Has the media captured the correct attention?

Well, as the saying goes, “some publicity is better than no publicity!”

I googled the phrase "climate change" and clicked on the first media related link. This is what appeared:

It's not horrible, but note that the picture is of the arctic sea ice. Why does this matter to me? How does it affect me? Since the first tangible impact of anthropogenic climate change is melting ice, it makes sense that the media would display those images. However, how effective is this? This plays in into two problems: 1. the story is not relevant to the audience 2. the story displays the "disaster frame" of all the sea ice/glaciers are melting away. In this discussion, I will discuss the latter. 

I feel as if it’s necessary to incorporate some of my personal experiences in order to convey my thoughts better. I’ve always been fascinated with the weather, so I read books and watched movies to better prepare myself for my future studies. My first exposure to Global Warming/Climate Change was in High School. I remember the films The Day After Tomorrow and Inconvenient Truth created quite the gossip about Global Warming and human’s role in the matter. After watching Inconvenient Truth, I remember feeling the desire to become more environmentally friendly and that the documentary seemed fairly dramatic. I hardly learned anything from both films and I didn’t seek any further information on Global Warming. So, it makes me wonder, if these films didn’t peek my interest in Global Warming, how did they make everyone feel? From the handful of people I know, everyone stated Inconvenient Truth was “over dramatic.” I’m not concluding this as an absolute feeling for the general public.

            The issue of anthropogenic Climate Change is not by any means new. So, the question then becomes, why hasn’t more been done? Why is there still controversy among the American general public? I don’t claim to be an expert, but it seems to me that the “sense of urgency” to change is a more recent development. More studies are being conducted and it’s a story that reaches the media relatively frequently. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) began in 1988 and every 6-7 years they release a report on the current status of the climate and what the future climate may be. Since the first assessment report, the IPCC has become more confident in the human influence and what impacts we may expect, however, consensus among the public still muddled around misunderstandings.   

            Most of the media coverage about Global Warming/Climate Change has been over exaggerated weather extremes. They claim scientists are calling for mega hurricanes, scorching heat, and destruction beyond our imagination. Not to mention, any time severe weather occurs the media quickly raises the question, “Is this due to global warming?” According to the media, severe weather outbreaks in the southeast are because of Global Warming, while record breaking cold temperatures disproves its existence. It’s really quite frustrating to read how much the media distorts facts just because they want to sell a story. It’s astounding how the media does not seem to be troubled by such unethical reporting. I think the media has done a brilliant job in displaying the disaster frame and drawing the public’s attention, however, I do not think it’s the sort of attention that is necessary to cause behavior change. Studies have proven that “scare tactics” do not work. It’s a temporary solution for a long-term problem. Myers et al. 2012 stated, “studies have found that messages emphasizing catastrophic, dire consequences or threats that are geographically remote can result in less concern and more hopelessness among audiences.” Numerous studies have all concluded similar ideas: negative emotional appeals do not work. I agree, as I have personally experienced the frame. We cannot make the public feel hopeless with no sort of solution. It’s our job to properly education them and guide them to how we can fix this problem. It’s not going to be easy, but we need to stand in it together.

Works Cited

Myers, Teresa A., Matthew C. Nisbet, Edward W. Maibach, and Anthony A. Leiserowitz. "A             Public Health Frame Arouses Hopeful Emotions about Climate Change." Climatic Change (2012): 1105-112.