Mass media and climate change
The effectiveness of climate change mitigation and adaptation actions is related to the information that people receive on a daily basis from the media. Although the level of knowledge about global climate change is rising continuously, in most countries its coverage is insignificant in comparison to the news about crime, politics, celebrities, economics or sports. News media often present the need to take urgent measures to limit and / or adapt to climate change as a dynamic and highly contentious issue that intersects politics, science and various public interests.
Despite of the repeated scientific confirmation that human activities are responsible for the climate change, this global process is increasingly taking shape in the minds of people as a catastrophe with irreversible consequences. This raises social fears, which increase the pressure on the political system to change. The cost of inaction today could be the reason for the melting of polar ice caps tomorrow, the destruction of wildlife habitats, catastrophic sea level rise, intensification of extreme weather events such as floods and droughts, rising average temperatures and other irreversible climate change.
Public attention to a specific problem often goes through five stages:
- A preliminary stage during which the problem has not yet attracted public attention. Expert communities are aware of the risks, but the information is not widely disseminated.
- In the second stage, the occurrence of dramatic events related to climate change increases anxiety in society.
- The third stage is the gradual realization of the costs needed to deal with the problem.
- In the fourth stage, there is a gradual decline in public interest, as part of society is discouraged by the amount of money that should be allocated to address the problem.
- During the last, fifth stage, the public interest gradually fades.
However, it seems that the problem of global warming will not follow the five stages described in this way, as new challenges and consequences of climate change are constantly arising, permanently engaging the attention of the society.
The various phases in the development of knowledge and policy related to climate change started provoking media attention in the 1980s and 1990s. This period was characterized by a complex politicization of climate science. A small group of skeptical speakers and scientists, many of whom closely associated with the carbon-based industry, gained popularity in the media for refuting scientific discoveries about human contributions to climate change.
Ten years later, the warnings in the media about the dangers of global warming to health, the environment and the economy rose, but skepticism and reluctance to counter still remained.
The beginning of the 21st century marked a significant increase in media interest in climate change, although most of the news since than have been related to cases that the general public does not perceive as a direct threat. For example, the melting of Arctic ice and the consequences for polar bears are sympathetic, but not yet perceived as an immediate threat to humans, as the vast majority of humanity is unlikely to encounter this animal and its disappearance would go unnoticed.
In the broadest sense, media tend to cover climate change in the light of key issues, such as the interconnections between economy, environment and climate, the relationship between nature and culture, social processes initiating public response to climate change. Articles such as “Tuvalu: The first casuality of climate change", describing the consequences of the rising ocean levels for many islands, arouse great sympathy among the world community.
Most of the information on environmental issues in the media coverage does not mention the real causes and risks to the environment. For example, journalists too often link climate change to disasters such as intense hurricanes and storms, drought, forest fires, crop failure and other hazards, without discussing how greenhouse gases stimulate climate change. When incorporating a scientist’s opinion, that is skeptical on global warming makes it even harder for the audiences to get a real idea of the future risks of climate change.
The case linking nuclear energy and climate is interesting. There is a significant public sentiment in Europe against the development of nuclear energy. However, when it is presented as an alternative solution to reduce greenhouse gases and global warming, people are getting ready to see it in a more positive light.
Scientists' analysis of the effects of global warming on the economy shows that climate change could shrink the world economy by 20 percent in the future, while determined actions to tackle this threat today would cost only 1 percent of world GDPGDP
is an economic term that refers to the measurement of the total value of products and services produced in a country over a year.. This information is still not well addressed by the media to the general public.
Recent studies of the impact of the media on society show that:
- The approach of journalists should be different to specific audiences. In this regard, research has found that people in Europe and Latin America are much more aware of the risks of climate change than people in North America.
- An interesting paradox lies in the fact that young people (under the age of 20) are the least informed about climate change, but at the same time are most concerned about the risks associated with this phenomenon.
- Even those most concerned about climate change put this challenge in the back seat more concerned about the state of economy, tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, and the danger of inciting large-scale military action.
- There are three main obstacles leading to an inadequate understanding of the dangers and measures related to climate change mitigation and adaptation: the degree of public agreement on these measures, the differences in cultural interpretations of "global warming" and the different socio-economic and educational audience levels.
- People are more likely to perceive the problem of climate change when they have personally experienced a weather disaster.
- Most people prefer measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions rather than activities to adapt to climate change.
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