Seven ways to improve communication with climate and weather experts

Experts ask, “what information do you need?”. And communities reply, “well, what can you provide?”

This “chicken-and-egg” conversation often happens when you put a group of climate scientists and practitioners in a room together. Lack of understanding between the two groups is commonplace: climate and weather experts aren’t necessarily aware of climate-related decisions that are made locally, and practitioners may not realise the abilities and limits of the science to know how it could be helpful.

To bridge this gap, the BRACED Knowledge Manager is launching a Climate and Weather Helpdesk on April 18 in the internal Learning Lounge that can open a more useful conversation between scientific and regional experts (Implementing Partners).

How can practitioners communicate effectively with scientific experts?

We’ve created some guidelines for practitioners to explain the climate and weather information needs of the communities they work with to scientific experts.

1. Start with decisions. If you’re thinking about how to introduce climate information in your project, consider the decisions that community members, NGOs and governments make that could benefit from climate or weather information. What would you do differently if you had a better idea of what the climate was like in the past, or would be like in the next few days/months/years? Focus on those decision points rather than information that can’t be used practically.

2. Consider the income generating activities of different groups in a community and how they relate to the seasonal cycle of rainfall and temperature in your region. For example, if your project beneficiaries are mostly farmers who depend on a single rainy season to plant crops, key decisions such as buying seeds, deciding when and what to plant, or using fertilisers may benefit from climate and weather information.

3. Think about the kinds of disasters your communities face – both those that are directly related to climate such as flooding and drought, and those that might have indirect impacts on the communities, such as malaria. Weather forecasts can be used to prepare for climate shocks, whereas seasonal forecasts can provide useful information about long-onset disasters like drought.

4. Timescales matter. How far in advance do you need the information? Keep that in mind, as the earlier you ask for information, the less detailed it will be. For example, scientists can tell you if a storm will approach a certain village three to five days in advance. Three months in advance, however, they may (only) be able to tell you if your village falls into an area with a high chance of unusually wet or dry conditions over that season.

5. Use the uncertainty in forecasts to decide which actions to take. Forecasters make predictions about the future by observing the current weather and using models to estimate what might happen next. However, these are just predictions, and the highest probabilities do not always align with reality. Practitioners should ask for the forecast skill, an evaluation of how well a forecast predicts the future. This can help communities decide which actions are most appropriate for the level of uncertainty in the forecast. For example, a community may decide that a flood forecast that is accurate only 60% of the time is not good enough to warrant evacuation.

6. Don’t forget natural variability. Long-term decision-making can benefit from climate projections, which provide an idea of what the climate will be like 50–100 years in the future. However, historical records also help understand periodic swings in the climate that have occurred in the past and are likely to occur in the future. For example, the climate of the Sahel in Africa naturally swings between wetter and drier conditions over decades, and climate change may impact those natural swings. Decision makers need to use information on both natural variability and climate change to formulate adaptation strategies.

7. Express demand. It is the first step for scientists to develop products that are useful to you. Sometimes the information you are looking for is simply not available. In cases where this is due to a lack of capacity, voicing your needs can guide climate information experts to develop useful products for you down the line.  

Now that you’ve done some thinking – start asking your questions at the BRACED Climate and Weather Helpdesk!