🐸 From tepid water to boiling point: Decoding Climate Science

Hello,

You may have heard the story of the frog in a pot of water. When dropped into boiling water, it immediately jumps out. But when placed in tepid water that is gradually heated, it doesn’t notice the danger…until it’s too late.

This metaphor captures how many of us are experiencing the effects of climate change. The rising temperatures, erratic weather patterns, and worsening air quality don’t always feel like a crisis – until suddenly, they do.

Across India, the effects are already severe. In Delhi and other cities, intense heat waves have claimed lives. In the Northeast, reports show at least 50 people killed and over 15,000 hectares of crops destroyed. Near my village, there have been reports of three cloudbursts, nine flash floods, and three landslides, leading to five deaths and many injured or missing – and that’s just in the past 24 hours. We’ve been running without water for days, and electricity is patchy at best.

These aren’t isolated events. They are signs of broader climate change, exacerbated by unplanned development, including increasing tourism, the conversion of agricultural land to housing, and the loss of traditional, sustainable mud-and-slate homes. Large hydroelectric projects in fragile ecosystems continue, despite warnings from local communities and climate activists.

Yet, these everyday experiences, though visceral and urgent, often aren’t linked in people’s minds to climate change. Many people lack the language, tools, or platforms to connect their personal experiences to global climate issues. That’s where ‘Decoding Climate Science’ comes in.

🌍 Bridging the gap: Decoding Climate Science

The Centre for Public Impact (CPI) has partnered with Integrated Design (Indé) and the Association for Promoting Social Action (APSA) to pilot ‘Decoding Climate Science’. This project aims to connect people’s lived experiences of climate stress to the broader science and policy discussions on climate change.

Different communities experience climate change differently, shaped by their access to resources and ability to adapt. Marginalised voices, in particular, are often missing from policy tables despite being hit hardest by climate impacts.

This project aimed to make climate science more accessible and to enhance policy responsiveness. By grounding our approach in people’s stories and local knowledge, we are developing a practical, people-first toolkit to help municipal leaders, government agencies, scientists, and residents come together in conversation and:

• Engage with climate stress through real, lived experiences
• Understand how social, political, and economic forces interact with environmental change
• Co-create more inclusive climate solutions with communities at the centre

Climate change is not just about data points and policy papers. It’s about the people living through the crisis whose knowledge, resilience, and insight must guide the way forward. Watch this space for the launch of the toolkit in the coming months. If you want guidance for bringing this work to your community, please reach out in the interim – we’re here to partner.

Best wishes,

Dhiviya

🔗 Connect with Dhiviya on LinkedIn 

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