title: Tailoring the visual communication of climate projections for local adaptation practitioners in Germany and the UK.
abstract: Visualizations are widely used in the communication of climate projections. However, their effectiveness has rarely been assessed among their target audience. Given recent calls to increase the usability of climate information through the tailoring of climate projections, it is imperative to assess the effectiveness of different visualizations. This paper explores the complexities of tailoring through an online survey conducted with 162 local adaptation practitioners in Germany and the UK. The survey examined respondents' assessed and perceived comprehension (PC) of visual representations of climate projections as well as preferences for using different visualizations in communicating and planning for a changing climate. Comprehension and use are tested using four different graph formats, which are split into two pairs. Within each pair the information content is the same but is visualized differently. We show that even within a fairly homogeneous user group, such as local adaptation practitioners, there are clear differences in respondents' comprehension of and preference for visualizations. We do not find a consistent association between assessed comprehension and PC or use within the two pairs of visualizations that we analysed. There is, however, a clear link between PC and use of graph format. This suggests that respondents use what they think they understand the best, rather than what they actually understand the best. These findings highlight that audience-specific targeted communication may be more complex and challenging than previously recognized.
authors.affiliation: School of Earth and Environment and ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK s.lorenz@leeds.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9124-9690
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lorenz
authors.affiliation: School of Earth and Environment and ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
authors.forename: Suraje
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7879-9364
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dessai
authors.affiliation: School of Earth and Environment and ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
authors.forename: Piers M
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6078-0171
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Forster
authors.affiliation: School of Earth and Environment and ESRC Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
authors.forename: Jouni
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5720-466X
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paavola
keywords: climate change adaptation; climate projections; communication; decision-making; local government; visualization