Hearst Television Investigation: Virtual reality increasingly used to convey climate urgency

Standing in their backyard a few minutes from downtown Seattle, each wearing a white headset and holding a pair of wireless touch controllers, Yurguis Moreno Bordama and his teenage son, Mateo Moreno-McQuarrie, look at the future foretold."Look, the entire place is flooded," Mateo said, looking at a virtual depiction of what his South Park neighborhood is predicted to look like by the time he reaches middle age. "By 2040. Wow. That's only – that’s less than 20 years from now," he said as he read on-screen prompts filled with information about how a changing climate will affect a portion of land at the nearby Duwamish River and walked through a simulated landscape with recognizable landmarks."Wow, that looks so, so realistic," his father said.'Kind of crazy'The family is one of the first to experience a new program created by the Seattle Public Library and researchers at the University of Washington and University of Minnesota. Just like checking out a book, families can check out projections of a changing climate in their own home. Program organizers hope to begin the individual check-out process once the pandemic subsides. The goal is to convey climate research through a visceral experience that transcends generations and backgrounds. Researchers hope it will be life-changing."I didn't realize it was possible for the sea level to rise that much," Mateo said in an interview afterward. "Like, it was at our waist, where normally it wouldn't even be at our feet. And I think that's kind of crazy." The family already knows the power of increasingly extreme weather, having been chased out of their non-air conditioned home last year during a record-breaking heat wave – climate refugees in their own city. Seattle, and the rest of Washington state, has seen a trend of progressively higher-than-average temperatures over the past three decades. "Definitely something is changing," Moreno Bordama, Mateo's father, said in the interview. "Whether you want to accept it or not, it is happening. It is definitely happening."Survey: 60% to take climate stepsThe threat is not just in the Pacific Northwest. To gauge the impact nationwide, the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit sent an exclusive survey to every county in America and all cities over 50,000 people asking how a changing climate and increasingly severe weather events are impacting them. Of those governments that responded to the 'Forecasting Our Future' questionnaire, 60 percent said they do plan to take steps to address the effects of a changing climate. Less than a quarter said the issue has been controversial in their community.But of those 23 percent who reported the topic has been divisive, some said their taxpayers thought climate initiatives were "unnecessary" (Otter Tail County, Minn.), the issue "exaggerated" (Larimer County, Colo.) and "irrelevant" (Crawford County, Kan.), even that their own residents are in "denial" (Hooker County, Neb.). Universities, cities expand VR climate projectsJuan Rubio leads the Seattle Public Library's virtual reality project, which is being rolled out to community groups to share with families, including Yurguis Moreno Bordama and his teenage son.With the VR headsets, "you relate more to it and then you're going to really care more about climate change," Rubio said. "It's more live, it's less dry."Other groups are experimenting with climate-related VR projects, as well.In California, Santa Cruz public libraries teamed up with the city to design their own virtual reality experience of rising sea levels in that area. Yale University in Connecticut started a VR climate change 'hackathon'; it's on hold for the pandemic, but hopes to reconvene this fall, a spokesperson said.And at Penn State, researchers worked with the Menominee Indian tribe of Wisconsin to create a VR experience predicting climate change's impact on forests. The technology has promise considering the growth in virtual reality headsets. Sales rose more than 70% last year from 2020, according to International Data Corp.How bad climate gets 'up to us'Heidi Roop, one of the researchers who worked on the Seattle VR experience and who is now an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota studying climate science, took a journalist recently into the climate simulation, watching through headsets as digital waters rose first knee-deep, then waist-deep, in a south Seattle neighborhood." "We know we're already living the negative consequences of a warmer world," Roop explained, "but how bad it gets and what future we have to live in – that is up to us.""We talk about the future, but do we act in service of the future? And this is one of the big challenges of climate change," she said.The future is now That future is now for Mateo and his father, Yurguis, who have already seen searing heat – and now simulated rising waters – threaten their community. "You're experiencing something that touches you," Moreno Bordama said. "I think you're more willing to do something about it."'Forecasting Our Future' Full CoverageSurvey: Most concerned about future extreme weather, only half taking steps Why a 1-foot rise in sea level has a bigger impact than you thinkMan loses home to Hurricane Ida, 16 years after grandmother lost hers to Hurricane KatrinaInside America's 'forest census' Spurred by climate urgency, communities begin searching for water All 'Forecasting Our Future' special reportsMark Albert is the chief national investigative correspondent for the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit, based in Washington D.C. April Chunko, Jeannie Kopstein & Kevin Rothstein contributed to this report.Know of climate-related stories you'd like us to cover for our 'Forecasting Our Future' series? Have a confidential tip or inside information? Send information and documents to the National Investigative Unit at investigate@hearst.com.