Sign language for climate change

Climate action through signing - 2nd October 2023

British Sign Language (BSL) now includes new signs related to climate change and the environment. The sign language project intends to make science more inclusive and to aid deaf students learn about climate change.

Two hundred new signs including "carbon footprint" and "greenhouse gases" were added by the Scottish Sensory Society's sign language project. Dr Audrey Cameron leads the project and stated, "We're trying to create the perfect signs that visualise scientific concepts."

Before, BSL users had to spell out these complex words, which made communication challenging. However, with these new signs, deaf scientists can participate at international conferences.

Dr Cameron, who's deaf herself, complained, "I was involved in research for 11 years and went to numerous meetings but was never truly involved because I couldn't understand what people were saying… I wanted to talk with people about chemistry and I just wasn't able to."

The project's part of the Royal Society's science glossary fund, which has contributed 7,000 signs to BSL since 2007. They intend to introduce another 200 signs connected to energy and climate change.

The signs are already being used to teach deaf science students in Glasgow. Melissa, 13, finds the visual signs easier than relying on spelling out words. She demonstrated the sign for "greenhouse gas" and said "With the sign, I can see something is happening with the gas."

Jeremy Sanders, who works with the Royal Society, hopes these signs will increase education about climate change and help deaf scientists to share their important work with the world.