Econotes : Global Warming Exhibit Clears Air

Does the scientific squabble over global warming (How much? How soon? How devastating?) leave you tired and confused? Get some facts for yourself.

A remarkable new traveling exhibit, “Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast,” at the Los Angeles Natural History Museum explains the Earth’s climate changes from the Ice Age past to the possible future by using everything from fossils to movable maps, burping cows and interactive computer programs. And it gives the visitor some personal choices to reduce the greenhouse gas risk.

The user-friendly exhibit, developed by the American Museum of Natural History and the Environmental Defense Fund, was three years in the making. “We saw a controversial issue that was going to be debated heavily in our culture,” says the EDF’s Tom Huntington. “We wanted to clarify it.”

They succeeded. The American Assn. of Museums will announce at today’s annual meeting in Ft. Worth that the show has won its Curators’ Committee Exhibit of the Year Award. Said the committee’s Lin Nelson-Mayson: “They’ve taken a very complex and difficult subject and made it understandable.”

The exhibition continues through July 25 at the museum in Exhibition Park. Information: (213) 744-3466.