(Recently speaking of "trading climates" reminds me of a few things...)
1) An idea I had to make a summary "core sample," as though it had been drilled in one spot on earth and come out another, then radically edited. It would be a clear plastic tube -- filled with solid rock, veins of minerals, dirt, underground streams, skeletons, roots, beetles, etc. -- as long as the room or hall it's in. Each end would have a clump of earth with vegetation sticking out, with the surface just barely suggesting the curvature of the earth.
I had thought of doing a VRML (virtual reality 3D model) version, using existing 3D models of underground mineral or oil deposits -- it would be interesting to approach what's above ground (trees, buildings) from underground in the model. But I think the dirt, rock and etc., in a big (say 8" to 12" diameter) tube a hundred feet long would be interesting to look at.
2) I email a friend in Melbourne, Australia pretty often. And I always think of the weather there, since the seasons are the opposite of here in NYC. They have the heating and cooling just when I need it, and vice versa. All we have to do is drill a hole.