Abstract:
The United States is best described as a kaleidoscope of cultures, a country where more than 350 languages coexist. Nearly 68.8 million Americans, about 1 in 5, speak a language other than English at home. Yet, English remains the primary language used in weather and climate communication during environmental disasters. This raises an important question: if our country embraces multiple languages, why does our emergency system rely on only one? This presentation explores how multilingual speakers receive, understand, and respond to extreme weather events, drawing on years of fieldwork and survey research. The talk will also highlight a multi-year partnership with the National Weather Service that leverages artificial intelligence to deliver near real-time translations of extreme weather warnings into Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and other widely spoken languages. This work invites us to see language not as a barrier, but as a bridge to resilience in the face of weather and climate extremes.