Photo by Brody Trujillo
What's going on with climate reporting?
By Brody Trujillo
Scott Denning Speaking at SEJ 2019
Well, a lot, but let's start off by defining what's going on with our climate.
The Climate Problem is Simple, Serious and Solvable: an Atmospheric Scientist and Engineering Professor Talk Climate
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Scott Denning, Atmospheric Scientist and professor at CSU, spoke to a group of environmental journalists Wednesday, October 15th. Denning came to present his educated point of view on climate change.
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His first point is that it’s simple.
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“The only way that the earth can get warmer or colder is by exchanging heat from the top (in the atmosphere).” Heat comes in from the sun, and it gets radiated out. If more comes in than radiates out, things get warmer. Because we, in his words, keep “setting shit on fire,” three-atom molecule
carbon dioxide and two-atom nitrogen prevent some of that heat from radiating out. These molecules are simply larger than oxygen and single-atom nitrogen. This results in the heating of the planet. Simple, right?
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His second point is that it’s serious.
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Because we continue to add heat to the world, we will end up with 10 degrees Fahrenheit average temperature change. This change will result in a climate change equivalent to moving 600-800 miles south. That would make Denver’s climate more like Alberquerque’s. This change has happened before, but never this fast: “It took 100 centuries for 10 degrees Farenheit of warming at the end of the last ice age, and we’re talking about doing that same amount of warming in one century, 100 times faster than it happened in the last global warming.” He said this could result in something like a 600% increase in acreage burned by wildfire per one degree Celsius (a 1.8 degree increase in Fahrenheit) is what could happen to the American west. It’s serious!
Chuck Kutscher Speaking at SEJ 2019
He also said that nuclear power isn’t the enemy, simply because nuclear plants don’t produce carbon: “Anytime a nuclear power plant gets shut down, carbon emissions go up. Keep those plants running.”
Denning also talked about how we need a huge effort to convert to energy that doesn’t require setting shit on fire. He laid out how conversion to 100% non-carbon energy would cost about 1% of the U.S. GDP, which would, “Cost us vastly less than it cost us to build roads.”
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Both of these men understand the grave consequences of climate change, but they also still hold out hope. Denning finished by talking about how we can choose our story. Either our economy is about extracting elements from the earth that we burn, or “We created our world through creativity and ingenuity and hard work. It doesn’t come from the ground. It comes from the sweat from our brows and the spark in our souls.”
Let's Talk Solutions:
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He talked about how buildings consume about twice as much energy as cars do. It’s not all bleak though: “architects have finally started taking energy efficiency more seriously.” This is where Chuck Kutscher, who is an Engineer at the CU Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute, comes in. He is working on solutions for powering buildings and cars. He was part of a project that built a 100% energy neutral building. He explained that with proper engineering and use of solar and wind power, we should be able to start to rectify the fact that buildings use 75% of U.S. electricity.He also talked about how we have to get the carbon out of the atmosphere. We can start that process by managing our forests and soils, which can both leech carbon dioxide. He also discussed a tactic of capturing carbon we emit and burying it in the ground. When the idea of direct air capture came up, of using filters to capture carbon in the air, he said “I think that’s a huge challenge."
The Status of Climate Reporting: Susan Hassol, climate reporting advocate, Ed Maibach, pollster at Yale, and Doctor Delphine Farmer, Chemist at Colorado State University, use their research to talk about the current status of climate reporting and opportunities for the industry going forward. Also, Meera Subramanian, Freelance Environmental Journalist, and Luke Runyon, Environmental Journalist for NPR use their experience to give advice to journalists in the field.
Tools for Climate Reporting
Accurately reporting on the climate can seem like a daunting task. Where do you go for facts and figures? What things should you be trying to say? What things should you try to avoid saying?
Luckily, there are resources out there for you!
Want to discuss how people in your area or around the U.S. feel about climate change? There's the Yale Climate Opinion Maps. With these, you
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Not sure how to word some of the scientific jargon in your story? Check out the "Climate Communication Science and Outreach" website. It's run in part by Susan Hassol, who has made it her mission to make writing about the environment easier. She even has this awesome chart pinned on her Twitter page that shows some more productive ways to talk about climate issues.
Need an example of some local reporting that made a huge difference? Look no further than Meera Subramanian's series "Finding Middle Ground: Conversations Across America."
She found ways to connect with people across the country in part because she used some of the language advice of Susan Hassol.
Looking for some graphics you could use in a story? Check out Climate Central's Media Library.