How language barriers can put lives at risk during severe weather

Weather and climate information is primarily reported in English. But, over 41 million Americans speak Spanish at home.

When severe weather warnings are misunderstood or misinterpreted, the consequences can be serious. Language barriers can put non-English speaking communities at risk during emergencies.

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Department of Climate, Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences professors Stephen Nesbitt and Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Department of Climate, Meteorology, and Atmospheric Sciences, Joseph Trujillo Falcon, talks to us about the importance of multilingual weather forecasting.

Funding for Weather Realness is partially provided by the Backlund Charitable Trust.  If you have a question for a local scientist on this program, please leave a voicemail at 217.333.2141 or email weatherrealness@illinois.edu