{"id":8502,"date":"2021-09-23T14:31:28","date_gmt":"2021-09-23T14:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/?p=8502"},"modified":"2021-11-18T14:23:16","modified_gmt":"2021-11-18T14:23:16","slug":"the-indisputable-truth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.reading.ac.uk\/connected\/2021\/09\/23\/the-indisputable-truth\/","title":{"rendered":"The Indisputable Truth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reading graduate and meteorologist, Karl Shepherdson, offers a blunt yet hopeful view on the changing climate \u2013 and stresses that climate education is the first step on the journey to combat climate change.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Karl embarked on his career with the Met Office<\/a> two decades ago, climate change was still a theory being dismissed by most people.<\/p>\n

\"\"He shared: \u201cIn my first role as a land-based climate researcher, my team were starting to put together the 2001 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] report. My job was to compare climate averages over a 30-year period against current monthly data to see whether the Earth was warming. It became unequivocally clear to me that it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karl spent much of his early career trying to persuade people that the changing climate was real and would continue to happen. 20 years later, the warming of the planet as a result of humans is indisputable. Karl said:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe have decades of evidence from multiple datasets. Climate change is as certain as it can be, there\u2019s no disputing it, and it\u2019s happening now.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Following the University of Reading\u2019s Climate Education Summit<\/a> last week, CONNECTED drew upon Karl\u2019s expertise in meteorology and teaching to share why climate education is so important in protecting our future.<\/p>\n

Global climate education<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Karl begins by explaining that \u201cthe days of educating people on the fact climate change is happening are gone now \u2013 the majority of people know and understand what climate change is.\u201d Now is the time to educate the next generation to better prepare them for the challenges ahead.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cWe need to implement climate education into the national curriculum to help young people make the right choices for the future.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to embed the key messages of climate change throughout science, geography and maths, from primary and secondary school to university.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a global problem and we need the developed and developing world to come together to solve it. The climate does not stop and start at borders, therefore climate education needs to be global.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cYoung people need to know how climate change is going to affect the world on a global scale. Then they need to know what to do about it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

“We need to connect with young people without a science background as well, because everyone needs to understand how the choices they make in their lives matter. Most importantly, they need to understand why this action is the right, and the necessary, thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Combining education and weather<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Karl\u2019s passion for both weather and education stems from his childhood, and he tells CONNECTED how he knew from an early age that he wanted to be a \u2018weather man\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a young child I cut a blackcurrant squash bottle in half, dug a big hole in my garden \u2013 much to my mother\u2019s annoyance \u2013 to make my own rain gauge, and as a teenager I had my own weather station in the garden. My drive and enthusiasm to work at the Met Office was unparalleled,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me it was study weather or nothing \u2013 and that meant study at Reading or nothing. Reading was, and still is, a big name internationally for meteorology. It was hard work, but I dived right in and every day was a new learning experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

A week after graduating from Reading, Karl began his career at the Met Office where two decades later he remains \u2013 albeit having gone through a fair few job titles in that time. One such job title \u2013 Learning Consultant at the Met Office College<\/a> \u2013 enabled him to combine his love for weather with his so-far untapped passion for teaching.<\/p>\n

He explained: \u201cFollowing two years as a climate researcher, then six years as a weather forecaster, I taught at the Met Office College for 12 years, specialising in meteorology. I must\u2019ve taught thousands of people and I loved getting to play with the weather and passing on knowledge to others.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIt\u2019s wonderful to see someone taking on board concepts and excelling, or doing something new and innovative. I taught a lot of Reading graduates and it\u2019s amazing to see those people now running a large team or delivering key Met Office objectives.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Karl\u2019s passion for outdoor education extended into his voluntary work, with the Youth Hostels Association (YHA)<\/a> and as Chair of the Royal Meteorological Society\u2019s Education Committee (RMetS)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThe YHA is founded on the principles of outdoor education, aiming to transform young lives through travel and real adventure, while the RMetS\u2019 Education Committee is a professional learning society for all meteorologists.<\/p>\n

\u201cI volunteered with the YHA for ten years, in roles ranging from warden to National Vice Chairman. I still volunteer with the RMetS\u2019 Education Committee today, engaging with national curriculum reviews and teacher training resources.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cEnabling others to achieve is where my interests and passions lie. When I see people succeed, that\u2019s my million-pound bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Taking action<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Karl is now a Regional Network Manager for the Met Office, looking after all the weather stations in the north of England.<\/p>\n

He reflected: \u201cI\u2019ve come full circle from making my own rain gauge in my back garden, to working with the Environment Agency to inspect their large system of gauges used to issue flood warnings. And there\u2019s nothing I love more than putting my gloves on and unblocking those gauges.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is a sentiment that Karl believes we need to apply to the climate crisis: \u201cWe need to stop talking and start doing. If the world\u2019s temperature increases by 2-3 degrees then we will see massive changes around the world, including in the UK.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI\u2019ve spent my career focusing on the positives surrounding climate change \u2013 we\u2019ve caught it and understood it, so that means we can solve it. I believe the world will behave the right way eventually \u2013 after all, it\u2019s in all of our interests that the human race prospers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

While Karl stresses we mustn\u2019t be complacent, he is quick to emphasise the optimism he feels for our future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m amazed at how far we\u2019ve come just during my career,\u201d he exclaims. \u201cFor example, I never thought I\u2019d see the high performance computing we have today back in the 1990s, which enables us to model our atmosphere. And we don\u2019t put a price on our data which is fantastic. The UN\u2019s World Meteorological Organisation transfers information and knowledge globally for free in real time \u2013 and we\u2019ve been doing that for 50 years. This sort of international cooperation is going to be key to solving this crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know what we need to do, we just need to work out how to get there. The longer it takes us, and therefore the more carbon we put into the atmosphere, the worse the problem will be, but I\u2019m confident we will get there,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

Find out more about Reading\u2019s Climate Education Summit<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading graduate and meteorologist, Karl Shepherdson, offers a blunt yet hopeful view on the changing climate \u2013 and stresses that climate education is the first step on the journey to combat climate change. 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