We depend upon our oceans for life on this planet. Our oceans not only provide food that we eat, but they also regulate the air that we breathe. However, climate change is disrupting the ocean’s ecosystem and its abilities to provide these services.

How can scientists communicate effectively to the public about the effects of climate change in the ocean?

The FrameWorks Institute was at the Woods Hole Ocean Institute in Massachusetts recently to guide science practitioners in this important endeavor.

On the first day of our engagement, we heard a presentation from Dr. Anne Cohen about the latest research on ocean acidification. She explained how carbon dioxide released from the burning of petroleum and coal for energy and transportation is absorbed by the oceans, which acts as a carbon sink. This carbon dioxide combines with water to form carbonic acid. The increase of carbonic acid in the ocean makes it difficult for marine organisms and animals to thrive. This is leading to an ecosystem collapse for marine animals such as plankton, coral, and shellfish – all of whom play an important role in the marine foodchain.

We then heard from the FrameWorks Institute President, Susan Bales, on how scientists and aquarium interpreters can best share this knowledge with the public. She spoke about the importance of starting this message with values, such as interdependence, to frame this topic in a way that connects the public to our relationship with the ocean. Bales also spoke at length about how to integrate simplifying models, causal chains, and community level solutions into an effective story on ocean warming and ocean acidification.

Afterwards, I led a workshop during our working lunch called “Learning By Seeing: Spokesperson Scientists Speak on Ocean Acidification.” In this part of the presentation, I showed a series of ocean scientist interviews to our audience so that participants could learn the “do’s and don’ts” of framing on this issue.

We spent the rest of the afternoon working one-on-one with WHOI scientists to help them better communicate their research and its importance to the media.

Our second day with the aquarium interpreters in our study circle focused entirely on how to tell the core story of climate change and the ocean in a way that establishes why the public should care, what the science tells us, and what are the most feasible solutions. Alexis Bunten and Suzanne Lo led the group in a series of exercises so participants can integrate this knowledge into their communications practice.

Finally, Dr. Susan Avery, the Director of WHOI, visited our group towards the end of our engagement. She mentioned to participants that the oceans are a place where climate change effects are immediate and measurable. She encouraged participants to apply their best communicative skills so that we have public support of initiatives that restore balance and vitality to the marine ecosystems of the world.

This is a guest post from Susan Bales, the FrameWorks Institute President.

In celebration of World Oceans Day, the Washington Post ran an article in its KidsPost section oriented specifically to young readers. We have reposted it here so we can see what we can do, as framers, to help better communicate the challenges our oceans currently face.

An ocean-size challenge

The 58 U.S. national parks are well known for protecting and preserving some of the nation’s most remarkable geography and landmarks. But did you know that there is a similar group of treasured and protected national sites in the ocean, called national marine sanctuaries? Fourteen of them dot the waters of the United States.

Protecting the ocean and its sea life is important for many reasons, but it’s a huge challenge; just one sanctuary near Hawaii is bigger than all of the country’s national parks put together, according to Michiko Martin, education coordinator for the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. The area covered by the 14 sanctuaries “still only represents less than 1 percent of U.S. waters,” she said.

Since today is World Oceans Day, KidsPost’s Margaret Webb Pressler asked Martin about the three biggest challenges facing the ocean.

Trash

Trash can be deadly for marine life.

“It comes from ships, or trash that’s blown off of the shore and enters into our waterways — there are many different ways that it gets there,” she said. Fish, birds and animals can be injured or hurt by the debris, getting tangled in it or eating it. Birds have been known to eat trash and feed it to their young, which can make them sick.

The National Marine Sanctuary program organizes cleanup projects in protected areas and helps educate people about keeping trash out of the nation’s waterways.

Acidification
(ah-SID-i-fi-cay-shun)

This big word refers to a change in the chemical properties of the water. If you were to soak a seashell in vinegar, which is very acidic, it would begin to fall apart after just a few minutes. That same process is happening at a much more gradual pace in the ocean.

Over time, more-acidic water makes it difficult for marine life to create the hard, bonelike structures they need, including including coral, shells and skeletons.

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere (the result of pollution) dissolves into the ocean and causes chemical changes in the water. National Marine Sanctuary programs monitor protected areas for these changes and test solutions to the problem.

Species loss

Slight changes in the ocean’s temperatures, cleanliness and chemical balance have already caused many species to become extinct. “Largely, the ocean is unexplored; there are so many species that have yet to be discovered,” Martin said. But scientists know that species are disappearing before they are even found.

This can upset the balance of predators and prey in the ocean. But it can result in unknown losses, too. Many medical therapies are based on plant and animal life from the ocean. Every lost species could represent a lost opportunity for a new medical treatment.

Marine sanctuaries try to protect species by preserving the areas where animals produce their young.

For more information, you can visit the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries online at sanctuaries.noaa.gov . For kid-friendly material, click on the “education” tab. Always ask an adult before you go online.

Try taking a look at this article and evaluate it, using a Strategic Frame Analysis approach:

• How well does the article establish why we should be protecting the oceans?  Are there missed opportunities where a strong Value would help orient the young reader to the goal of ocean protection?  Let us know what you would insert and where.

• How clear and memorable is the explanation of the mechanisms for global warming and ocean acidification? Would the addition of a Simplifying Model help here and, if so, how might you incorporate it into the story to drive home the process that threatens the oceans?

• In this article, marine sanctuaries are “the solution” being proposed.  How well does the narrative hold together to lead young readers to understand how the solution fits the problem?  In a good narrative, the solution should practically write itself, or be entirely aligned with the problem definition.  Is there any additional narrative help that could be inserted into the article to set up the solution even better?

• Finally, as you think about articles like this that might prove useful in your organizational materials that reach families, how might you engage young people to give them a sense of agency and responsibility, so that they are active on this issue as future citizens?

Post your thoughts so that we can all benefit from your framing reflections!

Susan Bales