Policymakers, businesses, the media, and the public are increasingly interested in this complex issue. This generates a multitude of information and opinions about climate change, and presents significant challenges to accurately and effectively communicate the issue.
The information shared on this page aims to offer insights into these communications challenges and highlight credible, relevant sources of related information. This is not a comprehensive list of climate change communications materials. Rather, it is an evolving collection of useful resources to help advance an understanding of the communications challenges posed by the climate issue.
The findings and opinions expressed in these materials do not necessarily reflect views of our organization. We do, however, find them all to offer interesting perspectives.
Communicating About Climate Risks While Avoiding Dire Messaging [1]
Matthew C. Nisbet
big think
May 2, 2011
The role of social and decision sciences in communicating uncertain climate risks [2]
Nick Pidgeon and Baruch Fischhoff
Nature
March 29, 2011
A Reporter's Field Notes on The Coverage of Climate Change [3]
Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker
Yale Environment 360
March 11, 2009
Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Sciences [4]
U.S. Global Change Research Program
March 2009
Don't ignore climate skeptics – talk to them differently [5]
Andrew Hoffman
Christian Science Monitor
June 24, 2011
Do Climate Skeptics Change Their Minds? [6]
Brian Merchant
Slate
May 12, 2011
Q. and A.: Taking On Climate Skepticism as a Field of Study [7]
Felicity Barringer
New York Times: Green Blog
April 9, 2011
The culture and discourse of climate skeptism [8]
Andrew J. Hoffman
Strategic Organization's So!apbox Editorial Essay
2011
The Scientific Guide to Global Warming Skepticism [9]
John Cook
Skeptical Science
December 8, 2010
Climate Change: Addressing the Major Skeptic Arguments [10]
DB Climate Change Advisors
September 2010
Realities vs. Misconceptions about the Science of Climate Change [11]
Center for Climate and Energy Solutions
August 2009
The Science of Why We Don’t Believe Science [12]
Chris Mooney
MotherJones
April 18, 2011
The Importance of Risk Perception for Effective Climate Change Communication [13]
David Ropeik
Climate Central
December 13, 2010
Communicating Climate Change: Why Frames Matter for Public Engagement [14]
Matthew C. Nisbet, American University
Environment Magazine
March-April 2009
How Much Would You Pay to Save the Planet? The American Press and the Economics of Climate Change [15]
Eric Pooley, Kalb Fellow
Joan Shorenstein Center
January 2009
The Real Swindle [16]
Max Boycoff, James Martin 21st Century Research Fellow at the Environmental Change Institute
Nature
February 21, 2008
Moving Beyond Gore's Message: A Look Back (And Ahead) at Climate Change Communications [17]
Matthew C. Nisbet, American University
January 9, 2008
The Role of New Media in Engaging the Public with Climate Change [18]
Saffron O’Neill and Maxwell Boykoff
Chapter in Engaging the Public with Climate Change [19]
November 2010
Growing Role for New Media Foreseen as Climate Science/Public Opinion Diverge [20]
Michael J. Coren
Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media
April 6, 2009
A Two-Step Flow of Influence?: Opinion-Leader Campaigns on Climate Change [21]
Matthew C. Nisbet, American University
John E. Kotcher, National Academies
Science Communication, Sage Publications
March 2009
Communicating Climate Change [22] podcast
Joe Cone, producer
Global Warming's Six Americas in May 2011 [23]
Anthony Leiserowitz, PhD (Yale Project on Climate Change Communication)
May 2011
American Climate Attitudes [24]
An analysis of public opinion trends and recommendations for advancing public engagement on global warming
Social Capital Project [25] of The Resource Innovation Group
May 2011
Knowledge of Climate Change Across Global Warming’s Six Americas [26]
Anthony Leiserowitz, PhD (Yale Project on Climate Change Communication)
January 2011
Climate Compared: Public Opinion on Climate Change in the United States and Canada [27]
Brookings Institute
April 2011
American Teens’ Knowledge of Climate Change [28]
Yale Project on Climate Change Communication
April 2011
The Energy Learning Curve: Coming from Different Starting Points, the Public Sees Similar Solutions [29]
