Abstract-In 1998, NASA launches EOS-AM1, the first of a series of the Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites. EOS will monitor the evolution of the state of the earth for 18 years, starting with the morning observations of EOS-AM1 (10:30 a.m. equatorial crossing time). An integrated view of the earth, as planned by EOS, is needed to study the interchange of energy, moisture, and carbon between the lands, oceans, and atmosphere. The launch of EOS-AM1 and other international satellites marks a new phase of climate and global change research. Both natural and anthropogenic climate change have been studied for more than a century. It is now recognized that processes that vary rapidly in time and space-e.g., aerosol, clouds, land use, and exchanges of energy and moisture-must be considered to adequately explain the temperature record and predict future climate change. Frequent measurements with adequate resolution, as only possible from spacecraft, are key tools in such an effort. The versatile and highly accurate EOS-AM1 data, together with previous satellite records, as well as data from the Advanced Earth Observing System (ADEOS) (I and II), Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS), Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR), Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS), Environmental Satellite (ENVISAT), EOS-PM1, LandRemote-Sensing Satellite (Landsat), and ground-based networks is expected to revolutionize the way scientists look at climate change. This article introduces the EOS-AM1 mission and the special issue devoted to it. Following a brief historical perspective for an insight into the purpose and objectives of the mission, we shall summarize the characteristics of the five instruments onboard EOS-AM1. Specifically, we concentrate on the innovative elements of these five instruments and provide examples of the science issues that require this type of data. These examples show the importance of collecting data simultaneously from each of the five EOS-AM1 sensors for studying rapidly varying processes and parameters.

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Given the intense attention that environmental topics such as climate change attract in news and social media coverage, scientists and communication professionals want to know how different stakeholders perceive observable threats and policy options, how specific media channels react to new insights, and how journalists present scientific knowledge to the public. This paper investigates the potential of semantic technologies to address these questions. After summarizing methods to extract and disambiguate context information, we present visualization techniques to explore the lexical, geospatial, and relational context of topics and entities referenced in these repositories. The examples stem from the Media Watch on Climate Change, the Climate Resilience Toolkit and the NOAA Media Watch-three applications that aggregate environmental resources from a wide range of online sources. These systems not only show the value of providing comprehensive information to the public, but also have helped to develop a novel communication success metric that goes beyond bipolar assessments of sentiment.

OBJECTIVE To increase the knowledge and communication skills of health professionals related to climate change and human health (CCHH). METHODS From February to April 2021, Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) created an 8-week, synchronous and virtual, CCHH ECHO telementoring series for health professionals. Didactics, simulated cases, and climate change tools were used to educate the interprofessional group of participants. RESULTS During this CCHH ECHO pilot series, 625 unique participants represented 45 US states and 25 countries. The participants reported that they increased their knowledge, skills, and communication techniques regarding climate change and health. CONCLUSIONS The human health effects of climate change is an emerging field, and increasing knowledge and communication skills among health practitioners is of critical importance. The CCHH ECHO is one potential platform that may reach a diverse community of health professionals globally due to the diffusion and demonopolization of knowledge.

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Local TV meteorologists are optimally positioned to educate the public about the local implications of global climate change: They have high public trust as a source of climate science information, local TV is the #1 source of weather information in America, and most weathercasters have relevant scientific training and excellent communication skills. Surveys show that most TV meteorologists would like to report on climate change, but lack of time, lack of broadcast-quality graphics, and lack of access to appropriate experts are barriers that inhibit such coverage. With funding from the National Science Foundation and philanthropic foundations, we developed Climate Matters as an educational resources program to help interested local TV meteorologists educate their viewers about the local impacts of global climate change. Currently, the program provides more than 160 participating weathercasters nationwide with weekly localized broadcast-ready graphics and script ideas, short videos, and opportunities for brief (hour-long webinars) and more intensive (day-long seminars) professional development sessions—at no cost to participating weathercasters. We aim to more than double participation in the program over the next several years. This article will chronicle the development of Climate Matters over the past five years—beginning with a pilot test at a single news station in Columbia, South Carolina, that was shown to be effective at helping viewers better understand climate change and culminating in a comprehensive national educational resource program that is available to all interested weathercasters.

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