Nine tons… This is, on average, the mass of carbon dioxide emitted by each French person, over a year. Well beyond the levels provided for by the Paris agreement, signed by 195 countries in 2015 and at the end of which, we should not issue more than two! This figure, pointed out in the last report of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate), visitors to the City of Science and Industry are invited to see the impact on the environment as part of the new permanent exhibition* Climate emergency, offered since mid-May, Porte de la Villette in Paris.
Designed by a scientific committee chaired by the paleoclimatologist, Jean Jouzel, this exhibition assumes its militant side. “We’ve been talking about the ongoing upheavals for several years. But as long as we don’t show them concretely what it’s all about, people don’t measure the need to quickly change our habits, ”explains Jean Jouzel. This is why for several years, the former vice-president of Group 1 of the IPCC has multiplied initiatives – books, comics, shows – to encourage his fellow citizens to change their (bad) habits. The didactic route he has imagined for this exhibition is part of the objective he set himself twenty years ago: to open the eyes of his fellow citizens to this burning subject.
Accessible solo for those over 15, the very visual exhibition also allows the little ones to become aware of the issue. “The youngest just need to be accompanied by a mediator”, confirms Jean Jouzel. As proof, this CM1 class to whom the teacher explains what global warming consists of in front of a simulator which reproduces the effect of rising waters…
Playful, the exhibition thus succeeds in making accessible to as many people as possible what is impossible to visualize mentally: in particular the quantity of greenhouse gases circulating in the atmosphere, such as the quantity of CO2 generated during a simple meal. Quizzes also allow you to calculate your own carbon footprint. Films or even immersive stands give the opportunity to simply measure the future consequences of rising temperatures.
*”Climate emergency” exhibition at the City of Science and Industry: 30, avenue Corentin-Cariou, Paris 19th. More information on the website: cite-sciences.fr.
