“The Media and Climate Change” “Journalism in a 24/7 World: Decision Making for the Online Editor”

1. “The Media and Climate Change” “Journalism in a 24/7 World: Decision Making for the Online Editor” Knight Digital Media Center University of Southern California Oct. 2, 2007 Jim Detjen Knight Professor of Journalism Director, Knight Center for Environmental Journalism Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan, USA

2. Climate change is not a new issue -- but the scope of the changes occurring now is unprecedented in modern history.

3. The Earth’s Climate Has Changed Throughout Earth’s History It is caused by: • Changes in Earth’s Orbit -- Ice Ages • Changes in Sun’s Intensity • Volcanic Activity - Mt. Pinatubo in 1991 • Increases in greenhouse gases (air pollutants such as carbon dioxide, methane, etc.) given off by human activities. • Human activities are accelerating the “greenhouse effect”

4. What is Global Warming? Increased temperatures caused by a buildup of carbon dioxide and other “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere. Radiant heat from the sun is trapped by this blanket of gases and temperatures gradually rise.

5. Greenhouse effect causes: • Venus to be too hot • Mars to be too cold • Earth has been the “Goldilocks Planet” -- temperatures “just right” -- until recently

6. During the next 100 years the planet’s surface temperatures could increase up to 11 degrees – causing coastal flooding, more severe storms and dramatic changes in forests, agriculture, wildlife, human health, the economy, and much else.

7. A Core Belief:Good Environmental Reporting is Based on Accurate Science

8. Scientific findings come from: • IPPC -- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change • Created in 1988 by World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environmental Program • Includes 2,500 of the World’s top scientists on climate change • Most recent report issued in 2007

9. Direct Observations of Recent Climate Change Show Worrisome Trends: Global mean temperature is rising Global average sea level is rising Northern hemisphere Snow cover is decreasing

10. Warmest 12 years: 1998,2005,2003,2002,2004,2006, 2001,1997,1995,1999,1990,2000 Global temperatures are increasing

12. The Arctic has warmed twice as fast as the rest of the Globe. Warming in the Arctic is double that for the globe from 19th to 21st century and from late 1960s to present.

13. Arctic warming threatens Inuit communities and wildlife such as the polar bear.

14. Snow cover and Arctic sea ice are decreasing Spring snow cover shows 5% drop during 1980s Arctic sea ice area decreased by 2.7% per decade

15. A melting iceberg in Alaska

16. Glaciers and frozen ground are receding Area of seasonally frozen ground in Northern Hemisphere has decreased by 7% from 1901 to 2002 Increased Glacier retreat since the early 1990s

17. Sea level rises threaten: • Maldives and other island nations are threatened with their survival • Bangladesh, India, China, Indonesia, Netherlands, United States and other countries with low lying coastal cities face serious challenges

18. Heat waves are increasing: an example Extreme Heat Wave Summer 2003 Europe

19. Rising temperatures: • Will greatly affect millions of people who live in cities around the world • Have a greater impact on the young, the old and the poor • Will greatly affect people in tropical areas where many of the world’s largest cities are located

20. Patterns of rainfall are changing • The frequency of heavy rain and snow has increased over most land areas • Drying in the Sahel, the Mediterranean, southern Africa and parts of southern Asia. • More intense and longer droughts observed since the 1970s, particularly in the tropics and subtropics. • Significantly increased precipitation in eastern parts of North and South America, northern Europe and northern and central Asia.

21. Drought is increasing many regions Mainly decrease in rain over land in tropics and subtropics, but enhanced by increased atmospheric demand with warming The most important spatial pattern (top) of the monthly Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) for 1900 to 2002. The time series (below) accounts for most of the trend in PDSI.

22. Heavy rainfalls are increasing over many land areas Regions of disproportionate changes in heavy (95th) and very heavy (99th) precipitation

23. Marked increase after 1994 North Atlantic hurricanes are increasing N. Atlantic hurricane record best after 1944 with aircraft surveillance. Global number and percentage of intense hurricanes is increasing SST

24. Global warming threatens many plants and animals: • Many ecologists say we are facing an extinction crisis not seen in 65 million years • Threatened animals include polar bears, leopard seals, penguins, bowhead whales, many species of frogs and toads, many birds and many mammals • Potentially great impacts on many species of plants • Huge implications for forestry and agriculture

25. What is the economic impact? • Stern Report in October 2006 said global climate change could cause world’s GDP to decline by 20%. • That investing 1% in GDP per year in efforts to halt this could prevent most of this impact. • Failure to do so could cause “major disruption to economic and social stability…on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the Depression” of the 1930s.

