U44B-08:
Educating Local Audiences about Climate Change
Thursday, 18 December 2014: 5:45 PM
Danny Satterfield, WBOC TV, Salisbury, MD, United States, Heidi M Cullen, Climate Central, Princeton, NJ, United States and Myles Robert Allen, University of Oxford, ECI/School of Geography and the Environment, Oxford, United Kingdom
Abstract:
This talk will focus on best practices for educating local audiences about climate science and the importance of providing the larger climate context during extreme weather events, when audiences are particularly interested in the climate connection. In their role as Station Scientists, local television meteorologists serve an important function in educating viewers about climate change and its' associated impacts. Through its' Climate Matters program, Climate Central works to support local television meteorologists in their outreach efforts. Launched in 2010 with support from the National Science Foundation, the program has grown into a network that includes more than 150 weathercasters from across the country. Climate Matters delivers information on climate at the regional and local level, providing ready-to-use, broadcast quality graphics and analyses that put climate change into a local context.
