Today, all of humanity is under attack, this time from an overheated planet—and too many newsrooms still are more inclined to cover today’s equivalent of dance competitions. A handful of major newspapers are paying attention. Most major news outlets still present climate change as no more important than a dozen other public issues, when the fact is that if the world doesn’t get it under control, fast, climate change will overwhelm every other issue. Covering Climate Now was created in April 2019 to help break the media’s climate silence, and the climate coverage of the media as a whole has noticeably improved. But that coverage is still not going nearly far enough. At a summit in Glasgow this November, world leaders are supposed to adopt much stronger measures against the climate emergency. Between now and then, journalists have a responsibility to make sure the public understands what’s at stake and, crucially, that humanity already has the technologies and solutions to decarbonize our economies; what’s needed is the political will to implement them.
By Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope. The Nation. JUNE 3, 2021.
