Exposure to a multi-disciplinary approach that brings together climate science, visualization and public policy can provide a well-rounded understanding of the complex issue of climate change, and allow for students, scientists, and policy makers to make decisions to address the problem. Articulating environmental communication and effective advocacy to an informed audience of decision makers will be crucial to taking the immediate policy actions required. For someone who is concerned about climate change, a more digestible understanding of what the science is telling them can ease uncertainty of “what can be done?” Armed with accurate and understood data, advocates can influence policy action by educating both their peers and encouraging their political representation.

How knowledge and opinions of science are shaped

In an age where facts are being questioned on all fronts, the ability to explain what data is telling you is just as important as having the data available. There is no shortage of data available to both scientists and the general public in regards to climate change, but what is lacking is a general understanding of its implications and how to use the data to create action. Climate change is at risk of becoming a politically partisan issue, a problem that will lead to disbelief in the science and misrepresentation of what the data accurately depicts. A policy advocate using effective environmental communication can educate the public and policy makers regardless of political affiliation and recommend policy action that doesn’t cater to one ideology.

Data can be used to address policy at any level of government, from local to national, to international. Policy should grow from the data and consultation from experts, to ensure that data is never distorted to match a preconceived desired policy outcome.

SUNY CID is University at Albany-based international development center, that focuses on implementing donor-funded programs focusing on governance and institutional strengthening. CID provides governance expertise to PIRE, giving insight into how to work with policy makers in adapting their processes to better serve their constituents.

The work of PIRE-CREATE can be used to inform policy makers in both the United States and South America, and CID can facilitate conversations between those who draft policy from science, and political representatives. CID’s experience in bringing together political actors can allow effective communication between these actors, environmental policy advisors and advocates, and the scientists involved in the project. It is through this method of connecting experts with implementers that effective and applicable policy can be created to address climate change.

Tree-ring data can be used to describe the extent of climate change and drought in the Colorado River Basin and how it affects water users as well as ecosystems (Crisis on the Colorado River). Indeed a recent study led by Park Williams, a PIRE-CREATE scientist, has linked anthropogenic warming to an emerging North American megadrought, that will hit the southwestern part of the United States particularly hard.

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