Extreme Weather Events as Teachable Moments: Catalyzing Climate Change Learning and Action Through Conversation

Abstract

Extreme weather events are often described as teachable moments for climate change. In this article, we explore insights about the concept of teachable moments from healthcare literature and apply them to the climate change communication context. Specifically, we adapt Flocke et al.’s (2012. A teachable moment communication process for smoking cessation talk: description of a group randomized clinician-focused intervention. BMC Health Services Research, 12(1), 109. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-12-109) Teachable Moment Communication Process to offer a new dialogue-based communication framework that leverages extreme weather events as opportunities for environmental learning and action among the public. Our framework helps facilitate discussions about extreme weather events, with the goal of channeling dialogue into actions to address extreme weather-related risks at both individual and policy levels. An important nuance is delineating how climate change can exacerbate hazards, while vulnerability and exposure ultimately determine the impacts of hazards. We account for this distinction by centering our framework around the broader goal of reducing weather-related risks in diverse contexts including, but not limited to, climate change considerations. This article describes our proposed communication approach; we conclude by outlining a research agenda to empirically test the framework and examine other dynamics of extreme weather-related dialogue.