Coinciding with the Earth Hour today, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Bhutan instituted Climate Science Centre at Genekha Lower Secondary School (GLSS) in Thimphu.
WWF Bhutan with support from the Hydro-Met Services Centre established the centre.
The function of the centre is to record daily weather including humidity and moisture in the air. Such facility is also intended to help students learn about environment and climate change.
“With the installation of METT station, which is very much related to the curriculum would really supplement what we teach in the class rooms by being able to provide hands on practice. The practical sessions would greatly benefit the children in their learning. By and by, we are also hoping to spread the education to the nearby localities,” said the Vice Principal of GLSS, Tshering Dorji.
By establishing climate science centre in schools, WWF Bhutan said the Earth Hour is now going beyond an hour of turning off non-essential lights. The first such centre was established at Dungkar Lower Secondary School in Lhuentse, last year.
“Bhutan may be a carbon negative country, but then we are still getting affected because of threats of climate change. In the past we used to say save this species, save that species, but in reality, it’s saving ourselves because without the forest, without the rivers, we also can’t live. We are very much part of the earth,” said WWF Bhutan’s Communications Officer, Tenzin Rabgye.
The global movement of Earth Hour started from Sydney in Australia as a lights-off event in 2007. Today’s earth hour was marked in over 180 countries around the globe.
