Bad communication on climate has bad consequences. We must do better.
The future of communications on the climate crisis must focus on freeing all of us from the systems that drive us to dump costs onto others and nature.
climate change communication
Why Words Matter in the Fight Against Climate Change
We shouldn’t be trying to bring on board the people who’re not already on board. Instead we should be trying to activate the vast majority of people who’re already concerned or even alarmed about the climate crisis but haven’t yet started exerting political pressure on their workplaces or on their government.
The IPCC Report: Key Findings and Radical Implications
When the current IPCC report was first released, the UN Secretary General described it as a “code red for humanity,” and called for decisive action.
Getting to the Heart of Science Communication: Excerpt
What I will argue in this book is that although traditional science communication methods are valuable, the issues playing out in the twenty-first century are inviting new ways of thinking about and doing science communication and engagement.
Remembering The Weather of the Future
But my feeling is that we do need to hear more declarative statements like “Sell the beach house now!” from science and modeling.
The Climate Crisis Demands New Ways of Thinking from Climate Scientists
It becomes clear where the way out of the crisis can be found – at least in principle: acceptance of our collective failure, humility on the part of the “experts”, and immediate action from the human side of the problem.
How Climate Change Misinformation Spreads Online
Perhaps more than any other topic, climate change has been subject to the organised spread of spurious information. This circulates online and frequently ends up being discussed in established media or by people in the public eye.
Turning Delusion into Climate Action: Prof Kevin Anderson, an interview
Over the past two or more decades I’ve witnessed an emerging preference for spinning an appealing but increasingly misleading yarn about what is needed to meet our various climate commitments.
How Do We Convince Climate Change Deniers? That’s the Wrong Question.
With a few exceptions — speaking truth to leaders in power and helping loved ones recognize the magnitude of the threat — we need to shift our way of approaching climate communication from changing minds to giving people already on board concrete tasks on which to take action.
Mind the Climate Literacy Gap
Climate literacy, which should by now be universal, lags out of all proportion to the crisis — and yet it promises large returns for a relatively small investment. If every student was climate literate, we could begin to effect change on a large scale. If every person was truly climate literate, imagine the change we could make.
Despairing about the Climate Crisis? Read This.
So we’re having to deal with completely new environmental conditions, and we will be changed by that. Can we imagine that? No. Can we try to imagine that we’re not just clobbering each other over the head or blowing each other up? I can imagine something different.
How to Identify People Open to Evidence about Climate Change
An unfortunate consequence of our divisive political climate is the portrayal of an immovable chasm between people on opposite sides of issues. While that’s certainly true in some cases, there is middle ground to be worked. Those keen to help move the needle of public opinion and engagement on climate change should look first toward peers and those who are open to change but not yet involved in the issue.