How was the Climate in the past? How have humans changed it since the dawn of civilization to today? How are scientists studying climate change? These are the questions that our section “Climate, humans and the environment: a lengthy history” will be addressing via an interactive journey beginning 800,000 years ago until today, seeking to analyze the human impact on climate and the environment by taking advantage of the research carried our by the laboratories of the University of Venice Ca’Foscari and of the CNR-IDPA.

As part of the "Night of Research" event on September 29th at the University of Venice Ca'Foscari, we will be presenting an educational itinerary organized in three stands:

• Climate of the past
• Human impact on the Environment
• Sampling and monitoring in remote and urban areas

Using educational activities, each of these stands will explore certain aspects of these themes.

The stand “Climate of the past” will discuss how ice cores from Antarctica are used to create climate reconstructions based on research carried out by the laboratories of Via Tornio, thanks to a collaboration between the the University of Venice Ca’Foscari (DAIS) and the CNR-IDPA. Visitors will learn the basic principles surrounding ice core analysis, what information they can provide us with, and what analytic techniques are involved. There were also be an interactive section where an “articifial ice core” will be presented, as well as some basic laboratory experiments.

The stand “Human Impact on the Environment” will simulate for visitors of all ages the impact of deforestation carried out by the first human beings to arrive to the Pacific islands using printed materials to create a simplified model of a forest and lake. Visitors will also be shown a sediment sampler and an example of a sediment core in order to explain how we measure the presence and the impact of humans using molecular markers present in lake bed sediments

Finally, at the stand “Sampling and monitoring in remote and urban areas” visitors will be able to try their hand at using a high-volume sampler to study atmospheric particulates. They will be shown real filter samples from polluted urban areas and will be able to compare those with samples from remote areas. Furthermore, as part of this activity, visitors will be shown some examples of automated sampling systems provided by the weather-climate monitoring station of Col Margherita (BL). The activity will allow visitors to interact with sensors (for temperature, humidity, light, sounds, etc.) in real time and see what effect their actions have using a graphical interface on a screen. Visitors will have the opportunity to get to know hardware-software technologies of the “internet of things”, which are essential to the functioning of real-time monitoring systems in indoor and outdoor settings: from simple systems used in the home to advanced systems used to monitor the environment in remote areas.

More info (in Italian): http://www.venetonight.it/clima-uomo-e-ambiente-una-lunga-storia/