This entry is the first in a new series called “Secret Life Revisted.” In these posts we will revisit scientists who have already revealed their secret lives, and are back in the news for their exciting work in science—as it turns out, these folks get a lot done when they’re not busy talking to us!

Katharine Clarifies Climate Confusion

When an unprecedented storm devastates the country, you might expect a climate scientist or an Evangelical Christian to make some strong claims based on personal views. Katharine Hayhoe is both of those things—and yet, she’s not taking the bait.

Katharine Hayhoe wants you to know what’s REALLY going on with climate change.

Hayhoe researches how climate change affects our lives (see Katharine in action on her homepage!), so as tweeters and mainstream media speculated that Sandy might be “caused” by global warming, naturally, they looked to her to confirm their suspicions. But she would do no such thing—instead, she spent a week clarifying misconceptions about the storm by sticking to the facts.

In response to a tweet pointing to climate change as Sandy’s cause, Hayhoe corrected, “Caused, NO. Lg hurricanes not unusual this time of yr. Exacerbated, v likely.”

Is there a connection between climate change and our recent spate of tornadoes? How about between climate change and the flooding Mississippi?

Who could possibly address these questions better than our own Climate Change Evangelist, Katharine Hayhoe?

All together, folks. NOBODY, THAT’S WHO.

Watch Katharine present the facts on the NewsHour. She comes in at about 2:48 in the segment.

I love blogging for The Secret Life of Scientists and Engineers. Katharine shows kids how they can help! While I watch the videos every two weeks, ideas start forming about what I can do in my classroom. And when I watched Katharine Hayhoe, it was no different. In addition to being an elementary teacher, I am the Global Awareness Club advisor. And I immediately thought of sharing her video with my club members. But then I thought about contacting Katharine herself and seeing if she could Skype in to my club.

Not only did Katharine agree to Skype in, she willingly Skyped with two different groups. The fourth grade students Skyped with her to learn about how they can be empowered to help stop the climate changes caused by nonrenewable energies. And the fifth grade went more global, learning about how they can affect children around the world, for both good and bad. Katharine even went so far as to create two different presentations to change the focus for each group.

Ms. Parisi’s students learn what they can do. Katharine spoke to the children in simple-to-understand language, using graphs and pictures to explain how our climate is changing, heating up, and what that heating up is doing to various parts of the world. She answered questions about Long Island (where we live), about how they can change their energy use easily, about the recent tornados in the Midwest, and about her job as a climate scientist. She was gracious, energetic, and exciting to listen to.

Katharine told the children about simple ways to save energy.“If each home in the United States changed one incandescent bulb for one fluorescent bulb, we would save the same energy as taking 1 million cars off the road!”

As our conversation about science and religion continues (thank you, Katharine!), we thought we’d see what Big Al had to say on this topic. Today’s special? Relativity!!

Check out this article that takes a look at some of Einstein’s thoughts on religion.

And remember to come back here on Wednesday, May 11 at 7 pm ET when we’ll be doing a live chat with Katharine Hayhoe and, I’m quite sure, exploring some of these same issues.

Happy Monday, Secret Lifers.

Has your snowman turned into a puddle of dirty water with a carrot and top hat?

Did he die in vain? Did he?? Then you’ll definitely want to talk with Climate Change Evangelist Katharine Hayhoe.

Live Q&A here next Wednesday, May 11 at 7pm ET.

It’s gonna be fun.

And if you want to submit a question ahead of time, visit our YouTube page.

We’ll look forward to seeing you on Wednesday.

In the meantime, have a secretive weekend.

During Katharine’s interview, what most caught my attention were her end-of-this-century scenarios. She said that under higher emissions, Chicago summers could Baby Katharine doesn’t want that snow to melt! feel like those on the Gulf Coast and Massachusetts ones like those in the Carolinas. As a Carolinian myself, that immediately resonated with me. I remember those summers tangibly, still – stepping outside, having just showered, yet feeling instantly as though I needed to again, so muggy was the heat. The searing temperatures penetrated your very core, causing claustrophobia even in large spaces. Summer soccer practices were dreadful – I remember getting cold I was so hot. I think they call that heat stroke. No offense to my roots, but I’d rather enjoy Northeast summers, at least until they disappear.

