(American Museum of Natural History)

NEW YORK, NY October 18, 2008 —If the global economic crisis seems like its heading toward recovery, you can always keep worrying about that other major global crisis, climate change. A new exhibition on global climate change opens this Saturday at the American Museum of Natural History.

The exhibition explains the science of climate change. It looks at the history and potential future impact, and suggests possible solutions, through a blend of interactive video displays and dioramas.

Princeton Professor Michael Oppenheimer was one of the co-curators. He hopes people will walk out of the exhibit empowered rather than overwhelmed.

Oppenheimer: I hope people walk out of here saying, yes this is a big problem, yes we have to act right away, but my god there are a lot of things we can do, there are a lot of things I can do as an individual just starting the minute I walk out the museum door to try to solve the problem.

The exhibit has several striking visuals, including a life-size polar bear foraging in a giant garbage heap, and a model of a flooded lower Manhattan to illustrate rising sea-levels.

The show "Climate Change" will be on display at the Natural History Museum through August 16, 2009.

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