Communications medley: climate story-time

In this week’s round up: climate story-time in America, Cyclist tested & business approved, and how to waste less food.If you’re a science communicator or educator at an informal science center (such as a zoo, aquarium, or museum) trying to encourage conservation action – this is the round up for you! Every week we break down the most interesting recent news and best resources to help you frame the issues as effectively as possible. Some of these resources will be practical communications and framing tips, and others are great starting points for brainstorming future strategies.

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Climate story-time in America

Here is a series of headlines that tell a story:

US tops list for whopping 22 per cent of total global warming

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Global warming denial hits a six-year high

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New Research: How to Move Americans on Climate
Great, practical tips for addressing the first two items! Basically: make it personal, make it emotional, don’t overload on the science, and emphasize protecting future generations.

Bonus:

Flashcard: how to talk about climate in the cold
“So much for that climate change, eh?!” Sightline has a run down of how to talk about global warming in the polar vortex. I like their analogy: “think of climate as personality and weather as mood.”

Behavior change: make it easy

One third of the food produced for humans is wasted; that’s 1.3 billion metric tons of uneaten food annually. Considering the carbon footprint of growing and shipping that food, along with people starving worldwide, this is a ridiculous figure. How can we solve it?

 

Commercially convincing and cyclist safe

Great news – bike lanes keep people safe and are good for local businesses! This is a win, win, win –

could be good for arguments that environment measures necessarily cause economic harm.