Uncertainty in Climate Models: Public Engagement through Creative Nonfiction

This poster will describe the process and rationale for developing public understanding of uncertainty in climate science and modeling through the medium of creative nonfiction.  The project is a collaboration between a science writer and a researcher in the area of energy policy and decision analysis.  Drawing from daily experience to develop metaphors for different types of uncertainty in climate models, we will portray uncertainty as a concept that is diverse and textured beyond how it is typically portrayed in the popular media. This project will draw on the expertise of climate modelers, decision makers in climate adaptation, philosophers of science, and will meld rigorous scholarship with compelling narrative. We will provide a review of the portrayal of climate science uncertainty and decision making in the popular media, as well as the components of our approach which will constitute a novel approach toward communicating the complexity of climate uncertainty.