Climate Change Communication for the Conservation Professional

Amanda Staudt, Ph.D.National Wildlife Federation

staudta@nwf.org, 703-438-6099June 6, 2013

Provide HOPE

TAILOR your communication

Consider your FRAME

Frame 1: Emphasize Preparedness

FRAME 2: Build on Conservation Expertise

Frame 3: Make it Personal and Local

Junk the jargon

Scientific term

Public meaning

Better choice

Enhance Improveintensify, increase

Positive feedback

good response, praise

vicious cycle, self-reinforcing

cycle

Uncertainty Ignorance Range

Biasdistortion,

political motiveoffset from an observation

Excerpted from Somerville and Hassol (2011).

Be ready for skeptics

Stick to science basics

• Lead with what we DO know, rather than the uncertainties

• Link events to trends and other recent events

• Point to the scientific consensus

• Return to common ground

Top tips for effective communication about climate-smart conservation

• Balance the science with hope• Tailor communications to your audience• Emphasize preparedness, risk reduction

and a healthy future• Build on conservation expertise• Make it personal and local• Junk the jargon• Be ready for skeptics

For more information:www.nwf.org/extremeweatherhttp://blog.nwf.org/author/staudta/ twitter @amanda.staudt

Thank you!

Flickr (mahalie)

References (1) • CCSP, 2008: Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate. Regions

of Focus: North America, Hawaii, Caribbean, and U.S. Pacific Islands. A Report by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global Change Research. Department of Commerce, NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center, Washington, D.C., USA, 164 pp.

• Climate Nexus, 2012. Connecting the Dots: A Communications Guide to Climate Change and Extreme Weather. Available at: http://climatenexus.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/connectingthedots.pdf

• CRED (Center for Research on Environmental Deci sions). 2009. The Psychology of Climate Change Communica tion: A Guide for Scientists, Journalists, Educators, Political Aides, and the Interested Public. New York.

• Diez, J., et al. 2012. Will extreme climatic events facilitate biological invasions? Front Ecol Environ 2012; 10(5): 249–257

• Hansen, J., M. Sato, R. Ruedy. 2012. Perceptions of Climate Change: The New Climate Dice. Submitted for publication to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, PNAS. http://arxiv.org/abs/1204.1286

• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2001. Climate Change 2001: The Scientific Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 881 pp.

References (2)• IPCC, 2012. Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to

Advance Climate Change Adaptation.

• National Research Council (NRC), 2011. Climate Stabilization Targets: Emissions, Concentrations, and Impacts over Decades to Millennia. http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12877

• Staudinger, MD, NB Grimm, A Staudt, SL Carter, FS Chapin III, P Kareiva, M Ruckelshaus, BA Stein. 2012. Impacts of Climate Change on Biodiversity, Ecosystems, and Ecosystem Services: Technical Input to the 2013 National Climate Assessment. Cooperative Report to the 2013 National Climate Assessment.

• Tebaldi, Strauss, and Zervas, 2012. Modeling sea level rise impacts on storm surges along US coasts. Environmental Research Letters, 7 014032

• USGCRP 2009. Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States. Thomas R. Karl, Jerry M. Melilo, and Thomas C. Peterson (eds.). Cambridge University Press.

A few good sources for climate science information and communication resources

• http://realclimate.org – blogs authored by climate scientists providing rigorous analysis of climate science issues

• http://www.skepticalscience.com/ – website focused on “Explaining climate change science & rebutting global warming misinformation”

• http://climatecommunication.org/ -- good summaries of science on climate extremes

• http://globalchange.gov – portal for National Climate Assessment reports and data from federal agencies