Communicating climate change: a new NEEF/COMET initiative

Almost daily, the broadcast media reports on another sign of global climate change. As a result, the public's interest in this topic has increased dramatically over the last year. However, mixed messages from various sources, combined with the public's lack of understanding regarding the scientific process in general and the basics of climate in particular leave many in a state of confusion. As the station scientist, the broadcast meteorologist can play an important role in helping the public better understand this complex topic.

A new initiative between the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) and the COMET Program is being developed to help weather broadcasters address many of the questions and concerns that the public has about climate change. The module, which will likely be published in 2009, will describe how the public currently views the topic of climate change and what about the science confuses them the most. It will provide simple graphics and animations, which can be reused by broadcasters, to describe key concepts, such as:

o What factors influence climate

o What greenhouse gasses are and how they influence climate

o How is climate studied

o How the IPCC process worked and what their results depict

One of the main goals of the module is to help broadcasters answer the questions they get from the public. During our presentation, we will solicit examples of these questions that the audience has difficulty answering so that we can address as many as possible in the module.

This module will be a part of NEEF's Earth Gauge™ program, which provides environmental information to weather broadcasters in a way that is readily usable on the air, on station websites, or in community outreach activities. It will also be part of the AMS professional development program for Certified Broadcast Meteorologists.