The issue of climate change illiteracy among high school and college students can be combatted by approaching it through a “Space Lens.” NASA has put tremendous effort into mapping and imaging our planet through a program called Global Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet.<br/>At COP 22 in Marrakech, Morocco, I interviewed NASA officials along with representatives of other countries that engage in space research. My goal was to assess “space lenses” that are used to tackle Climate Change Illiteracy. After the conference, I conducted a survey, targeting students, comparing visuals created by the IPCC to those created by NASA and other space agencies. I asked respondents, which visuals were more informative and which were more aesthetically pleasing and eye-catching. Most importantly, the survey was created to address whether the “space lens” helped participants better understand climate change. The concluding question of the survey asked students what they are actively doing to reduce their environmental footprint and how they are spreading the word in order to help reduce climate change illiteracy, in order to promote student initiatives to tackling climate change.

Tackling climate change illiteracy through a space lens

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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