There are lots of climate science blogs. But they’re mostly run by climate scientists. Or by people who have been following climate science for durations that are as close to glacial as the human lifespan allows.

For them, words like feedback, albedo and thermohaline need no translation. For many of the rest of us, they might as well be from a Martian lexicon. 

Climate science and climate change, though, are very much about the earth – the only place in the universe fit for human dwelling, so far as we know. Yet, despite efforts by newspapers and other media sources to educate the public about what is known – or unknown – about climate change, confusion abounds. 

It’s not surprising, it’s a dense topic. And energy politics has muddled clear communication about climate certainties and uncertainties for years. Hence, the dwindling use of the term ‘global warming,’ and its replacement by the less politically charged ‘climate change.’

Yet, climate science has gone on, producing ever more alarming forecasts: the oceans could rise by meters, temperatures could soar, cyclones and hurricanes may lash human communities more often, the American Southwest might go bone dry, the ocean’s turbine could stall and send Europe into a new ice age.

The alarms are broadcast. But how many of us really understand why the projections are so doomsday?

Of course, it’s not possible for us to know exactly what the scientists know – they live and breathe climate, while the rest of us just make do with our daily weather.

We can, however, boost our understanding of the science. And if we do so, we’ll be in a better position to evaluate the policies proposed for responding to climate change. We will, in a word, be in a better position to acclimate.

Toward that goal, this blog is going to focus on how we are already acclimating to scientists’ warnings about the climate, and how we might do so going forward. And, since the science can seem so alien, I hope to translate some climate research into down-to-earth language, while mapping out its current areas of focus.