Best Practices of TV Meteorologists Communicating Climate Change

Television meteorologists are frequently the most familiar scientists for many in the United States.  Consequently, we wondered what television meteorologists who are “early adopters” of climate change science communication are doing to share this science and the extent to which their efforts match best practices in informal science education.  Supported by a National Science Foundation grant, we interviewed 16 North American TV meteorologists whose views of climate change science are consistent with those of the National Academy of Science.  Our interviews were guided by a 2009 NAS report says that when science is shared in contexts audiences voluntarily seek, such as television, the Internet, museums, zoos, aquaria, hikes, and so forth, the experience is effective when audiences (1) feel excitement about the science; (2) understand explanations, facts, and models; (3) use the scientific method to observe, predict, question; (4) consider that scientists are people who have opinions and flaws, but who also have systems like peer review for adjudicating competing ideas; (5) participate in scientific activities such as using instruments or talking to scientists, and (6) view themselves as learners or contributors to science. 

Analysis these “early adopter” television meteorologists showed that they viewed their audiences as “dying to have intelligent conversations about climate change science.”  They read scientific journals and interviewed local climate scientists.  They created websites and blogs, spoke at community events, and some times put climate change science reports ahead of the regular weather report.  Frequently, they tried to explain climate change science using familiar terms and analogies, and sometimes they focused on explaining regional phenomena likely associated with climate change (Best Practice #2).  The most active early adopters were distinctive in their desire to discuss openly the social or human nature of science, such as the fact that scientists disagree among themselves but also have systems for managing disagreements (Best Practice #4).  In contrast, the less active were reluctant to discuss disagreement about climate change science with lay audiences, viewing that topic as one that veered into politics rather than science.