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Sometimes You Need a Weatherman to Tell You Which Way the Wind Blows The Weather Underground Experience, 1991 - 2013. Dr. Jeff Masters Director of Meteorology The Weather Underground, LLC http://www.wunderground.com. Served as Flight Meteorologist for NOAA ’ s
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Sometimes You Need a Weatherman to Tell You Which Way the Wind Blows The Weather Underground Experience, 1991 - 2013 Dr. Jeff Masters Director of Meteorology The Weather Underground, LLC http://www.wunderground.com
Served as Flight Meteorologist for NOAA’s Aircraft Operations Center, 1986 - 1990 Publications: • Correction of Inertial Navigation with Loran-C on NOAA's P-3 Aircraft • A Record Minimum Sea Level Pressure Observed in Hurricane Gilbert • Wind Measurement From Aircraft
The story of my flight through Hurricane Hugo: http://www.wunderground.com/resources/education/hugo1.asp
Where did the name “Weather Underground” come from? The original Weather Underground (the Weathermen), founded in 1969, was the radical wing of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). The Weathermen got their name from the the line, "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows” from the 1965 Bob Dylan song "Subterranean Homesick Blues". Logo of the original Weather Underground
Blue-Skies, 1992-1997: A successful NSF-funded interactive science education program Jeff Ferguson and Perry Samson at a 1993 K-12 teacher Blue Skies training workshop
Disaster in the Classroom, 1994: a failed experiment in interactive science education
The comments section of Jeff Masters’ Wunderblog: Not for the faint of heart! Beware of trolls and nastiness, but also expect great links, commentary, news, and inspiration.
Major Inspiration: the Birth of the Portlight Disaster Relief Charity, Comments Section of my September 13, 2008 Post, “Ike Makes a Direct Hit On Galveston”
How Does One Communicate Effectively to the Public? Don’t be Such a Scientist. Tell Stories, Use Metaphors. Arouse and Fulfill!
How does one communicate effectively to the public? Get educated! Visit http://www.climatecommunication.org
Lessons from climatecommunication.org: The public will respond to simple, clear messages, repeated by a variety of trusted sources. Bad words: Replace with: Anthropogenic Human-caused Radiation Solar energy Greenhouse gases Heat-trapping gases Enhance Increase Anomaly Departure from average Tell people about solutions. Use the analogy of The Little Engine That Could, not Chicken Little.
When talking about climate change, audience research shows that it is most important to emphasize these points: 1) Earth's climate is warming. 2) This time, humans are mostly responsible. 3) The overwhelming majority of climate scientists agree. 4) The warming climate is already causing significant impacts to people and ecosystems. 5) There are choices we can make now to reduce the severity of future impacts. These points are put at the top of wunderground’s Climate Change page as our Position Statement, at: http://www.wunderground.com/climate/
How does one communicate effectively to the public? Get educated!
Use awesome and colorful images! Tropical Storm Irene over New York City, August 28, 2011
Images with people in them are among the most compelling China floods and landslides, 2010: 4245 killed, $51 billion damage
Use historical imagery New York's LaGuardia Airport after the November 25, 1950 Nor'easter
Weather Channel buys Weather Underground, July 2012 Front Entrance of The Weather Channel headquarters, Atlanta, GA, August 2012
At SxSW 2013 With TWC CEO David Kenny and Actor Adrian Grenier
Earth’s Climate: Where are We at, and Where are We Headed? Developed a Climate Change Slide Show for a Weather Channel Company-wide Presentation, Available at: http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/2013/climatetalk.ppt
Coming in October 2013 to The Weather Channel: 6-Part “Tipping Points” Series
Producer: Liz Courtney, Unboxed Media, liz@unboxedmedia.com.au
Thanks for listening! Send us your wunderphotos, http://www.wunderground.com/wximage/ jmasters@wunderground.com My Sample Climate Change Talk: http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/2013/climatetalk.ppt