26. Climate change has and will affect political stability: • Decline of Mayan civilization, Easter Island, Greenland and elsewhere • Extended drought is currently creating major starvation in Sudan • Climate change will create political winners and losers

27. Potentially great health impacts: • Global warming expands the range of mosquitoes and other insects, which in turn spread diseases • More than 30 new diseases, such as West Nile Virus, have emerged during past 25 years • Other diseases, such as tuberculosis, are increasing worldwide

28. Impacts of climate change are affected by other long-term environmental and social trends

32. Mass media’s interest in climate change has dramatically increased

33. Examples of recent interest: • Movies such as Waterworld (1995) The Day After Tomorrow (2004), An Inconvenient Truth (2006) and Arctic Tale (2007) • TV shows include Star Trek, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, South Park • Novels such as Michael Crichton’s “State of Fear”

34. News coverage has increased: • Increase documented in newspaper coverage in Europe, Japan, and USA • Major cover articles in Time, Economist, Science, Nature, National Geographic and others • Increased coverage by radio and TV stations and on the Internet

35. Why is this a difficult story to cover? “Climate Change doesn’t fit the traditional norms of journalism.” -- Andy Revkin, environmental writer, New York Times

36. Climate change: • Has enormous global implications at a time when many news organizations have reduced international coverage • Deals with long term, gradual changes while most news media focus on daily events • Scientific uncertainties are still significant • The science of climate change is complex and requires specialized knowledge by journalists

37. Journalists have traditionally used a ‘political model’ to report about uncertainty: • Journalists don’t have the time and knowledge to know what’s correct • Report both sides of an issue • Let the readers decide

38. Balance is Bias: Research by Naomi Oreskes in Science Magazine • Of 928 peer-reviewed articles dealing with climate change in scientific journals during past 10 years, 0% expressed doubt about the cause of global warming. • Of 636 articles about climate change in N.Y. Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal during the past 14 years, 53% expressed doubt as to the cause of global warming.

39. Journalists must deal with powerful disinformation campaigns: • Exxon Mobil and other oil, coal and utilities companies have invested in public relations campaigns to raise doubts. • Goal is to “reposition global warming as theory, rather than fact,” according to author Ross Gelbspan. • Similar techniques used by tobacco industry 40 years ago.

40. Interest in environmental issues waxes and wanes • Increases following accidents and disasters such as: • Three Mile Island (1979) and Chernobyl (1986) nuclear power plant accidents • Bhopal, India accident (1984) • Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (1989) • Hurricane Katrina (2005)

41. What is the role of a journalist? • To accurately inform the public about issues that affect readers, viewers and listeners • To write the first draft of history • To investigate government, business and powerful special interests • To serve as a watchdog • To engage the public

42. An example of one investigative environmental journalist:

43. NEW ORLEANS after Hurricane Katrina in 2005

45. Mark Schleifstein of the New Orleans Times-Picayune accurately forecast these problems – three years before Katrina

46. Why are environmental journalists important?

47. Most of what the public knows about science and the environment comes from the news media. ● Television -- 80 percent ● Newspapers -- 50 percent ● The Internet -- 20 percent ● Radio -- 18 percent ● Source: Pew Research Center, October 2003

48. Rising Environmental Concerns: Percentage of Americans who say these environmental issues are a "serious problem:" 93 % air pollution 92 % water pollution 89% deforestation 83 % global warming 83 % extinction of wildlife 33% say the quality of the environment is good or excellent 65 % say the quality of the environment is fair or poor Source: Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy March 2007 Nationwide survey of 1,000 adults

49. Environmental Journalism helps combat scientific illiteracy • 1/3 of the public doesn’t know what a molecule is • 2/3 don’t understand the basics of radiation • 5/6 don’t understand basic concepts of genetic engineering • 57% think electrons are bigger than atoms • 63% think people lived at the same time as dinosaurs

50. Some guidelines for environmental reporters: • Best environmental reporting is usually in-depth reporting that explains in detail • Base reporting on sound science • Follow the money. Who sponsored research? • Translate technical information clearly • Show impact on readers, viewers and listeners • Present solutions