Why do we need an Earth Gauge?
Fifty-six percent of Americans want to take action to protect the environment, but they don’t know what to do. When faced with alarming headlines about global environmental issues, taking personal action often seems overwhelming and pointless – yet individual actions are at the helm of many environmental problems. Today’s reality is that simple, day-to-day choices are increasingly responsible for high energy consumption, water and air pollution, urban sprawl, and other environmental problems.
At a time when Americans need to understand environmental issues as they relate to everyday life, research shows that they know startlingly little about the environment and often even less about their personal connections to the natural world:
- Just 12% of Americans can pass a basic quiz on energy topics;
- Only 41% can correctly define the term “watershed” in a multiple choice format;
- Nearly 80% are heavily influenced by incorrect or outdated environmental myths.
The National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) recognizes the need for increased environmental awareness among the public as a means to inspire action. Through our partnership with the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the premier professional organization for meteorologists in the U.S., we are taking a unique approach to educating the public by linking environmental information to something that affects every individual: the weather report.
Earth Gauge provides tools, education and training to broadcast meteorologists with the vision of changing the way the weather is delivered to include environmental impacts of weather events in compelling ways that will inspire individual stewardship. By changing the weathercast to an “envirocast,” we see a world where the public will receive environmental information from their meteorologists on a regular basis and implement simple actions to address environmental issues in their communities.