GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Visitors can discover 70 million years of climate change on Earth in a new exhibit now open at the Florida Museum of Natural History.

The “Our Changing Climate: Past and Present” exhibit uses large-format graphs showing major historic events to present the story of Earth’s changing climate over geologic time. The exhibit also highlights how Earth’s climate fluctuates and what global trends are affecting life today.

Opened Wednesday, this free exhibit is the first in a series of exhibits focusing on world issues that influence humans’ daily lives.

“In this series of exhibitions, we hope to engage visitors in a conversation by looking at how science explores the issues and how it can help us navigate ways to correct course or cope with new realities,” said Darcie MacMahon, the museum’s head of exhibits and public programs.

Some of the issues to be presented in future displays are especially important for Floridians, such as sea level rise and the future of fresh water, MacMahon said.

Through a timeline, visitors may visualize and compare where dinosaurs, megalodon sharks, humans, ancient civilizations and more fit in Earth’s climate history.

This exhibit was created by the Florida Museum in collaboration with the University of Florida department of geological sciences; the museum’s divisions of anthropology, mammalogy and vertebrate paleontology; and the University of New Hampshire Complex Systems Research Center.

More information is available online at http://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/exhibits/limited-time-only/changing-climate/ or by calling 352-846-2000.

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Writer: Maria Espinoza, emari@ufl.edu
Source: Darcie MacMahon, dmacmahon@flmnh.ufl.edu
Media Contact: Paul Ramey, 352-273-2054, pramey@flmnh.ufl.edu