A fun and interactive exhibit debuting at Science North is also an opportunity to teach people about the growing reality of climate change, says the head of the Ontario Science Centre.
Speaking Tuesday at the launch of the Wild Weather exhibit, Maurice Bitran said staff at his centre and Science North worked together for two years to develop the attraction.
"You know, everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it, as the saying goes," Bitran said.
"(Science North CAO) Guy Labine and I got together and we decided it was high time we do something, not about the weather itself, but the underlying causes that produce these ... frequent and strong weather patterns we are observing all around the world."
Bitran said 2015 was the hottest year globally since records started being kept in the 1880s. While concerns that global temperatures could rise by 2 C seem mild, he said the last time there was a four-degree difference in temperatures, “Sudbury and most of North America was covered in ice.
"We cannot observe directly the consequences of climate change ... but we all relate to the weather, and what's going on outside today," he said.
"This is really one of the biggest challenges our species faces. The best hope we have to solve this and other problems ... is science. Science centres have a very important role to play in bringing together science and society."
Jennifer Pink, science director at Science North, said the effects of climate change can be felt in Sudbury, where temperatures have been getting warmer over the last 60 years.
"Our summers have been warming by 1 degree C, and our winters have been warming by 2 1/2 degrees C — that's a lot in a pretty short period of time," Pink said.
The Wild Weather exhibit allows "people to explore the science of weather ... and gain a greater understanding of what we're talking about — climate and how all of these (extreme) weather events are really the effects of longer-term change in our climate."
Sudbury MPP Glenn Thibeault, who was named energy minister Monday, wasn't able to attend, but his communications director, Brian Band, spoke on his behalf.
"This is the first announcement we get to make here in Sudbury with Glenn as energy minister," Band said. “He's still being briefed and settling in into his new position as minister and he asked me to bring greetings today on both his and the government's behalf."
For his part, Labine said Wild Weather is the latest success of the centre's growing exhibit business.
"We've had 100 leases of our exhibits, 50 per cent of those have been repeat business — a pretty strong testament of our capacity and our expertise," Labine said. "Following this, the exhibition will begin a five-year North American tour, including its first stop at the Ontario Science Centre this fall."
And Ward 6 Coun. René Lapierre said in addition to educational and economic impacts, Science North is a fun place to visit.
"They always bring the coolest and wildest things here,” Lapierre said. "This is a great opportunity for families to come together."
Wild Weather runs daily at Science North until September.
