Climate forecasts that span decades may help farmers prepare for the future

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-05-21 19:00

Australia; QLD; TAS; ACT

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Australian scientists introduced 24 Aussie farmers to My Climate View, an Australian online climate service that predicts conditions decades out, and asked them to identify, assess and discuss management of long-term risks in light of its projections. The service helped the farmers understand future climate risks, and may have made climate change less of an abstract concept for them, the authors say. However, because the forecasts are based on long-term projections, there was a lack of confidence in the data, so the authors suggest bringing the service together with sources of expertise that farmers trust to boost their confidence in its projections. And awareness of approaching risks must be combined with recurring engagement to turn that awareness into action, they say.