Climate change will not be taken seriously until the media highlights its significance, say researchers at the University of Liverpool.
Dr. Neil Gavin, from the School of Politics and Communication Studies, believes the way the media handles issues like climate change shapes the public's perception of its importance. Limited coverage is unlikely to convince readers that climate change is a serious problem that warrants immediate and decisive action.
Researchers found that the total number of articles on climate change printed over three years was fewer than one month's worth of articles featuring health issues. The articles offered mixed messages about the seriousness and imminence of problems facing the environment.
Dr. Gavin explains: "Our research suggests that the media is not treating these issues with the seriousness that scientists would say they deserve. The research company lpsos-MORI found that 50% of people think the jury is still out on the causes of global warming. The limited amount of media coverage - which tends to be restricted to the broadsheets - means that this statistic is unlikely to alter in the short-term."
Even CNN has been criticized for their coverage on climate change.
Stanford Professor Stephen Schneider's comments come after American television channel, Cable News Network (CNN) laid off their entire science and environment reporting teams. The climate researcher and policy analyst, who wrote chapter 19 in the intergovernmental report, blasted media bosses at a symposium at the Annual Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago on last week.
Prof. Schneider lambasted media chiefs, saying: "business managers of media organizations, you are screwing up your responsibility by firing science and environment reporters who are frankly the only ones competent to do this."
"Science is not politics. You can't just get two opposing viewpoints and think you've done due diligence. You've got to cover the multiple views and the relative credibility of each view," he continued.
On February 15, a report by Chris Field, of the Carnegie Institution and a former member of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, warned that greenhouse gases have accumulated more rapidly in the atmosphere between 2000 and 2007 than anticipated.
Three weeks before that, a study by Susan Solomon, the senior scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said changes in surface temperature, rainfall and sea level are "largely irreversible for more than 1,000 years after CO2 emissions are completely stopped."
