It’s quite difficult to entice a reader into a book about Climate Change – there’s something so leaden and laden about statistics and science and dispute and above all virtue. So I decided humour would have to help me through. – Ian Mackewan on his novel Solar.
Chris Sounness from Victoria’s Department of Primary Industries does a good job making people laugh. I heard him at a Climate Science Communication Workshop held by the Australian Metereological and Oceanographic Society.
Farmers he works with worry about their water supply and temperature increases. Chris helps them understand what drives wet and dry seasons. Climate indicators such as the Indian Ocean Dipole and the Sub-tropical Ridge are becoming better known through his lighthearted approach to climate learning.
Chris is good at scientific presentations and materials. As a take home message, he and his team have come up with a series of animated Climate Dogs to tell the story, Ridgy, Enso, Sam and Indy.
Check out the climate dogs and see them doing their bit to herd rain in Victoria.
‘I want to get a good discussion going because the Southern Oscillation Index is a great tool for farmers at the end of winter, but at other times, it’s a bit of a rubbish indicator,’ Chris says. ‘It’s time to expand the vocabulary.’
Many in Chris’ audience may not see climate change as a result of human causality, but they’re becoming more interested.
Hey Chris do you know what Ian Mackewan won for Solar?
A pig and a lot of champagne! (PG Woodhouse Prize)
PS You can read more of Chris’ writing for ‘climate nuts and grain farmers’ at the-break-newsletter.