NOAA announced in September, the release of the U.S. Global Change Research Program’s third edition of the nation’s climate literacy guide: Climate Literacy: Essential Principles for Understanding and Addressing Climate Change. The climate literacy guide was first published in 2008 by the USGCRP and updated in 2009. This third edition of the guide is built on the latest climate assessments.
The guide presents information that is important for individuals and communities to know and understand about Earth’s climate, the impacts of climate change and solutions. A team of federal scientists, communicators, educators and program leaders worked collaboratively to update the guide.
“The climate literacy guide is a major investment in education and workforce development that will help build America’s climate-ready workforce and communities,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “The rising threats of climate change are accelerating, and we need a new generation of climate-literate and specially skilled workers who can help communities address a wide range of climate impacts – from sea level rise, flooding, and water quality issues – so that we can tackle the climate crisis.”
“The climate literacy guide is a rich educational resource drawing from the latest scientific consensus on a broad spectrum of topics in climate science,” said NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad, Ph.D. “It will help bring climate literacy to every community in America and around the world.”
“We know from hundreds of listening sessions held over the past year that educators and youth are hungry for resources, knowledge and skills to address climate change,” said Carol O’Donnell, the Douglas M. Lapp and Anne B. Keiser Director of the Smithsonian Science Education Center. “This guide will transform how climate science is addressed in classrooms and communities across the country.”
Photo credit D.J. Kast/University of Southern California