By Daniel Brown
Four Republican Senators, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, James Lankford, and Jim Inhofe, each of whom have denied the reality of climate change in the past, signed a letter asking the National Science Foundation (NSF) to investigate funding they awarded to the non-profit organization Climate Central, suggesting Climate Central is propagandizing. That’s false. Climate Central is not an advocacy organization. They simply explain scientific reality.
Climate Central has been using the NSF funds to run the Climate Matters program, which educates local TV meteorologists about climate change. The program has been incredibly successful. It has measurably improved TV meteorologists understanding of how climate change influences short-term weather conditions. In the past, TV meteorologists, who usually major in communications or meteorology to focus on 10-day weather forecasts, often receive little or no education on climate changes that span decades or more. As a result, local weather forecasters tended to be more skeptical of climate change than climate scientists. According to NBC News, the Climate Matters program has been extremely effective at closing that gap. As of 2017, 95% of TV forecasters understand that the climate is changing.
Flooding following a storm this past winter. Photo credit: FEMA
Climate Central simply teaches the scientific facts of climate change—the same publicly available information that can be found in the Fourth National Climate Assessment or the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Reports. The only thing different about what Climate Central does is their approach and masterful skill in communicating facts that have been out there, vetted, peer-reviewed, and verified in study after study.
Climate Central’s work is used widely teachers and policymakers and other professionals. Their Surging Seas tool, for example, helps communities identify risks from rising sea levels. They constantly identify changes in aspects of climate that could pose risks for various industries, like maple sugaring, lobstering, or downhill skiing. They provide a great education service and help us responsibly prepare for what’s ahead.
The four Senators took notice of Climate Central’s work only after NBC News made it clear that scientific facts were defeating misinformation. Science, communicated well by Climate Central, funded effectively by the NSF and summarized with good journalism by NBC News and other outlets, compelled these four Senators to deny the reality we face. It’s troublesome that political leaders continue to object to science education that can help protect Americans from harm. We need our lawmakers to rely on sound evidence to build a better future for our kids and grandkids.
Participants in the Boston March for Science
In Massachusetts, we must continue to thank our U.S. delegation for supporting action on climate change, and we need to remind them that Massachusetts is and must remain a leader in supporting climate education and finding solutions.
Daniel Brown is Mass Audubon’s Climate Change Program Coordinator