Weekly Communications Round-Up: Morally Suspect

Current events and interesting angles on ocean and climate change communication.

Climate contradiction? Less snow, more blizzards
If global warming is real what’s with all these blizzards?! It may seem counter intuitive but, as always, atmospheric physics has the answer. Two upcoming studies have found that a warmer atmosphere holds and dumps moisture differently, which can lead to more extreme blizzards but less snowfall overall.

Forecasting Climate With A Chance Of Backlash
TV and radio meteorologists are the closest most people get to a climate scientist in their everyday lives – but polls show most weathercasters don’t know very much about climate. Now, some weathercasters are speaking up.

Rethinking Our Moral Vocabulary on Climate Change
Matthew Nisbet talks about recent research on how to inspire American action on climate change. Americans too often view climate change as a partisan issue rather than a moral one, and when morals are involved it’s usually a very narrow moral spectrum. In order to mobilize a significant number of Americans, we need to “appeal to a greater diversity of moral intuitions and values.” Basically, there are very general “liberal values” and “conservative values,” and communicators must incorporate both to activate as many people as possible. Good read and should sound familiar to anyone who’s read Don’t Think of an Elephant by George Lakoff.

Supply, demand, and activism: What should the climate movement do next?
Soon the Keystone XL Pipeline decision will be made. Win or lose, what should activists in the US tackle next? That’s a pretty big question, but David Roberts of Grist takes a crack at it.

The latest in polling, market research, guides and toolkits to enhance your outreach.

Latest Polling Finds Strong Support For Clean Energy And Stricter Carbon Pollution Standards
A recent Pew Research poll reveals 54% of American voters support prioritizing alternative energy over fossil fuels, and 62% favored “setting stricter emission limits on power plants to address climate change.” Another interesting note is that voters 18 – 29 supported alternative energy strongly – 71% prioritize alternative energy sources over fossil fuels.

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