Member Since 1992
Scott Denning
Professor, Colorado State University Fort Collins
Honors and Awards
Pavel S. Molchanov Climate Communications Prize
Received December 2022
Citation
Climate scientist and Colorado State University professor of atmospheric
science Scott Denning is a passionate and effective communicator of the
seriousness and solvability of climate change to any and all audiences.
From school children to TV meteorologists to contrarians, Dr. Denning
leaves no stone unturned in his quest to help people understand the
threats and opportunities posed by human-induced climate disruption.
Armed with the wisdom of the experts and the energy of the innocent, Dr. Denning takes on all comers and goes to those who would be reluctant to approach him. He has even attended conferences put on by climate contrarians and approached this challenge with humility and compassion. He brings his passion and sense of humor to the challenge of climate change communication to the young and young at heart. From his dancing like a molecule to making sound effects of their vibrations, it’s difficult to imagine anyone bringing more aspects of himself to his communications efforts, using his body, his voice, his brain and, perhaps most of all, his heart, to his unusual methods of engaging his audiences.
He devised an ingenious framework that presents climate change as simple, serious and solvable. Starting with why it is simple, he reviews the basics of Earth’s heat budget. Using dancing molecules and their vibrations, he explains why carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas molecules trap heat. Saying it’s not rocket science but steam engine science, he shows that we have understood the greenhouse effect since the 1800s because it’s really just common sense. Explaining why it is serious, he talks about the impacts of climate change on places and things his audience cares about. As for solvable, he talks about the abundance of clean energy resources and their rapidly falling prices. He shows how quickly society has made big changes in the past and how each generation has taken on enormous challenges and thereby changed the future.
Scott Denning’s tireless and creative approach to communicating about climate change makes him a most worthy recipient of the 2022 AGU Climate Communication Prize.
— Susan Joy Hassol
Climate Communication
Asheville, North Carolina
Armed with the wisdom of the experts and the energy of the innocent, Dr. Denning takes on all comers and goes to those who would be reluctant to approach him. He has even attended conferences put on by climate contrarians and approached this challenge with humility and compassion. He brings his passion and sense of humor to the challenge of climate change communication to the young and young at heart. From his dancing like a molecule to making sound effects of their vibrations, it’s difficult to imagine anyone bringing more aspects of himself to his communications efforts, using his body, his voice, his brain and, perhaps most of all, his heart, to his unusual methods of engaging his audiences.
He devised an ingenious framework that presents climate change as simple, serious and solvable. Starting with why it is simple, he reviews the basics of Earth’s heat budget. Using dancing molecules and their vibrations, he explains why carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas molecules trap heat. Saying it’s not rocket science but steam engine science, he shows that we have understood the greenhouse effect since the 1800s because it’s really just common sense. Explaining why it is serious, he talks about the impacts of climate change on places and things his audience cares about. As for solvable, he talks about the abundance of clean energy resources and their rapidly falling prices. He shows how quickly society has made big changes in the past and how each generation has taken on enormous challenges and thereby changed the future.
Scott Denning’s tireless and creative approach to communicating about climate change makes him a most worthy recipient of the 2022 AGU Climate Communication Prize.
— Susan Joy Hassol
Climate Communication
Asheville, North Carolina
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