Maine Public interviews Johnson about how to discuss climate change
Maine Public interviewed Tora Johnson, about how she discusses climate change with people who are skeptical of the science behind it, view it as not a priority or feel too powerless to help mitigate it. Johnson, associate professor of GIS and chair of the Division of Environmental and Biological Sciences at the University of Maine at Machias, said there are strategies for talking about climate change in ways that make it more engaging or make listeners feel supported, not blamed. She also focuses on learning what people are worried about or need. “When you’re a municipal official, climate change manifests itself as things like increasing frequency of backups in your wastewater treatment plant, roads that flood repeatedly during a storm event,” she said, “and more elders living in older homes, not really able to weather the storms.” The Bangor Daily News and New Hampshire Public Radio shared the Maine Public story.