Website to inform on perils, opportunities of climate change

A NEW WEBSITE unveiled by the University of Rhode Island Climate Change Collaborative on Monday aims to inform Rhode Islanders about the impacts of climate change through a user-friendly multimedia experience. / COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND CLIMATE CHANGE COLLABORATIVE
A NEW WEBSITE unveiled by the University of Rhode Island Climate Change Collaborative on Monday aims to inform Rhode Islanders about the impacts of climate change through a user-friendly multimedia experience. / COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND CLIMATE CHANGE COLLABORATIVE

NARRAGANSETT – The University of Rhode Island Climate Change Collaborative launched a new website on Monday dedicated to promoting the issue of climate change.

“Rhode Island’s Climate Challenge: Waves of Change” is a multimedia website that uses cartoons, animated videos and video interviews – along with science-based information – to inform everyone from school children to business owners about the impacts of climate change and what actions are needed to combat those effects.

The goal of the website is to educate in a user-friendly environment that encourages discussion, the collaborative said. The site includes a viewer-response section designed to address questions and comments from the public.

Judith Swift, director of the URI Coastal Institute and one of the Climate Change Collaborative leaders, called the site “an online cup of coffee with a friend who needs to wake up to the perils and opportunities of climate change.”

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“Rhode Islanders need the best information available as they adapt to coastal erosion, higher risk from storm surge, shifting seasons and fisheries and other effects related to climate change,” said U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who co-chairs the national Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change and who attended the website launch event on Monday at the URI Coastal Institute. “This website can be an important tool in educating our families and communities about what to expect and how to respond to the challenges of climate change.”

Last week, Whitehouse appeared at Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee’s signing of an executive order creating the R.I. Executive Climate Change Council, an agency formed to advise the governor, the General Assembly and the public on environmental best practices and strategies to address the challenge of global climate change.

Contributors to the Climate Change Collaborative’s “Waves of Change” website include the Rhode Island Sea Grant, the URI Coastal Resources Center, the URI Graduate School of Oceanography, the URI Harrington School of Communication and Media, the Cancer Prevention Research Center, the URI College of the Environment and Life Sciences, and the URI Coastal Institute.

The Climate Change Collaborative also teamed up with state, regional, national and international agencies, non-governmental organizations and local groups, including Brown University’s Center for Environmental Studies as well as Rhode Island-based videographers, composers and cartoonists.

“This site is a breath of fresh air in presenting a wealth of information on our rapidly changing climate and its local impacts,” said Jonathan Stone, executive director of Save The Bay in Rhode Island. “It is engaging, well organized and rich in content. For anyone on the journey of understanding the field of climate science, this is an important destination.”

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