Climate Change Denial and the Media - 1506 Words

The pace of global warming is accelerating and the scale of the impact is devastating. The time for action is limited - we are approaching a tipping point beyond which the opportunity to reverse the damage of CO2 emissions will disappear. -- Eliot Spitzer Global warming isnt a prediction. It is happening. -- James Hansen Climate change, specifically in reference to C02 Emissions released by human use of fossil fuels and their consequential effects on the environment, is perhaps one of the most pressing issues we, not just as Americans, but as human beings face in our lifetimes. Though it may sound like a sensationalist statement the facts are hard to deny. In May of 2013, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration†¦show more content†¦97% of climate scientists agree that such increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration are man-made (Global Climate Change: Consensus). Why then is it that the news media treats such widely held views by experts as debate rather than consensus? The answer may lie in the media’s current and skewed standards of what constitutes â€Å"objectivity† and â€Å"balance†. It can be said that the mainstream American news media holds objective reporting in a high regard, and rightfully so. Such a journalistic culture finds its roots in the Fairness Doctrine, a policy implemented by the Federal Communications Commission in 1949(Boliek) in response to muckraking and irresponsible journalistic practices of prior times. The Fairness Doctrine mandated that news organizations provide contrasting views of controversial issues in an equal manner. Though the Fairness Doctrine was repealed in 1987, and its official language removed in 2011, the effects of this policy still seem to play a significant role in the mainstream media (Boliek). It can be argued that the residual effects of this policy have mutated into a heavy emphasis on fairness and balance (in some cases, and in other cases not as much) that has made many journalists lose their focus on what objectivity actually means. In a publication Objectivity Balance: Today’s Best Practices in American Journalism by Joel Kaplan, the associate Dean forShow MoreRelatedIssues and Debate of Anthropogenic Climate Change763 Words   |  3 PagesIn the last few decades, the issue of anthropogenic climate change (ACC)—human caused climate change—has come to the forefront of public, political, and scientific awareness. There has been much debate regarding the legitimacy of ACC, despite an article from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration stating: Ninety-seven percent of climate scientists agree that climate-warming trends over the past century are very likely due to human activities, and most of the leading scientific organizationsRead MoreClimate Change Denial Of The North Pole985 Words   |  4 PagesClimate Change Denial Its midnight in the North Pole, its summer and the sun hasn’t set in months; a polar bear is out hunting with her young cub. There has been less and less territory for her to claim as her own as of late, and even less food. She must find food for her cub. Having not eaten in days he has become malnourished and frail. She returns the dark, frigid water trying to find anything worth eating. Nothing. She climbs back onto the ice float where she left her cub. He is no longer movingRead MoreHuman Induced And Proceeds At A Rate1246 Words   |  5 Pages It is no surprise to anyone that Earth’s climate has experienced significant changes throughout history. Over the past million years, planet have been through several changes between glacier advance and retreat whereas the last one ended seven thousand years ago followed by the beginning of modern climate era and rise of human civilization (NASA, 2010). Majority of these changes were caused by relatively small variations in the orbit of the planet that altered the amount of energy that Earth receivedRead MoreKoch s Anti Green Strategies And Global Warming1547 Words   |  7 PagesRecently, an overwhelming consensus of observation and experiment has emerged in the scientific community concerning global warming. These discoveries have confirmed that pollution, as a consequence of humans, has resulted in the negative effects of climate change, specifically global warming. Despite this general agreement among the scientific society, two infamously wealthy brothers, known as the Koch Brothers, pursue to deny these claims by passionately funding anti global warming efforts throughoutRead MoreMy Exam Choice : Home Final Essay1020 Words   |  5 Pagesscientists, using scientific evidence, believe that Global Warming and Global Climate change are the defining problem of our time and how we address the problem will determine the fate of our species. Other interest groups believe that either there is no pr oblem or that we will find technological fixes to overcome any potential climate disaster: You are to examine how these polar opposites are portrayed in the mass media. What evidence and arguments are used? Does either side have undeniableRead MoreThe Lack Of Quantitative And Qualitative Coverage Of Global Climate Change Essay1683 Words   |  7 Pagesdocument explores the lack of quantitative and qualitative coverage of global climate changes in the newspapers of the United States, which contributes to the American society’s poor knowledge of scientific facts regarding this subject. Considering that the newspapers are one of the many good sources from which people get up-to-date information, and that a considerable number of people still have high regard for the press media as a reliable source of vital news reports, it is unreasonable to undermineRead MoreEnvironmental Impacts Of Global Warming2027 Words   |  9 Pagesenvironmental problems. Global warming, is one o f the most noticeable example of worldwide corporate environmental impact. The corporate role in this, the potentially most severe and all-encompassing of environmental disasters, is quite clear. Climate change has a number of negative factors on individuals and societies around the world. It causes nations to witness and be a part of poverty, limits their resources such as water and electricity and can cause huge weather disasters (Klein, 2014:7). Bolivia’sRead MoreSummary Of The Dragons Of Inaction 1172 Words   |  5 PagesSummary of â€Å"The Dragons of Inaction† In the article, The Dragons of Inaction: Psychological Barriers That Limit Climate Change Mitigation and Adaption, Robert Gifford explores and elaborates upon the psychological mechanisms that impede proenvironmental behavior. Gifford introduces seven groups that encompass the 29 â€Å"dragons of inaction†. The seven groups include limited cognition, ideologies, social comparison, sunk costs, discredence, perceived risks, and limited behavior (Gifford, 2011). GiffordRead MoreThe Effects Of Climate Change On The Environment1217 Words   |  5 Pagesrisks of climate change, but many others are unaware of the problem, unsure of the facts or what to do, do not trust experts or believe their conclusions, think the problem is elsewhere, are fixed in their ways, believe that others should act, or believe that their actions will make no difference or are unimportant compared to those of others. II. †¢ An individual level of analysis is relevant for understanding the impacts of climate change and the ways individuals adapt to climate change becauseRead MoreGlobal Warming : A Environmentally Friendly Community And Start A Global Movement1726 Words   |  7 PagesNature is all around us, it’s beautiful and complex, and believe it or not, it’s dying. Environmentalists and scientists have been warning us for decades and yet, due to playing down by the media, the state of our environment has only continued to deteriorate. Ever since industrialization, our carbon footprint has grown exponentially, resulting in what we now know as global warming. If carbon emissions continue to rise and the pollution and destruction of the earth continues, life as we know it will