scholarly journals Climate Matters: A Comprehensive Educational Resource Program for Broadcast Meteorologists

2016 ◽  
Vol 97 (5) ◽  
pp. 709-712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernadette Woods Placky ◽  
Edward Maibach ◽  
Joe Witte ◽  
Bud Ward ◽  
Keith Seitter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Carolina ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
Educational Resource ◽  
The Public ◽  
Weather Information ◽  
Local Impacts ◽  
Resource Program

Abstract Local TV meteorologists are optimally positioned to educate the public about the local implications of global climate change: They have high public trust as a source of climate science information, local TV is the #1 source of weather information in America, and most weathercasters have relevant scientific training and excellent communication skills. Surveys show that most TV meteorologists would like to report on climate change, but lack of time, lack of broadcast-quality graphics, and lack of access to appropriate experts are barriers that inhibit such coverage. With funding from the National Science Foundation and philanthropic foundations, we developed Climate Matters as an educational resources program to help interested local TV meteorologists educate their viewers about the local impacts of global climate change. Currently, the program provides more than 160 participating weathercasters nationwide with weekly localized broadcast-ready graphics and script ideas, short videos, and opportunities for brief (hour-long webinars) and more intensive (day-long seminars) professional development sessions—at no cost to participating weathercasters. We aim to more than double participation in the program over the next several years. This article will chronicle the development of Climate Matters over the past five years—beginning with a pilot test at a single news station in Columbia, South Carolina, that was shown to be effective at helping viewers better understand climate change and culminating in a comprehensive national educational resource program that is available to all interested weathercasters.

scholarly journals Broadcast Meteorologists’ Views on Climate Change: A State-of-the-Community Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Perkins ◽  
Kristin Timm ◽  
Teresa Myers ◽  
Edward Maibach
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
The United States ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Local Impacts ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

AbstractBroadcast meteorologists—highly skilled professionals who work at the intersection between climate scientists and the public—have considerable opportunity to educate their viewers about the local impacts of global climate change. Prior research has shown that, within the broadcast meteorology community, views of climate change have evolved rapidly over the past decade. Here, using data from three census surveys of U.S. broadcast meteorologists conducted annually between 2015 and 2017, is a comprehensive analysis of broadcast meteorologists’ views about climate change. Specifically, this research describes weathercasters’ beliefs about climate change and certainty in those beliefs, perceived causes of climate change, perceived scientific consensus and interest in learning more about climate change, belief that climate change is occurring (and the certainty of that belief), belief that climate change is human caused, perceptions of any local impacts of climate change, and perceptions of the solvability of climate change. Today’s weathercaster community appears to be sharing the same viewpoints and outlooks as most climate scientists—in particular, that climate change is already affecting the United States and that present-day trends are largely a result of human activity.

Human- Induced Climate Change Arguments Offered By Those Who Dissent

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael B. McElroy
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
Wall Street ◽  
The Public ◽  
Personal Opinion ◽  
The World ◽  
Explicit Prejudice ◽  
The Wall Street Journal

Chapter 4 presented an extensive account of current understanding of climate change. The evidence that humans are having an important impact on the global climate system is scientifically compelling. And yet there are those who disagree and refuse to accept the evidence. Some of the dissent is based on a visceral feeling that the world is too big for humans to have the capacity to change it. Some is grounded, I believe, on ideology, on an instinctive distrust of science combined with a suspicion of govern¬ment, amplified by a feeling that those in authority are trying to use the issue to advance some other agenda, to increase taxes, for example. More insidious are dissenting views expressed by scientists on the opinion pages of influential newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). If scientists disagree, the implication for the public is that there is no urgency: we can afford to wait until the dust settles before deciding to take action— or not, as the case may be. Missing in the discourse triggered by these communications is the fact that, with few exceptions, the authors of these articles are not well informed on climate science. To put it bluntly, their views reflect personal opinion and in some cases explicit prejudice rather than objective analysis. Their communications are influential, nonetheless, and demand a response. I begin by addressing some of the general sentiments expressed by those who are either on the fence as to the significance of human- induced climate change or who may already have made up their minds that the issue is part of an elaborate hoax to mislead the public. There are a number of recurrent themes: The data purporting to show that the world is warming have been manipu-lated by climate scientists to enhance their funding or for other self- serving reasons.Climate science is complicated; scientists cannot predict the weather. Why should we believe that they could tell us what is going to happen a decade or more in the future? The planet has been warmer in the past; we survived and maybe even prospered.

scholarly journals Physics Behind the Climate Change

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 98-101
Author(s):  
Jeevan Regmi
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Global Climate Change ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Cost

There is an urgent need for science to inform society about the cost of failure to address the global warming. The challenges offered by global climate change have not been fully recognized by the public and decision making bodies. The severity of climate change has not been taken seriously. It is limited to declarations and propagandas only. Time has come to act globally. The Himalayan Physics Vol. 5, No. 5, Nov. 2014 Page: 98-101

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