Media coverage of climate change research does not inspire action, say scientists

Fri, 4 Aug 2023 04:44:04 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://phys.org/news/2023-06-media-coverage-climate-action-scientists.html>

"The planet is warming because of human activities and the consequences will be
devastating for all living beings, including humans. At present, everyone is
potentially exposed this information in the media. But how do scientific
journals and the media relay research related to these issues? Is the
scientific focus of climate warming research reflected in what the media
decided to present?

In a study published in Global Environmental Change, scientists from UNIL
specialized in geosciences and psychology have examined these questions. An
analysis of the collection of about 50,000 scientific publications on climate
change for the year 2020 was carried out to identify what of this impressive
body of research made its way into the mainstream media.

The analysis showed that that most of the research selected by the media was
biased to the natural sciences. It overly focused on large-scale climate
projections that will occur in the future, and a narrow range of threats such
as polar bears, drought and melting glaciers. The paper shows that this type of
narrative does not activate the mechanisms known from research on psychology
that might engage pro-environmental behaviors in readers.

On the contrary, the way the media's selective choice of certain elements of
climate change research could backfire, provoking denial and avoidance."

Via Future Crunch:
<https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-rubella-south-east-asia-huma-rights-estonia-animal-canada/>

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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