A study has revealed that the media's coverage of climate research is, to a large extent, carried out in a way that doesn't provoke action. It claims that the media coverage doesn't inspire the pro-environmental behaviours needed to address the problem. The study has been published in the Global Environmental Change scientific journal. For it, researchers analysed around 50,000 scientific publications on climate change for the year 2020 and examined which ones made it into the mainstream media.

 

They found that the media tends to pick research within the natural science field. There was also an evident focus on large-scale climate-based projections that won't happen for many years, reports AFP.

 

Researchers warned that this approach could cause a "possible distancing reaction on the part of the public."

 

They said that most media coverage of the climate crisis only focuses on long-term projections or threats like glacier melting or polar bears in danger, etc.

 

The study by a group of researchers at the University of Lausanne (UNIL) specialising in geosciences and psychology claimed that "this type of narrative does not activate the mechanisms known from research on psychology that might engage pro-environmental behaviours in readers."

 

"On the contrary, the media's selective choice of certain elements of climate change research could backfire, provoking denial and avoidance."

 

Co-author Marie-Elodie Perga, a professor at the UNIL Institute of Earth Surface Dynamics, suggested that media should strive to "show that climate change has direct consequences on our lifestyles, our immediate environment or our finances".

 

Another study co-author, Fabrizio Butera, a UNIL psychology professor warned that such coverage can be harmful and that "individuals exposed to these facts, not feeling directly concerned by them, will tend towards a peripheral, superficial and distracted treatment of the information."

 

"If the goal of mediating research is to have a societal impact, then it seems that we are pushing all the buttons that don't work," said Perga.

 

Researchers have suggested that fear created by large-scale threats, such as climate change, can lead the public to ignore the issue or seek out less worrying information. 

 

They suggested that in order to inspire action, the media should present environmental issues in a "solution-oriented way" and strive to demonstrate how climate change has direct consequences on our lifestyles, our immediate environment, or our finances. 

 

The researchers argued that fear can lead to behavioural change, but only if the problem presented is accompanied by solutions. Research on human behaviour has shown that people are more likely to take action when they believe there is a way to mitigate the problem. Selective and purely descriptive articles that only highlight the negative aspects of climate change can be counterproductive and may result in people ignoring the problem altogether. Thus, they said it is essential to emphasise potential solutions and inspire a sense of empowerment to address the issue, rather than solely focusing on the negative impacts of climate change. (WION)

 

 

Illustration by Doug Chayka.