Arctic Warming as News – Perils and Possibilities

Abstract:

A science journalist in his 30th year covering human-driven climate change, including on three Arctic reporting trips, reflects on successes and setbacks as news media, environmentalists and Arctic communities have tried to convey the significance of polar change to a public for which the ends of the Earth will always largely be a place of the imagination.

Novel challenges are arising in the 24/7 online media environment, as when a paper by a veteran climate scientist proposing a mechanism for abrupt sea-level rise became a big news story before it was accepted by the open-review journal to which it had been submitted. New science is digging in on possible connections between changing Arctic sea ice and snow conditions and disruptive winter weather in more temperate northern latitudes, offering a potential link between this distant region and the lives of ordinary citizens. As cutting-edge research, such work gets substantial media attention. But, as with all new areas of inquiry, uncertainty dominates – creating the potential for distracting the public and policymakers from the many aspects of anthropogenic climate change that are firmly established – but, in a way, boring because of that.

With the challenges, there are unprecedented opportunities for conveying Arctic science. In some cases, researchers on expeditions are partnering with media, offering both scientists and news outlets fresh ways to convey the story of Arctic change in an era of resource constraints.

Innovative uses of crittercams, webcams, and satellite observations offer educators and interested citizens a way to track and appreciate Arctic change.

But more can be done to engage the public directly without the news media as an intermediary, particularly if polar scientists or their institutions test some of the established practices honed by more experienced communicators at NASA.