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Carnegie Museum of Natural History Media Relations 4400 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA, 15213 |
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For Immediate Release July 6, 2009 Escape the summer heat with an icy weekend retreat! Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania…Escape the summer heat at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Between July 11–12, guests to the museum can see first-hand, how global climate change is affecting polar regions— particularly glaciers—and what this means for all of us. In addition to special weekend talks with leading scientists, visitors are encouraged to explore the museum’s permanent exhibitions focusing on life in the Arctic and the research Carnegie Museum of Natural History scientists have done in this region. Activities and Exhibitions Talk: Greenland's Changing Glaciers: Perspectives from the Ice Working in Greenland over the last decade has allowed Mark Fahnestock to watch the huge glaciers draining the Greenland Ice Sheet respond to warming in the Arctic. His field work has concentrated on Jakobshavns Isbrae on Greenland's west coast, one of the world's fastest glaciers. This glacier doubled its speed in the early part of this decade, and now puts 40 billion tons of ice into the ocean annually. Using time lapse photography and imagery from satellites, Fahnestock will illustrate how scientists are working to understand the role that the large ice sheets play in the climate system, and why scientists are concerned with the changes they are observing at high latitudes. Sponsored by the University of New Hampshire and Ice Planet Earth with support from the National Science Foundation. Phone conversation with The Polaris Project Visitors talk with scientists and students in the Siberian Arctic as they study global climate change and discover the diverse and fascinating cultures of Siberia. OPENING WEEKEND! Earth Theater Show: Ice Worlds Throughout the solar system, planets are shaped and transformed by ice—a process we can also observe right here on Earth. From the icy moons of the outer planets to the recent Phoenix landing on Mars, Ice Worlds immerses audiences in each ice-shaped landscape to show how ice behaves on very different worlds, and explores our dynamic planet and its ever-changing climate. Ice Worlds features new research conducted as part of the fourth International Polar Year, a large scientific program coordinating over 200 projects, conducted by thousands of scientists from over 60 nations, focusing on the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Teen Docents and Family Activities Children can complete and take home a representation of a Polar Scene. Teen Docents will staff a cart of polar touchables and invite visitors to play Inuit games, hold a seal skin and begin discussions about surviving in the Arctic. DOUBLEXPOSURE: Photographing Global Climate Change Through high-resolution photographs, this exhibition inspires the viewer to consider the effects of climate change on some of the most magnificent regions on Earth. The exhibition showcases 14 historic and modern-day images taken by legendary mountaineer Bradford Washburn and Boston Globe writer and photographer David Arnold. These arresting fine-art photographs document one aspect of the warming climate by comparing two photographs taken at the same angle, vantage point, and elevation, though decades apart. Polar World: Wyckoff Hall of Arctic Life Polar World: Wyckoff Hall of Arctic Life is one of the largest exhibitions on the Canadian Inuit (formerly known as Eskimo) in North America. From their colonization of the Canadian north 4,500 years ago to the present day, this exhibit presents the story of Inuit adaptation to the challenging environment of the Arctic. Polar World does not portray the Inuit at any one point in their history, instead, through displays, dioramas and videos, it presents the entire history of the settlement of the Arctic by these intrepid hunters. Spread throughout the hall, there are Inuit sculptures and prints that reflect the continuity with their past and the changes that have transformed their society into the remarkable culture of today. Polar World is the story of thousands of years of ever-changing environmental and cultural conditions and responses to these forces. Traversing 4,500 years of Inuit history, Polar World: Wyckoff Hall of Arctic Life offers a glimpse of life at the top of the world. Needle to the North Highlighting Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s research in the Arctic from 1901–2004, the Needle to the North exhibit serves as the entry hall to Polar World. The four main sections of this exciting exhibit incorporate field equipment used by early expeditions, flora and fauna specimens, photographs from the 1938 J. Kenneth Doutt and the 2004 Dale S. Mudge expeditions to the Belcher Islands in Hudson Bay, Inuit sculpture and prints, and much more as a means to explore the changes and continuity among Inuit culture over the last century. A touchscreen kiosk presents photos and quotes taken from the researchers’ actual field journals, documenting the trials and triumphs of more than a century’s worth of expeditions in this challenging environment. Additional Areas and Activities of Note Hall of North American Wildlife Carnegie Museum of Natural History, one of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, is ranked as one of the top five natural history museums in the country. It maintains, preserves, and interprets an extraordinary collection of 21 million objects and scientific specimens used to broaden understanding of evolution, conservation, and biodiversity. More information is available by calling 412.622.3131 or from the Web site, www.CarnegieMNH.org.
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