carbon cycle and its connections with climate. It was developed by PRI as part of the Broader Impacts portion of an NSF grant awarded to  Cornell atmospheric scientist Natalie Mahowald.

Photo of a few teenagers looking at an exhibit.

Weird Weather, a small traveling exhibit developed by PRI for residents of rural communities in Upstate New York, has been on display at libraries, nature centers, town halls, fairs, agricultural expos, and schools across New York State.