(From Climate Communication)

Below is one example, see the C-HOST videos page for more. (Does your group or community want its own StormSmart.org site? Let us know.)

Watching this in New York City, as of now 385 miles away.

A little intimidated.

A little excited.

Unfortunately, the evidence suggests that things aren’t that simple. It’s easy to find examples in our own lives of knowing better but still making less than logical decisions (e.g., I know why I shouldn’t buy that pint of ice-cream, but it’s so tasty that I do anyway): Social scientists know that this applies to bigger decisions, too.

In this video (produced by Oregon Sea Grant), Susanne Moser of the National Center for Atmospheric Research explains how those of us working to motivate people to take steps to adapt to climate change might best use what we know about communicating to really move people to make communities safer and more resilient.

One of her recommendations? Don’t focus on what the future will look like environmentally. In the best of scenarios, it’ll still look worse than today. Instead, instill a vision of what the future could look like socially. A future with a “sense of community and togetherness and enjoyment … despite a difficult climate, despite a difficult world.”

Too harsh? Or too true? Watch the eleven-minute video and see what you think.

“Effectively Communicating Climate Change” via Oregon Sea Grant

Wow. If you live anywhere near the ocean and this doesn’t scare you, it probably should.

Worth a quick watch, and a good outreach tool you can use to help your community’s businesses be ready.

Wow. Show this the next time your community (or state) is reviewing its building code (and remember that even if you can’t require it, you may be able to gently encourage better construction practices).

What’s the real worst case scenario for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill? What it the oil keeps gushing all summer?

The New York Times is reporting that a team of scientists has run the models, and that the results aren’t pretty. Nearly all of the simulations show oil heading into the Atlantic, and, perhaps, even making it over to Europe.

However, the group is quick to note that there are several caveats to the study, and in the end warns:

We cannot be sure that this model is very realistic. With a grid cell size of slightly less than 10 square kilometers the model can not resolve near shore processes and might underestimate the lateral exchange in the Gulf Stream system. On the other hand, models of this type have also been criticized to have still to slow currents and to much numerical diffusion. More scientific work needs to be done to have a better idea of the fate of the spilled oil.

Let’s hope we don’t end up ground testing these models.

“Oil Could Reach Atlantic Coasts” (The New York Times)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE-1G_476nA&feature=player_embedded

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Kib7Am568

m.fema.gov

(Hopefully they’ll give their primary site a reworking, too.)