Climate Change Exhibit Changes, but Museum Says It'll Stay Above Politics

The American Museum of Natural History's climate change exhibit is getting an overhaul, but the museum is reassuring the public that it won't be influence by conservative donors.

Earlier this year, a group of staff curators criticized the museum's leadership for including Rebekah Mercer on its board of trustees. Mercer and her father, Robert, have donated millions of dollars to Donald Trump's presidential campaign, as well as other groups that reject the scientific consensus that climate change is caused by humans. As the museum prepares to make major changes to the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, officials at the institution say trustees have no part in deciding the content of its exhibits.

“We are deeply committed to presenting evidence-based, scientific information about climate change to a broad public," museum officials wrote in a statement. "That has included, and continues to include, exhibitions, educational and public programs, scientific research, and content in our permanent halls, including updating content where we have new scientific information. At the museum, those decisions are made by scientists and educators based on evidence, facts, and research.”

Parts of the exhibit will be closed through June while museum workers finish up renovation work. The museum says the revamped Hall of Planet Earth will bring its displays up-to-date with the latest in climate change research from NASA, NOAA and other scientific organizations.