A report from Public Agenda [30] by Scott Bittle, Jonathan Rochkind and Amber Ott
April 3, 2009
Global Warming's Six Americas [31]
Anthony Leiserowitz, PhD (Yale Project on Climate Change)
Edward Maibach, MPH, PhD and Connie Roser-Renouf, PhD (George Mason University Center for
Climate Change Communication)
Americans Favor Carbon Cap [32]
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press
March 25, 2009
Generation Gap in Understanding Climate Change [33]
CSR Europe
March 13, 2009
Increased Number Think Global Warming "Exaggerated" [34]
Gallup
March 11, 2009
Climate Change and American Public Opinion: The National and State Perspective [35]
Miller Center of Public Affairs, UVA
December 10, 2008
Climate Concepts: Analogies and Useful Descriptions
EarthGauge [36]
Climate Change Guide [37]
Met Office, Hadley Center
Creating a Climate for Change [38]
NCAR
Center for Climate Change Communication (C4) [39]
George Mason University
Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media [40]
Nature Reports Climate Change [41] podcast
Links:
[1] http://bigthink.com/ideas/38180
[2] http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v1/n1/full/nclimate1080.html
[3] http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2130
[4] http://www.c2es.org/docUploads/ClimateLiteracyBooklet.pdf
[5] http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2011/0624/Don-t-ignore-climate-skeptics-talk-to-them-differently
[6] http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/green_room/2011/05/do_climate_skeptics_change_their_minds.html
[7] http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/taking-on-climate-skepticism-as-a-field-of-study/
[8] http://www.c2es.org/docUploads/climate-skepticism.pdf
[9] http://www.skepticalscience.com/The-Scientific-Guide-to-Global-Warming-Skepticism.html
[10] http://www.dbcca.com/dbcca/EN/_media/DBCCAColumbiaSkepticPaper090710.pdf
[11] http://www.c2es.org/science-impacts/realities-vs-misconceptions
[12] http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/denial-science-chris-mooney
[13] http://www.climatecentral.org/blogs/the-importance-of-risk-perception-for-effective-climate-change
[14] http://www.environmentmagazine.org/Archives/Back%20Issues/March-April%202009/Nisbet-full.html
[15] http://www.c2es.org/docUploads/Pooley-Paper.pdf
[16] http://www.nature.com/climate/2008/0803/full/climate.2008.14.html
[17] http://www.csicop.org/specialarticles/show/moving_beyond_gores_message_a_look_back_and_ahead_at_climate_change/
[18] http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/admin/publication_files/2011.04.pdf
[19] http://www.earthscan.co.uk/?tabid=102449
[20] http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/2009/04/growing-role-for-new-media/
[21] http://scx.sagepub.com/content/30/3/328.abstract
[22] http://seagrant.oregonstate.edu/blogs/communicatingclimate/
[23] http://environment.yale.edu/climate/publications/SixAmericasMay2011
[24] http://www.c2es.org/docUploads/AmericanClimateAttitudest_May2011.pdf
[25] http://www.thesocialcapitalproject.org/The-Social-Capital-Project/pubs/aca
[26] http://environment.yale.edu/climate/publications/knowledge-of-climate-change-across-global-warmings-six-americas/
[27] http://www.brookings.edu/%7E/media/Files/rc/papers/2011/04_climate_change_opinion/04_climate_change_opinion.pdf
[28] http://environment.yale.edu/climate/publications/american-teens-knowledge-of-climate-change/
[29] http://www.c2es.org/docUploads/Energy-Learning-Curve.pdf
[30] http://www.publicagenda.org/reports/energy
[31] http://www.c2es.org/docUploads/SixAmericas.pdf
[32] http://www.people-press.org/2009/03/25/americans-favor-carbon-cap-gays-in-the-military-and-renewing-us-cuba-ties/
[33] http://www.csreurope.org/news.php?type=&action=show_news&news_id=2150
[34] http://www.gallup.com/poll/116590/Increased-Number-Think-Global-Warming-Exaggerated.aspx
[35] http://web1.millercenter.org/conferences/report/conf_2008_1211_survey.pdf
[36] http://www.earthgauge.net/climate/climate-analogies
[37] http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate-change/guide
[38] http://www.isse.ucar.edu/communication/book/
[39] http://www.climatechangecommunication.org/
[40] http://www.yaleclimatemediaforum.org/resources_links/
[41] http://www.nature.com/climate/podcast.html