Media propagandists on climate change have raised an outcry on the weak belief in man-made climate change shown by an international survey.Climate Change Now (CCNow), an initiative launched by Columbia University in 2019, warned of "a surprising climate knowledge deficit" following a recent landmark survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.The survey was conducted August 3 to September 3 2023 in partnership with Data for Good at Meta and Rare’s Center for Behaviour & the Environment, that investigate public climate change knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and policy preferences. The survey collected responses from 139,136 Facebook monthly active users aged 18+ from 187 countries and territories.More than half of respondents in Europe, the US and Japan say they know “a lot” or “a moderate amount” about climate change. Yet far less than half of respondents said that climate change is caused “mostly by human activities” rather than by “natural changes in the environment."People aren't as smart as they think, said CCNow, which claims more than 500 member journalists and media outlets.“Most people don’t know as much about climate change as they think they do,” CCNow wrote. “In truth, climate change is caused almost entirely by human activities, primarily the burning of oil, gas, coal, and other fossil fuels.”Thirty-six percent of people in Benin and Haiti said they had “never heard of climate change,” while 89% of Finns say they knew “a lot” or “a moderate amount” on the topic.“Once it’s explained, however, they say in overwhelming proportions that climate change is happening all around them,” CCNow explained.Or maybe not. Even after all the Haitian respondents were advised of the definition, 64% said climate change wasn’t happening, and only 18% of Haitians said humans were causing climate change. Only 20% of Indonesians believed in man-made climate change.Only two of 110 countries had a minority of people “somewhat” or “very” worried about climate change: the Netherlands (45%) and Yemen (47%). Yet, CCNow suggested the media still had a lot of convincing to do. “Yale’s findings are a wake-up call that journalism has to redouble its efforts to tell this story ‘so people get it,’ as the eminent US journalist Bill Moyers said when helping to launch CCN in 2019.“We may think we’ve told people more than once that climate change is real, human-caused, and happening now — and that by now they should get it. And some coverage has identified fossil fuel burning as the chief culprit. But clearly this point hasn’t sunk in with broad swaths of the public.”CCNow said such alleged ignorance on climate change, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, threatened decarbonization agendas and the planet itself.“If people are unaware of such foundational facts, how can they possibly know that scientists consider the climate crisis an emergency, that rapidly phasing out of fossil fuels is imperative to preserving a livable planet, and that humanity has all the tools it needs to tackle this emergency?“The public’s climate knowledge deficit is most pronounced and most tragic, in the places most at risk.”CCNow claims a readership and viewership of two billion through its member media outlets, but found out just as many people are not affected by such coverage."We estimate that … two billion adults worldwide still know little to nothing about climate change,” Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Communication, told CCNow. “And these are often the most vulnerable [people], who have contributed the least to the problem, but are getting hit first and worst by the impacts. But when we give respondents a single sentence description of climate change, we find that more than 80% immediately say, ‘Yes, that’s happening.’”However, the acknowledgement that climate change is happening is not matched by a belief that humans are causing it. The highest percentage of man-made climate change believers were in Portugal (61%), Spain (59%), and Finland (57%).The way forward is clear, according to CCNow.“The public’s knowledge deficit is easily remedied by providing accurate, readily understood information and by meeting audiences where they are,” the organization wrote.“Journalists can do that by meeting our audiences where they actually are, never assuming they remember or should know something from our previous reporting. Let’s not be afraid to offer refreshers on basic climate facts.”Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy said the most important thing people can do about climate change is talk about it, because talk is the precursor to action. “[W]ho’s the number one person who can talk about it? You. The news media has an unprecedented platform to tell people the stories that we need to hear,” Hayhoe said.
Media propagandists on climate change have raised an outcry on the weak belief in man-made climate change shown by an international survey.Climate Change Now (CCNow), an initiative launched by Columbia University in 2019, warned of "a surprising climate knowledge deficit" following a recent landmark survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.The survey was conducted August 3 to September 3 2023 in partnership with Data for Good at Meta and Rare’s Center for Behaviour & the Environment, that investigate public climate change knowledge, beliefs, attitudes and policy preferences. The survey collected responses from 139,136 Facebook monthly active users aged 18+ from 187 countries and territories.More than half of respondents in Europe, the US and Japan say they know “a lot” or “a moderate amount” about climate change. Yet far less than half of respondents said that climate change is caused “mostly by human activities” rather than by “natural changes in the environment."People aren't as smart as they think, said CCNow, which claims more than 500 member journalists and media outlets.“Most people don’t know as much about climate change as they think they do,” CCNow wrote. “In truth, climate change is caused almost entirely by human activities, primarily the burning of oil, gas, coal, and other fossil fuels.”Thirty-six percent of people in Benin and Haiti said they had “never heard of climate change,” while 89% of Finns say they knew “a lot” or “a moderate amount” on the topic.“Once it’s explained, however, they say in overwhelming proportions that climate change is happening all around them,” CCNow explained.Or maybe not. Even after all the Haitian respondents were advised of the definition, 64% said climate change wasn’t happening, and only 18% of Haitians said humans were causing climate change. Only 20% of Indonesians believed in man-made climate change.Only two of 110 countries had a minority of people “somewhat” or “very” worried about climate change: the Netherlands (45%) and Yemen (47%). Yet, CCNow suggested the media still had a lot of convincing to do. “Yale’s findings are a wake-up call that journalism has to redouble its efforts to tell this story ‘so people get it,’ as the eminent US journalist Bill Moyers said when helping to launch CCN in 2019.“We may think we’ve told people more than once that climate change is real, human-caused, and happening now — and that by now they should get it. And some coverage has identified fossil fuel burning as the chief culprit. But clearly this point hasn’t sunk in with broad swaths of the public.”CCNow said such alleged ignorance on climate change, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, threatened decarbonization agendas and the planet itself.“If people are unaware of such foundational facts, how can they possibly know that scientists consider the climate crisis an emergency, that rapidly phasing out of fossil fuels is imperative to preserving a livable planet, and that humanity has all the tools it needs to tackle this emergency?“The public’s climate knowledge deficit is most pronounced and most tragic, in the places most at risk.”CCNow claims a readership and viewership of two billion through its member media outlets, but found out just as many people are not affected by such coverage."We estimate that … two billion adults worldwide still know little to nothing about climate change,” Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Communication, told CCNow. “And these are often the most vulnerable [people], who have contributed the least to the problem, but are getting hit first and worst by the impacts. But when we give respondents a single sentence description of climate change, we find that more than 80% immediately say, ‘Yes, that’s happening.’”However, the acknowledgement that climate change is happening is not matched by a belief that humans are causing it. The highest percentage of man-made climate change believers were in Portugal (61%), Spain (59%), and Finland (57%).The way forward is clear, according to CCNow.“The public’s knowledge deficit is easily remedied by providing accurate, readily understood information and by meeting audiences where they are,” the organization wrote.“Journalists can do that by meeting our audiences where they actually are, never assuming they remember or should know something from our previous reporting. Let’s not be afraid to offer refreshers on basic climate facts.”Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy said the most important thing people can do about climate change is talk about it, because talk is the precursor to action. “[W]ho’s the number one person who can talk about it? You. The news media has an unprecedented platform to tell people the stories that we need to hear,” Hayhoe said.
