Mexico and Latin American Climate Protection Programs

Sir Crispin Tickell Climate Observatory

The Climate Institute is building the world’s highest climate observatory (15,000 ft/4500 m)  atop Sierra Negra in  Pico de Orizaba National Park in the State of Puebla. The observatory will be located next to the Large Millimeter Telescope, the largest and most sensitive single-aperture telescope in its frequency in the world. The observatory is expected to be built by September 2009. Even in advance of this the Climate Institute is gathering greenhouse measurements on site.

The High Altitude Global Climate Observation Center will measure greenhouse gases and dust particles to track global and regional climate and assess hurricane risk, creating an opportunity for extensive environmental study and filling the gap in the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS), which currently lacks an observation center anywhere in the broad mid-section of the Americas (Mexico, the southern United States, Central America, and the Caribbean).

The Observatory has been named in honor of Sir Crispin Tickell, Chairman Emeritus of the Climate Institute, who has helped greatly to catalyze climate protection efforts in Mexico and the world.

National Climate Awareness and Response Network

The Climate Institute is launching the world’s first National Interactive Climate Awareness and Response Network in Mexico. Building on public excitement and national pride in Mexico’s having the world’s highest climate observatory, this evolving network seeks to link the Tickell Observatory and climate theaters in several museums and Observatory outreach centers.  

 

 

On February 20, 2009 a Tickell Observatory Education and Outreach Center was opened in Flor del Bosque, an environmental education park in Puebla. In its first two months over 30,000 visitors received a 37 minute multimedia presentation on climate change implications.  By fall 2009 it is anticipated that the Tickell Interactive Network will link the high altitude observatory, the Outreach Center at Flor del Bosque, a soon-to- be installed climate theater at the Mexico City Museum of Natural History, a climate theater in the Pelopidas Museum in Cancun, and the Climate Institute Training Center in Mexico City.  Plans are being implemented to extend the national network to such cities as Cuernavaca and Veracruz, and to develop similar networks elsewhere in Latin America, the Philippines and the United States.

It is anticipated that by 2010, as many as 20,000 visitors each week will experience comprehensive multimedia presentations on climate and be introduced to tools to enable them to become problem solvers, working on innovative adaptation and emissions reduction. The network will leverage other partnership efforts the Climate Institute is undertaking - a national climate awareness campaign with CICEANA, work with Climate Lab to enable climate network visitors to participate in this evolving wiki on climate solutions, and work with states and industry groups.

Map of the Tickell Interactive Network

This map displays all the sites that currently host (or plan to construct) education and outreach centers that are part of the Tickell Network coordinated by the Climate Institute.