Face to Face with Climate Truth
How two scientists are crossing political and geographic divides, one conversation at a time - to bring clarity, not chaos, to the climate conversation.
This summer, we hit the road with two scientists who are redefining how we talk about climate change…by doing something shockingly simple: listening.
Dr. Aaron Match of Princeton and Dr. Andrew from Cornell are co-founders of Climate Up Close, a nonprofit that brings climate science directly to the people. Not through flashy slides or apocalyptic headlines, but through honest conversations in churches, breweries, and even astronomical observatories across small-town America.
As Andrew explained, “We are essentially being paid by the taxpayer, and so we want to be out there and be available to people. For them to be able to put their questions to us.” That simple idea, showing up, face to face, with no agenda beyond science has taken them to Florida, Illinois, New Hampshire, and most recently, Nebraska.
The goal of Climate Up Close is to meet people where they are, both physically and intellectually. Their tours offer a 45-minute presentation followed by open Q&A, and often, coffee and conversation. Aaron described their approach as “the landscape of climate knowledge” - a visual and conceptual map showing what we know, what we don’t, and what remains uncertain. “We try to share openly and with humility what is settled from the IPCC, and what is still speculative,” he said.
This level of transparency doesn’t just build credibility, it builds connection. As Andrew put it, “Trusting that people are smart enough that when you show them data, they'll take the right message away from it.”
And while they never prescribe policy, they don’t ignore the urgency. They spoke of moist heat waves in the Midwest, the loss of NOAA data due to federal budget cuts, and the dangerous assumption that all extreme weather is automatically linked to climate change. “We push back against the idea that climate change is a magic button that makes all types of extreme weather worse,” Aaron noted. Instead, they offer nuance—and that’s where real understanding begins.
These are scientists who don’t just talk about communication. They live it. They’re driving through cornfields and city centers alike, helping Americans connect their lived experiences—floods, heat, doubt—to the larger story of our warming planet.
As Andrew reminded us, “We have a lot of agency over our climate future. If we choose to get to 3 degrees Celsius, we will. But if we stop emitting, the Earth has really good brakes.”
To help their cause: Climate Up Close
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