Keeling Curve

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Project Summary / Description:

The evolution of climate science and policy, well told, is a gripping saga with profound consequences. Whether or not Earth can sustain many of its species hangs in the balance. Our project tells that story in a compelling way with important social and cultural impacts. 
A Climate Chronology, at https://umaine.edu/climatechronology/, is a 230-page color coded chronology of developments in climate science and in U.S. and international policy from 1824 through 2020, founded in 2011, as Sharon Tisher developed the University of Maine‚ first climate policy course. 
In this Phase I funding application we will create the Milestones Chronology, an illustrated, interactive website to portray 200 milestones in the development of climate science and policy over the last 200 years. It will serve as an engaging gateway to study of the full Chronology, appeal to a wider and more diverse audience, and have broader potential for educational applications than the full Chronology. A pilot version of the Milestones Chronology is at http://climatechronology.org, linked on the project homepage.
In Phase II we will engage a master‚ degree student in the University of Maine‚ Climate Change Institute, https://climatechange.umaine.edu/about/, supervised by Sean Birkel and Kirk Maasch, to expand the science content of the Chronologies with input from Spencer Weart‚ The Discovery of Global Warming, https://history.aip.org/climate/index.htm, and other resources. We will develop a plan to give the Chronologies the widest possible exposure to the public.
The completion of the project will coincide with the bicentennial of climate science in 2024.

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Impact on Underrepresented Groups:

We are delighted that you asked this question. Well before we reviewed your application form, this was on our agenda. As Eunice Foote commands a spot on our pilot‚ homepage, throughout this project we will continue to draw attention to the contributions of people from historically underrepresented groups in the making of both climate science and policy. We will begin this task in Phase I, facilitated by the Keeling Curve Prize, as we select the entries and illustrations for the Milestones Chronology. Our science expansion in Phase II will seeking entries that highlight the contributions of people from those traditionally underrepresented groups. Sharon Tisher will also expand the policy content with this goal in mind. The imperative of this mission became crystal clear last summer, as we deliberated on the proposed design of the Milestones Chronology. Should we keep the format of volunteer web designer Jennifer Linton‚ pilot, which demands an image, preferably a photograph, with every milestone? Or should we adopt a different format that permits illustrations only selectively? It dawned on us that with the existing Chronology content, if we devoted most of the illustrations of science milestones to portraits of the lead scientist(s) in research presented, we would have a photo gallery of overwhelmingly white men. We intend to strive in creative ways to rescue the Milestones Chronology from that fate, with respect to both science and policy, while keeping the pilot‚ design with illustrations for every entry. We intend this because, as in the story of Eunice Foote, social and professional marginalization in no respect fairly reflects the importance of these peoples‚ contributions. And because the Milestones Chronology, by inspiring the next generation of climate scientists and policymakers, can help to make that underrepresentation a vestige of the past.

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