Communication, extreme weather and climate change: getting people to sit up and listen

Thursday, 22 December 2016 - 6:00pm to 6:30pm

This week, a discussion about how climate change - some are describing it as a climate crisis - needs to be more effectively communicated, so serious and sustained global mobilization can begin before projected climate degradation is irreversibly in place.

Science communicaion specialist Simon Torok talks about the connection between extreme weather events and climate, and better ways to make the public aware of how and why these connections help us comprehend the impacts of global warming on the ordinary affairs of daily life.

In the Australian context, Mik Aidt, journalist and climate campaigner, thinks that the ABC and SBS, both publically funded national broadcasters, should be at the forefront in raising awareness about what he calls our 'climate emergency'. In the second part of the show, he talks about an on-line petition aimed at getting the ABC and SBS not just to present weather news, but to explain its relation to climate change.