DEADLINE: Metcalf Seminar "Climate Change and the News: Planning for Sea Level Rise & Extreme Weather"

As policy discussions heat up in advance of the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference in December, journalists are invited to apply for a free seminar exploring U.S. responses to coastal climate change impacts.

This Metcalf Institute seminar will be held in Cambridge, MA on Nov 4, at the 2015 Rising Seas Summit in partnership with the Association of Climate Change Officers.

As President Obama pushes some of the toughest regulations ever proposed to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., a clear understanding of climate change science is quickly becoming an essential tool for journalists, as well as city planners, zoning officials, public health practitioners, transportation experts, and other professionals charged with helping organizations and communities adapt to sea level rise and other climate change impacts. This is particularly important for journalists preparing to cover the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in December, but this issue also has wide-reaching implications for large and small communities across the nation.

In the United States, among the most immediate challenges of climate change is sea level rise, which could affect nearly 40% of the U.S. population – the proportion that lives in coastal zones.

The University of Rhode Island’s Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environmental Reporting is partnering with the Association of Climate Change Officer  (ACCO) to present a seminar designed for professional journalists to help them understand the science and policy underlying business, government, academic, non-profit, and community efforts to develop effective responses to climate change. The workshop is part of Metcalf Institute’s Climate Change and the News initiative and will be conducted on Wednesday, November 4, 2015 in conjunction with ACCO’s 2015 Rising Seas Summit.

Journalists can apply here by September 17, 2015.