Hello friends and climate protectors,

As I write this, I am watching a thick wave of wildfire smoke roll over the mountains into Bellingham, WA. This region is known for its temperate rainforests, yet we have received less than two inches of rain since late June. The air smells like burning trees. Climate change is no longer something off in the future. It is here. 

But what do we do about it? Where do we direct our attention first? Paramedics and first responders carry carefully developed tools to help them identify urgent issues affecting the human body. Shouldn't we also have the best tools possible to help us identify the most pressing issues impacting our planet's life support systems? 

Our team is working to develop better climate data tools. These tools can help decision-makers easily identify pressing issues affecting the climate. Right now, we are midway through a crowdfunding campaign that will allow us to continue this work. We need your support to be able to continue.

Why do we need better climate data tools? In 2020, a group of sociologists used survey data to measure attendee comprehension of leading graphs presented at that year's IPCC gathering. They found that for a number of key climate data sets, a majority of decision-makers misinterpreted them, and mistook them to mean the opposite of what the data actually indicate. This is a huge problem. The decisions of these policymakers will affect all life on this planet for many generations. It is vital that these decision-makers are able to comprehend climate data. The public needs to understand climate data as well. Public pressure is a historical motivator of policymaker decisions, but how can we find the right pressure points if we can't make sense of the data? How can we organize if grassroots networks break down because we're divided about what a given graph means?

Our team is making better climate data tools. The tools our team is creating draw upon the work of leading climate data scientists, while making the data accessible to anyone. These tools draw upon several years of collaborative design and discourse with atmospheric scientists, media makers, and social scientists. These tools will help anyone break down the climate data in a way that is simple and intuitive, allowing them to be used by policymakers, educators, mediamakers, and voters. These tools will help us direct attention to where it is needed the most. 

Our work began because of the generous support of the UC Davis ModLab. I hope you will take a moment to support our crowdfunding campaign so our work can continue.

If we reach our goal, we will be able to: 

• finish developing intuitive tools that promote better understanding of climate data
• create curriculum to guide climate data scientists in making data sets more accessible
• create instructional videos and media to improve climate data literacy 
• share our work at a major climate data gathering and continue to strengthen relationships with climate data scientists
• engage in open-source, open-access practices so the public can easily understand climate data and other forms of ecological monitoring

Thank you very much for any and all support of our campaign! 

If you have already donated, thank you! Please also consider sharing this campaign with a dozen friends who care about the climate. That would be a huge way to help!

Here's to doing all in our power to steer towards climate stability.

Onward,

Hayley Steele, MFA

PhD Candidate in Cultural Studies
DE in Science and Technology Studies
Project Director, ModLab
University of California, Davis