Having followed the climate change debate and science behind it since studying geography back in high school, I found the below 5-minute video a compelling and insightful look at why the whole issue just isn’t getting any traction. Sure, there’s plenty of denial out there even if the science is clear about what’s going to happen if we don’t do something about our energy and transportation use.
The main thing is that the story is not convincing anyone… sure we have all the facts and figures to substantiate the need (i.e. urgency) to do something about climate change, but the problem seems to stem from being able to communicate it’s important and getting people to do something about it.
There seems to be a renewal on the topic of improving the way to communicate science and this is probably one of the reasons why. It’ll be interesting to see if this is an issue that comes up at this year’s UN Climate Summit taking place on 23 September in New York. Perhaps these 5 simple tips for communicating science might provide some talking points to get the discussion going…
- Be simple and straightforward
- Don’t be condescending
- Tell compelling stories
- Visualize science
- Be apolitical
As for AskWhyWhyNot.org mentioned in the video, it’s an initiative setup by The Climate Reality Project founded by Nobel Laureate and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore to take the climate conversation forward and turn awareness into action. Sounds like a cool bunch of people trying to save our planet.
The Climate Reality Project is a diverse group of passionate individuals who have come together to help solve the greatest challenge of our time. We are cultural leaders, marketers, organizers, scientists, storytellers and more, and we are committed to building a better future together.