Fall 2008 Climate Alert
Puebla and the Tickell Observatory [ PDF ]
In this Newsletter:
Puebla and the Tickell Observatory: Moving a Nation to the Front in Climate Protection Within North America
Commentary by John C. Topping, September 2008
Viewers of the film An Inconvenient Truth, which won Al Gore a share of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, are familiar with the carbon dioxide measurements recorded by the station at Mauna Loa in Hawaii. As Gore points out, these measurements and those of the other global change observing stations that have been added over the past half century are among the most important data in the history of science. This information has helped scientists to link the rising temperatures worldwide to the growing greenhouse emissions from human industrial and agricultural activity. It has also helped provide a baseline for global decisions that will change the way humanity produces electricity, designs its buildings and fuels its vehicles during the 21st century.
In the next few months the State of Puebla in Mexico will become the site of what will be both the world’s highest climate observatory and one of the most important rallying points in the battle to protect Earth’s climate. The Sir Crispin Tickell High Altitude Climate Centre, soon to be operational atop Sierra Negra in the Pico de Orizaba National Park, recognizes an individual who more than anyone on our planet has alerted policymakers to the crucial importance of maintaining a stable climate. Three decades ago Sir Crispin’s pioneering book, Climatic Change and World Affairs, was the first effort by a public official to alert the world to a potentially imminent crisis. A few years later while Sir Crispin was serving as British Ambassador to Mexico, his speech at UNAM alerted the scientific community of Mexico to the potential implications of climate change. Following a March 1991 briefing on climate change at Los Pinos by a Climate Institute team led by Sir Crispin, President Salinas announced the creation of a National Committee on Climate Change and the closing of a large PEMEX refinery in the Mexico City area responsible for much air pollution. It is especially fitting that this crucial scientific site is named for Sir Crispin; not only has he been in the forefront in advising Mexico, the UK, China and the US on climate change, he has a stake in Mexico’s future as his three Mexican grandchildren may, like their compatriots, face a very different climate than they were born into.
The driving force behind the Tickell Observatory is a remarkable young Mexican scientist, Msc. Luis Roberto (Ro) Acosta. Trained in Canada under Dr. Wayne Evans, discoverer of the Arctic ozone hole, Senor Acosta inspired television stations in Mexico City to arrange for UV-B monitors and health reports to citizens. Soon after that he managed to place Mexico City’s air quality data on line. For this at a very young age he received the Miguel Aleman Prize, Mexico’s most prestigious environmental award, was recognized by CNN Latin America and was one of two Mexican environmental leaders featured in an October 15, 2001 Special Issue of Time Latin America on Mexico’s Leaders of the New Millennium. Not resting on these laurels, Ro Acosta joined forces with the Climate Institute and sought to focus its Mexico and Latin America Program initial effort on filling a crucial gap in the Global Change Observing System (GCOS). Lining up support of the Mexican Meteorological agency led by Michel Rosengaus, he obtained endorsement by the World Meteorological Organization and equipment and collaboration from NOAA, NASA, and Sun Microsystems. With this in hand Senor Acosta obtained generous support of La Fundación Pedro y Elena Hernández, A.C. and an invitation from INAOE to locate the climate observatory in its high altitude science park near INAOE’s world renowned radio telescope. Not only was this a huge practical advantage as Dr. Alfonso Serrano Perez-Grovas, Project Leader of the Telescope, arranged crucial logistical and security support and a very advantageous site, it also enabled Senor Acosta to capture national attention by showing that Mexico, once in the forefront of astronomy in the Mayan Era, would with the radio telescope be reassuming such prominence and with the world’s highest Climate Observatory would be assuming such a position in climate science. Why not also be a leader in climate solutions, Acosta asked, as Mexico has many great architects, engineers and urban planners.
Fortunately the political and business leaders of the State of Puebla shared this same passion to pioneer in protection of the environment. Well before climate change was at the forefront, the Governor of the State of Puebla, Lic. Mario Marin Torres, was a leader in forest protection and planting. He made clear that his state would lead Mexico both in climate awareness and action. The core of this commitment was an Observatory Education and Outreach Centre in Flor del Bosque State Park in the City of Puebla. With powerful backing from Puebla’s Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, Lic. Francisco Castillo Montemayor, this centre was built in near record time and is being dedicated October 1, 2008. The centre will serve as a climate theater, showing NOAA’s world renowned Science On a Sphere and linking park visitors to images and data from the Tickell Observatory. The Observatory should be completed in the next few months and fully operational by early spring. On or about World Environment Day 2009, the Inauguration of the Tickell Observatory is likely to be the most significant environmental event in the Western Hemisphere. The Tickell Observatory and the Flor del Bosque Centre made possible by the State of Puebla will be the hub of a national interactive network of climate awareness centres and museums throughout Mexico with links planned to important sites in Mexico City, Cancun, and Cuernavaca. This effort has drawn on crucial support from a number of individuals and groups. Senor Jose Joaquin Lopez Castillo, Mayor of Atzitzintla, the town in which the observatory will be located, has generously donated two hectares of land at the base of Sierra Negra to build a cabin for observatory personnel and visitors. Dra. Aurora Elena Ramos, Senior Advisor for Mexico and Latin America of the Climate Institute, has spearheaded the effort to link the observatory to museums and outreach centres.
Other Articles in this Newsletter:
Tom Roper Honored for Pioneering Leadership in Climate Protection
Dr. Stephen Leatherman at the Forefront of Hurricane Research
Stephen Leatherman a la vanguardia de la respuesta a los huracanes
Climate Institute Awards [ Reconocimientos en Español ]