Climate Matters: Tools for Broadcast Meteorologists to Communicate Climate Change On The Air, Online, and in Public Outreach

In addition to their primary role as weather communicators, broadcast meteorologists are frequently called upon to explain other earth and physical sciences when these phenomena make the news. Understanding of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis and astronomical events are all part of the knowledge base the meteorologist needs to have as the station scientist. Added to that list in more recent years is the understanding of climate change and its local impacts. In addition to conveying the science on the air and online, they are also called upon to discuss weather and climate topics in public outreach venues, ranging from invited speaking engagements at civic organizations to science presentations at elementary schools. Given the meteorologist’s limited time and resources, Climate Central’s Climate Matters helps meteorologists discuss climate change and its local effects in a clear and concise manner, providing multimedia to be used on air and on social media to help the put the local weather into a broader climate perspective. We discuss how these tools are developed and showcase how they are successfully used by several broadcast meteorologists.