This article is part of the ISC’s new series, Transform21, which will explore the state of knowledge and action, five years on from the Paris Agreement and in a pivotal year for action on sustainable development.
A child starts down the endless path of asking “why?” “Why is the sky blue?” Why is there day and night?” “Why do fish swim?” “Why is winter colder than summer?”
I try to answer these questions in ways that a child might understand. I go with the facts. “The sky is blue because sunlight reaches Earth’s atmosphere and is scattered in all directions by all the gases and particles in the air. Blue light is scattered more than the other colors because it travels as shorter, smaller waves.” But after many exchanges, and receiving an increasing number of incredulous looks, I give up, thwarted by the relentless curiosity of “why.”
Similarly, social and physical scientists working on climate face a communication challenge. How do we instill the urgency and intimacy we feel for climate science in individuals and communities, where action can make an enormous difference?
I believe that the key to effective climate science communication is embracing the sometimes frustrating childlike curiosity of “why.”
How do children learn what is important to them? Stories, myths, legends and fairy tales help children explain the world around them and understand their place in it. According the BBC, “Most small children live their lives in quite a limited environment. Reading stories to children can show them far-flung places, extraordinary people and eye-opening situations to expand and enrich their world… Scientists have found that children who have fiction read to them regularly find it easier to understand other people – they show more empathy.”
As we grow older and focus on our disciplinary worlds with their own data-centric communication systems, we can lose track of storytelling as a powerful learning pathway. Stories help answer the question “why?” Why do we do what we do as scientists? Why does our work matter?