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How we talk about the climate crisis is increasingly crucial to tackling it
(The Guardian, 17 May 2021) Our emotional register – how ‘doomy’ or ‘hopeful’ we are – will inevitably shape the policies we put forward.
As the climate emergency creeps closer to the top of the political agenda, where it belongs, an argument is raging over communication. Exactly what to say about the environmental crisis, and how, is an important question for all sorts of people and organisations, including governments. It is particularly pressing for journalists, authors and broadcasters. For us, communication is not an adjunct to other activities such as policymaking or campaigning. It is our main job.
People need to know what is happening to glaciers, forests and endangered species, and what is being done about this. But information requires interpretation. And while editorial judgments influence the way that all subjects are covered, storytelling about the climate emergency is particularly fraught.
These tensions are nothing new. For several decades, a disinformation campaign led by fossil fuel companies and their allies meant that the overwhelming scientific consensus about the risks of global heating was obscured. The BBC, among other organisations, mistakenly attempted to “balance” the warnings about humanity’s worsening predicament with lies. Greens of all shades were rightly enraged.
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The Guardian, 17 May 2021: How we talk about the climate crisis is increasingly crucial to tackling it
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28 May 2021: Fossil fuel use leads to worse and longer droughts
27 May 2021: Rising global temperatures 'inexorably closer' to climate tipping point - U.N.
25 May 2021: Faster Greenland ice melt could be unstoppable
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17 May 2021: Asia’s cities are worst hit in warming world
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26 Apr 2021: UN declares 2021 is ‘year for action’ on climate
15 Apr 2021: Climate heating may speed up to unexpected levels
15 Apr 2021: Climate crisis: Boris Johnson ‘too cosy’ with vested interests to take serious action
8 Apr 2021: Climate-blind borrowing risks 'credit crunch' for future generations
30 Mar 2021: Global warming could cut over 60 countries' credit ratings by 2030, study warns
29 Mar 2021: Plants will be hit as a warming world turns drier
25 Mar 2021: Small nuclear power plants no use in climate crisis
16 Mar 2021: World’s coastal cities face risk from land and sea
15 Mar 2021: Climate crisis: recent European droughts 'worst in 2,000 years'
8 Mar 2021: Global heating pushes tropical regions towards limits of human livability
5 Mar 2021: Antarctic warming speed-up alarms researchers
1 Mar 2021: Sir David Attenborough tells UN ‘It is too late to avoid climate change’
23 Feb 2021: Cost of flood damage to U.S. homes will increase by 61% in 30 years
19 Feb 2021: Human destruction of nature is 'senseless and suicidal', warns UN chief
1 Feb 2021: Bolsonaro’s Brazil is becoming a climate pariah
27 Jan 2021: Climate change less likely to be seen as an emergency in poor nations
25 Jan 2021: Global ice loss accelerating at record rate, study finds
15 Jan 2021: Countries adapting too slowly to climate breakdown, UN warns
14 Jan 2021: Rising heat forces big growth in electricity demand
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11 Jan 2021: Dangerously hotter cities await 2100’s residents
11 Jan 2021: Climate chaos batters global insurance industry
11 Jan 2021: 2020 was hottest year ever in Europe
14 Dec 2020: World still warms in 2020 as greenhouse gases fall
7 Dec 2020: Drylands hit harder by poverty than richer regions
3 Dec 2020: Humanity is waging war on nature, says UN secretary general
3 Dec 2020: Feeling the heat? Scientists warn of climate shocks to global health
1 Dec 2020: Australia endures hottest spring ever, with average temperatures more than 2C above average
26 Nov 2020: New Zealand's Ardern set to declare climate emergency
9 Nov 2020: Scientists’ oath pledges full climate crisis facts
9 Nov 2020: World is running out of time on climate, experts warn
2 Nov 2020: Lack of climate action over 50 years will cost Australian economy $3.4tn and 880,000 jobs – report
29 Oct 2020: 2020 likely to be one of warmest years on record despite La Niña
29 Oct 2020: Africa’s resistance grows as climate crisis worsens
26 Oct 2020: Climate change poses growing threats to vulnerable Africa, UN says
23 Oct 2020: Coronavirus poses threat to climate-change campaigns – David Attenborough
22 Oct 2020: Alarm as Arctic sea ice not yet freezing at latest date on record
12 Oct 2020: Climate activist Greta Thunberg shows support for Biden in rare political tweet
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12 Oct 2020: Earth may temporarily pass dangerous 1.5℃ warming limit by 2024, major new report says
12 Oct 2020: Celebrities lead global call to act on climate crisis
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28 Sep 2020: Ocean heat waves are directly linked to climate change
22 Sep 2020: Demand climate regulation, Harvard economist urges big businesses
21 Sep 2020: Spinning clock in New York counts down time until climate devastation
17 Sep 2020: BlackRock votes against 49 companies for lack of climate crisis progress
17 Sep 2020: Abnormal heat spreads floods and wildfires globally
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25 Jun 2020: Antarctic melting could bring a much hotter future
18 Jun 2020: World has six months to avert climate crisis, says IEA chief
15 Jun 2020: Covid-19 pandemic is 'fire drill' for effects of climate crisis, says UN official
21 May 2020: Climate change is turning parts of Antarctica green, say scientists
21 May 2020: Future shock: COVID-19 failures show need to prep for climate threats
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19 Mar 2020: India finally takes climate crisis seriously
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14 Feb 2020: Pupils draft their own climate bill as anxiety grows over lack of guidance for schools
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19 Dec 2019: Climate activists found guilty over London train protest by 'regretful' jury
7 Nov 2019: Budapest declares climate emergency, teases carbon-neutrality
7 Nov 2019: Italy to put sustainability and climate at heart of learning in schools
7 Nov 2019: Sea levels set to keep rising for centuries even if emissions targets met
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4 Nov 2019: Red alert for blue planet and small island states
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1 Aug 2019: Siberian wildfires prompt Russia to declare a state of emergency
