Look How Hashtag Climate App is Magnifying Environmental Messages

When it comes to superheroes, there are fictional ones like Batman and Spiderman, and then there are real life crusaders like technology-for-good developers Josh Felser, Steve Simitzis and crew.

These climate change champions, along with a small but mighty team of fellow tech wizards, have created an app that may very well be the answer to global warming awareness. Simply put, #Climate (that really is the name of the app, not just a social media hashtag!) turns influencers into environmental activists.

And it's none too soon. Indeed, just yesterday Yale's Environment 360 noted that a huge opening has appeared in the Earth's atmosphere that is enabling pollutants to destroy the ozone at an alarming rate. The hole, which is in a part of the lower atmosphere called the OH Shield (...OH Sh** shield?!?) is several thousand kilometers long and is centered over the tropical west Pacific Ocean. It's having the effect of an elevator, essentially lifting nasty contaminants straight up into the stratosphere. Yikes. Maybe #Climate can help.

Eco Celebrities for Change

Wondering how such a monumental task can be helped by an app? It’s no secret that celebrities possess an immense amount of social clout simply for being, well, famous. Stick their name next to a perfume bottle, have them wear a pair of shoes, pitch some life insurance or slap their photo on a cereal box, and some crazy things can happen. Interest is piqued, product revenue and income can instantly skyrocket, brands can be made overnight. But can we experience the effect for climate-related issues and information?

Felser and Simitzis think they know the answer – and they’re making it easy to do through their nonprofit, #Climate. The app identifies legitimate organizations working toward positive environmental impact and allows users to then distribute the organizations’ updates and information easily to their followers.

After downloading the app, simply choose which issues are most important to you and then determine how frequently you want notifications pushed to your mobile device. From there, with a simple swipe of the screen, these notifications can then be shared to Facebook and Twitter accounts.

For the average Joe, these messages may only translate to a few hundred people, but for celebrities – like #Climate user Bette Midler – who have access to hundreds of thousands of followers, this provides some real power to critical environmental messages.

So, in a world where there is an immense amount of digital noise, will #Climate truly help shed more light on environmental issues? It really just becomes a numbers game for the #Climate team. By gaining traction with even just a few more notable celebrities, though, they could effectively tap into immense social networks.

(Photo credit: JD Hancock via Flickr