Talking climate change with Katharine Hayhoe

Katharine Hayhoe is an expert on the science of climate change. But these days, the chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy is more focused on perfecting the art of climate communication. 

Hayhoe joined Chris Field, Perry L. McCarty Director of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, for a discussion of her decades-long effort to empower scientists as communicators and spark broad public engagement on climate change. The May 19 event was hosted by the Stanford Center for Human and Planetary Health, in partnership with the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and The Nature Conservancy.

Hayhoe described her career fighting for climate action as "a pendulum swing" of breakthroughs and backlash. She recalled how a climate assessment she co-authored for California helped shape the state’s first greenhouse gas emission targets, but was quickly followed by federal efforts to suppress data and muzzle scientists.

That cycle continues today, she said, pointing to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. The legislation is one most significant investments in climate adaptation ever, but few Americans even know what it was, let alone how it might benefit their communities.

The discussion returned again and again to one central idea: the biggest barrier to climate progress isn’t denial. According to Hayhoe, it’s "psychological distance.”

Hayhoe cited studies showing that a majority of Americans are worried about extreme weather, but when asked if they expect climate change to affect them personally, the numbers drop dramatically. Bridging this gap, she argued, requires storytelling that is grounded in science but speaks to the heart.

This belief guides her approach to communication: start with people’s values – be it faith, family, or fishing – and reveal how a changing climate impacts what they already cherish.

“People don’t need to be made to care,” Hayhoe said. “They already care. They just haven’t connected the dots.”

Hayhoe has a knack for making those connections, a skill she shared during a smaller workshop earlier that day with students including participants of Stanford’s Science Writing Advancing Planetary Health (SWAP) program.

“Early in the workshop, Katharine introduced a concept that challenged what I'd long thought about what made news effective: worry causes dissociation,” said Rani Chor, a junior who participated in the workshop. “Instead of ambushing audience members with tragic problems, providing avenues to advocacy is a more effective way to include more people in the climate conversation.”

According to Hayhoe, the health of humans and the planet is inextricably linked. Her vision for The Nature Conservancy’s new Planetary and Human Health initiative expands that idea into action. By leveraging TNC’s presence in 80 different counties and all 50 states, Hayhoe hopes to harness nature-based solutions to address both climate and health challenges – such as urban greening to reduce heat and inflammation, or restoring ecosystems to improve resilience and well-being.

Still, when asked what could accelerate change, Hayhoe pointed not to technological fixes, but to human ones. Responding to a question about widening ideological divides, Hayhoe underscored the importance of preserving an open dialogue.

“Even if we disagree on policy, we often agree on the problem,” Hayhoe said. “Start there.”