Climate tour
August 6, 2009
The Klimahaus, or "Climate House," opened this summer in the northern German city of Bremerhaven following a three-year construction period. Housed in a large glass building in the shape of a ship, the Klimahaus presents visitors with a tour through many of the globe's climate zones.
The brainchild of Carlo Petri from Perti & Tiemann, a company that specializes in designing educational entertainment venues, the museum, which cost over 70 million euros ($101 million) to create, attracted more than 100,000 visitors in its first six weeks of operation.
Around the world on foot
The largest section of the 11,500 square-meter (123,785-square-foot) museum is called "The Journey." The exhibit leads visitors on a trip southward along the meridian 8 degrees 34 minutes east - on which Bremerhaven is located - and through a series of rooms, each of which simulates different appearances, weather conditions and aromas of the Earth's major climate zones.
The tour begins with ringing cow bells, chirping birds and the fresh aroma of mountain meadows in the Isenthal Valley of the Swiss Alps. Visitors climb a staircase up what looks like a steep rock wall to reach a mountain glacier, where the exhibit explains how glaciers form and melt.
The trip south continues through Africa and the tropics of Cameroon, where visitors squeeze their way through a maze of dark, narrow paths leading through thick vegetation and endure the rainforest's oppressive heat and humidity.
From Africa, the journey leads all the way down to Antarctica - complete with an icy landscape and below freezing temperatures - and then up north on the other side of the globe to finish back in Germany.
"We approach the topic of climate not just with graphs and numbers," said Arne Dunker, manager of the Klimahaus. "Ours is a simple and plain approach to show how different people are influenced in their daily life by different climate situations."
Climate change scenarios
A second part of the Bremerhaven museum, titled "Perspectives," describes historical examples of climate change and provides information about the causes of the current global warming issue.
"I remember having a discussion about whether it's a good idea to teach our visitors that mankind is part of the climate problem," said Dunker. "This was back in 2000 or 2001, when this was a very controversial situation, but today there’s no question that mankind contributes a lot to the climate problem."
The other two parts of the exhibition, "Elements" and "Opportunities," are made up of hundreds of interactive exhibits that aim to show how weather patterns function and what individuals can do to help fight climate change. Illustrating these scientific facts in a simple, but accurate way was one of the main challenges in the exhibition's set-up, according to Dr. Susanne Nawrath, a scientist at Klimahaus.
"Even people who know a lot about science can learn new things here about the latest developments in climate change research," she said. "We also present the important concept of looking into the past in order to understand the future."
Putting theory into practice
To ensure that the venue itself remains as eco-friendly as possible, the Klimahaus only consumes power from renewable energy sources, such as wind farms, and also uses solar panels to produce some its own electricity. In addition, the museum uses various methods to save energy on air-conditioning, such as openings in the walls to allow air from outside to enter the building for cooling purposes.
"To be a 'Climate House' means two things: to show some climate zones and entertain people, but also to have an innovative and green energy concept," said Arne Dunker. "After all, the museum focuses on the topic of how human activities influence the climate."
Author: Eva Wutke
Editor: Sean Sinico