WHILE CLIMATE CHANGE IS HAPPENING HERE AND NOW AND IS ALREADY CAUSING SERIOUS HARM TO PEOPLE OTHER SPECIES AGRICULTURE AND INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE U.S. AND GLOBALLY MANY AMERICANS STILL SEE THE ISSUE AS DISTANT IN TIME AND SPACE AND AS A GREATER THREAT TO OTHER SPECIES THAN TO HUMANS. AS ONE OF THE NATIONS LEADING AND MOST TRUSTED SCIENCE ORGANIZATIONS NASA SEEKS TO BUILD PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF CLIMATE CHANGE THE SCIENCE SUPPORTING IT THE ROLE OF HUMAN INFLUENCE AND THE IMPACTS BOTH CURRENT AND IMPENDING. OVER THE PAST FIVE YEARS WITH FUNDING FROM NASA WE HAVE CONDUCTED A SERIES OF COMMUNICATION RESEARCH STUDIES THAT HAVE DIRECTLY HELPED NASA IMPROVE ITS CLIMATE COMMUNICATION EFFORTS AND HAVE YIELDED SEVERAL FUNDAMENTAL INSIGHTS ABOUT CLIMATE MESSAGES AND ABOUT THE EXPECTATIONS OF AMERICAS DIVERSE AUDIENCES WITH REGARD TO CLIMATE COMMUNICATION THAT HAVE POTENTIAL TO FURTHER ENHANCE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CLIMATE COMMUNICATION AT NASA AND MORE BROADLY ACROSS THE CLIMATE SCIENCE COMMUNITY.WE ARE REQUESTING THREE ADDITIONAL YEARS OF FUNDING TO CONTINUE PURSUING THREE BROAD AREAS OF RESEARCH: (1) EVALUATIONS OF NASAS CURRENT CLIMATE SCIENCE WEB CONTENT (WHICH WAS SUBSTANTIALLY REVISED IN RESPONSE TO OUR PRIOR RESEARCH); (2) ASSESSMENTS OF PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF CLIMATE SCIENTISTS IN GENERAL AND IN RESPONSE TO THEIR PUBLIC COMMUNICATION ON THE ISSUE AND OPTIONS FOR CLIMATE SCIENTISTS TO EARN PUBLIC TRUST; AND (3) EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES TO IDENTIFY EFFECTIVE CLIMATE COMMUNICATION MESSAGES INCLUDING MESSAGES ON THE SCIENTIFIC CONSENSUS AND SCIENTIFIC UNCERTAINTY. SPECIFICALLY WE ARE PROPOSING TO CONDUCT: (A) A NATIONALLY REPRESENTATIVE SURVEY OF ADULTS TO EXPOSE PEOPLE TO NASAS PRIMARY WEB BASED CLIMATE CONTENT (CLIMATE.NASA.GOV) AND ASSESS THEIR RESPONSE TO IT; (B) A NATIONAL SURVEY OF ADOLESCENTS CONDUCTED FOR THE SAME PURPOSE TO ASSESS THEIR RESPONSES TO CLIMATE.NASA.GOV.; AND (C)NINE RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED EXPERIMENTS TO TEST VARIOUS MESSAGE STRATEGIES AND OTHER WAYS OF COMMUNICATING CLIMATE SCIENCE MORE EFFECTIVELY.WE ARE CONFIDENT THAT THE RESULTS OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL HELP NASA IMPROVE ITS CLIMATE COMMUNICATION EFFORTS DIRECTLY AND INDIRECTLY IN A NUMBER OF WAYS INCLUDING: (1) IDENTIFYING CONCRETE WAYS TO IMPROVE CLIMATE.NASA.GOV FOR ADULTS AND TEENS; (2)LEARNING MORE ABOUT WHAT AMERICAS DIVERSE PUBLICS EXPECT FROM -AND HOW THEY REACT TO CLIMATE SCIENCE COMMUNICATION; AND (3)LEARNING MORE ABOUT HOW TO MEET THE EXPECTATIONS OF AMERICAS DIVERSE AUDIENCES REGARDING CLIMATE COMMUNICATION IDEALLY IN A MANNER THAT HELPS ALL AMERICANS COME TO A MORE ACCURATE SHARED UNDERSTANDING OF THE SITUATION AND THE RISKS INHERENT IN CLIMATE CHANGE.WE ARE ALSO CONFIDENT THAT THE RESULTS OF OUR RESEARCH WILL ALSO HAVE IMPORTANT IMPLICATIONS FOR CLIMATE SCIENCE COMMUNICATION BEYOND NASA. A BROAD RANGE OF OTHER CLIMATE SCIENCE ORGANIZATIONS (E.G. USGCRP NCAR PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES UNIVERSITIES ETC.) THE CLIMATE SCIENCE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE AND MANY INDIVIDUAL CLIMATE SCIENTISTS ARE STRIVING TO IMPROVE THE OUTCOMES OF THEIR EFFORTS TO SHARE WHAT THEY KNOW WITH THE PUBLIC AND WITH DECISION MAKERS. THROUGH OUR RESEARCH WE SEEK TO ANSWER A RANGE OF QUESTIONS THAT CAN HELP ALL OF THESE GROUPS; AND PEOPLEIMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THEIR COMMUNICATION EFFORTS.