About this blog
Mark McCaffrey helped develop Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science which has been reviewed and endorsed by the US Global Change Science Program. Designed to aid teachers, policy makers, and the general public in understanding the intricacies of the climate system, the Climate Literacy principles present information about Earth's climate, the impacts of climate change, and approaches to preparedness and mitigation. More details ...
Mark is a co-founder of the Climate Literacy Network and attended the Inspiring Climate Education (ICE09) conference in Copenhagen to share insights about climate literacy efforts with colleagues from around the world. He is involved with the NASA funded Inspiring Climate Education Excellence (ICEE) project and the Climate LIteracy Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN), which is an NSF National Science Digital Library Pathway.
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Monthly Archives: January 2010
Back to Basics
We have spent billions in the US on climate research but until recently very little (especially in comparison to research dollars) on educating students, teachers, citizens, people within agencies about the basics of climate and human impacts on the climate system. It is no wonder our societal appreciation for (and ability to respond to and prepare for) global change in all its myriad manifestations is lacking if not missing in action. Continue reading
Primary Climate Change Schools
he project, which currently engages 100 schools, over sixty of which are primary schools that serve students up to about age twelve, has conducted an external evaluation (PDF) that found that only a few schools were unable to strike a balance between providing students with information about climate change and empowering them to take actions to make a difference in their lives.
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Climate 101 Workshop
With colleagues Tamara Ledley of TERC and Frank Niepold of NOAA’s Climate Program Office, I’m in DC at the National Council for Science and the Environment’s annual conference, giving a workshop today entitled Climate 101: Lessons from the Essential Principles of Climate Literacy. This year’s theme: The New Green Economy. Continue reading
Spring 2010 Climate Literacy Online Course
Organized around the widely endorsed “Essential Principles of Climate Sciences”, the course provides a unique approach to climate professional development. Each participant selects scientific and educational topics to investigate for each Essential Principle. The class then engages in extensive discussion of these topics. Participants submit a relevant lesson plan or unit overview for their capstone experience. Continue reading
Earth is Hiring
Class of 2009: you are going to have to figure out what it means to be a human being on earth at a time when every living system is declining, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation… but not one peer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute that statement. Basically, civilization needs a new operating system, you are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades….. Continue reading
Teachable Moment
The infrared heat trapping qualities of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have been probed and studied in details for over 150 years when John Tyndall first set up a miniature atmosphere in the basement of the Royal Institute. But many students never learn about the history of climate science, which in some respects parallels the history of evolution, both in terms of timing and acceptance by some parts of society. Continue reading
Department of State’s Climate Video Contest
With the title Change Your Climate, Change Our World the U.S. Department of State is sponsoring a video contest. But if you want to enter, hurry since the deadline is January 12th, 2010. “Change Your Climate, Change Our World” is … Continue reading
Framing and Public Engagement of Climate Change at AGU
The presentations and video from Max Boykoff from CIRES, Matt Nisbet of American University and Gwendolyn Blue from University of Calgary that Steve Easterbrook blogged about are available here on the AGU website. All of their insights are timely and … Continue reading
Climate Literacy- An imperative for survival
If climate deniers are guilty of treason, so are universities who fail to ensure that all graduates grasp the definitive scientific consensus that if we fail to act immediately to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, we are risking the survival of the human race. Continue reading
Let’s Get Real
Recently I was talking with a colleague about why it’s been so difficult in climate circles to talk about adaptation. Often, the topic is taboo. Mitigation– reducing greenhouse gas emissions (whether stabilizing CO2 at 450 or reducing to 350 parts per million,) and fostering a new energy low-carbon economy (and creating millions of jobs in the process) are the two sides of the climate coin that get virtually all of the attention, whether at COP15 or on the national and regional stage. Continue reading
