Climate Change and the Media
Like most people who find the 72 degree weather disturbing, I've been hoping that it would prompt journalists who know the science far better than me to write massive pieces about this huge news story. Instead, I've been seeing a lot of happy talk from weather reporters on TV (take a look at the New York Observer's scathing story on this) or reading upbeat newspaper stories about people taking advantage of the warm weather to frolick at the beach or garden in January.
Today, New York Times environmental journalist Andrew Revkin--whose work I've always admired--wrote a piece, wondering why the U.S. has been relatively apathetic about climate change compared to western Europe. The reason, he suggested, was that while European countries tend to experience the same weather, the U.S.--because it spans a continent--often has wide variations. So right now, while the East Coast is having balmy, summer-like weather, Colorado is dealing with extreme snowstorms (such extremes in weather, by the way, is also believed to be the result of climate change.)
Interesting, Andrew, but what about the media's continued reporting of this story as though there were still some significant doubt as to whether climate change exists?
Take a look at a New York Times metro story that also ran today. After the usual blather about how people are enjoying (or not enjoying) the warm weather, the story says this (I'm not naming the reporter because I don't blame him as much as his editor):
By calling global warming a "popular theory" and quoting only one "expert" who disputes it, the story leaves the impression that climate change (the preferred term since the build up of fossil fuels is causing extreme temperatures at both ends of the spectrum) is in doubt.
That just isn't true.
Take a look at the Union of Concerned Scientists' web site.
Read their report released this week, which exposes the millions that Exxon has spent to fund "skeptics" and get their views into the news pages. Couldn't that be a more significant reason why the US has been slow to take action and grasp the seriousness of the problem we're facing?
Environmental reporters need to not only continue doing stories about climate change (and please someone do a story taking a hard look at the National Weather Service), but they also need to educate the editors and reporters in their newsrooms, so that these gee-whiz, ain't this warm- weather-nice stories get pushed out of news pages for good.
If you want to get a sense of how far ahead European media and politicians are in grasping the disastrous implications of climate change, read this or this.
Stumble It!
posted by pam at 9:36 AM
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