Relating climates to what we know, as Katharine does, helps us understand what could be. My Carolinian friends may be accustomed to sweltering southern heat now, but what will happen as temperatures rise? If the Northeast will feel like the South, what will the South feel like? I shudder to think. But what can we do? A lot, actually, without much extra effort.

Like most people, I recycle, use cloth bags for shopping (I like these!), and turn out lights. But a few years ago, after working on a documentary about low-impact living, I decided to make some bigger changes. Bigger doesn’t always necessarily mean harder, either. Here are a few easy steps you can take that won’t cramp your lifestyle:

I am the advisor for our school’s Global Awareness Club. In an elementary school, this means that we get to the basics of what Global Awareness means. We learn about Climate Change; we learn about disasters around the world; and we learn about people in other countries. The goal is to help children understand that we live in one world and need to take care of each other. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: words to live by.

Katharine Hayhoe, Evangelical Climate Scientist, gets right to the heart of this idea. She clearly explains how her science can help us to find ways to help “our global neighbors, the poor and disadvantaged, the people who do not have the resources to adapt.” We need to stop being so concerned about ourselves and start thinking about everyone. “The magnitude of future changes depend on the choices that we make now and in the next decade.”

As an educator, I strongly feel it is my duty to help my students, living in a privileged area, with unlimited food and water, sanitation, and shelter, understand their responsibility in the world. This video of Katharine’s can be extremely beneficial in assisting me to teach my students that changes they make in how they live and use energy, can and will affect children across the world. By taking shorter showers, walking to their friend’s house, riding their bikes to school, and turning off lights when they are not using them, they can be helpful. They might not be old enough to make big changes, such as choosing an electric car, buying and using solar panels, or opting for wind energy, but they can do their part.

Children need to know that they have power now. So that, in 10 years, they will have no problems making those tough decisions we have such difficulty making now. They are our future and we need them to create an amazing world for us all. Thank you, Katharine, for speaking so clearly and honestly, bringing our children this powerful message.

Clutch the pearls, we found a video on YouTube with both Katharine Hayhoe and Michio Kaku talking about climate change. Michio comes in at about 8:00 and Katharine joins the conversation at 12:50 or so.

You know the routine. Split screen. Two so-called experts from opposing sides of an issue wildly screaming to be heard over each other. Neither one listening at all. Finally, the host comes in and wraps it up nice and clean and tidy. And cut to a commercial. Buy a car…a six-pack…or a Bump-It.

Young Katharine with birthday cake and telescope One of the things we love about Katharine Hayhoe is that she embodies both sides of one of those split-screen scenarios—she is a climate scientist encouraging folks to take better care of the Earth (that is, if we want it to remain inhabitable)… and she’s a devout evangelical Christian.

Now based on what I usually see on the teevee machine, Katharine should clearly be at war with herself.

But she isn’t, not even a little bit. She explains:

“As far back as I can remember, my father was teaching me about the world around us—whether it was memorizing all of the birds that we would see in our backyard, or keeping an eye out for all of the rare wild flowers that there are in Ontario, or the giant telescope that we dragged with us on most of our family vacations. But at the same time, from the very beginning, as he taught me about the world, he also taught me that it was the result of a God who created it. And the more I study the world, the more it seems to me that that is the case.

“I love figuring out how things work. It just gives me enormous satisfaction to figure out what makes something happen in a certain way, or what different pieces go into making something happen…. And so that is what I love about science, putting those pieces together and really figuring out—at least, the way I think of it—what God was thinking when he put all those pieces together for the first time.”

As a scientist who has spent long hours learning how those pieces fit together, Katharine wants you to understand these facts about climate change—it’s happening, we’re responsible for a substantial amount of it, and we’d better change our ways NOW. Her religious beliefs obviously help fuel Katharine’s scientific inquiry and her work as a “climate change evangelist.” You may or may not share those beliefs, but Katharine isn’t asking you to share them anyway. What she is asking is that you share her compassion, for the current and future residents of the planet we call home.

When was the last time you got to ask a climate change evangelist a question?

That’s what we thought.

Use the comments, folks.

UPDATE: We are no longer taking more questions for Katharine. But check out her answers in the comments. She may have answered a question you were going to ask!