Posted on 29 February 2020 by John Hartz

Editor's Pick

Want people to care about climate change? Skip the jargon.

 Grist

If you’re confused what the “circular economy” is, or what it means for a company to go “net-zero,” you’re far from alone. There’s a big mismatch between what scientists, journalists, and activists are saying and what the public understands. This is hardly a new problem, but it’s yet another obstacle to getting people to care about climate change: Obscure words in articles about rising sea levels and supercharged weather could discourage people from wanting to learn more about a planetary crisis.

The solution is to put jargon and buzzwords into simple language that anyone can understand. It takes some effort, of course. A good example is “Up Goer Five,” a diagram by Randall Monroe, the cartoonist behind the website xkcd. It explains how a rocket works using only the 1,000 most common words in the English language. Simplifying lingo related to climate change requires a similar process. Take a cold, clinical word like “biodiversity” and turn it into the more evocative “wildlife.” A real head-scratcher like “climate mitigation” becomes “reducing emissions.”

Forget “dumbing down.” Using more common language is “smartening up,” said Susan Joy Hassol, director of the nonprofit science outreach group Climate Communication in North Carolina, who coaches scientists and journalists to write and speak more conversationally. “The only thing that’s dumb,” Hassol said, “is speaking to people in language that they don’t understand.”

Want people to care about climate change? Skip the jargon. by Kate Yoder, Climate, Grist, Feb 26, 2020

Articles Linked to on Facebook

Sun, Feb 23, 2020

• Bezos’ Earth Fund Should Invest in These Green Technologies by Daniel Oberhaus, Science, Wired Magazine, Feb 20, 2020
• Getting to zero net emissions in 2050 is going to be tough - but Labor committing to it is a damn good thing, Opinion by Greg Jericho, Comment is Free, Guardian, Feb 22, 2020
• INSIGHT-Fires and climate fears rattle Australia's giant coal lobby by Joe Brock & Melanie Burton, Reuters, Feb 21, 2020
• Climate change leads to more violence against women, girls by Jeanette Cwienk, Environment, Deutsche Welle (DW), Feb 20. 2020
• Climate Destabilization Unlikely to Cause Methane ‘Burp’, Press Release by Scripps Institute of Oceanography, Feb 20, 2020
• Fates of humans and insects intertwined, warn scientists by Damien Carrington, Environment, Guardian, Feb 20, 2020
• Diplomats: US blocking mention of climate change in G20 draft communique by Kaelan Deese, The Hill, Feb 22, 2020
• A Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework Aims at Reinforcing Efforts to Save World’s Ecosystem by Thalif Deen, Inter Press Service (IPS), Feb 20, 2020

Mon, Feb 24, 2020

• Skiing is in Norway's blood — but maybe not its future by Julie Messel, Environment, NBC News, Feb 22, 2020
• In Mexico's cradle of corn, climate change leaves its mark by Diego Oré, Reuters, Feb 21, 2020
• A new bushfire crisis is emerging as experts brace for an imminent surge in domestic violence by Hayley Gleeson, ABC News (AU), Feb 22, 2020
• Greta Thunberg’s mother reveals teenager’s troubled childhood by James Tapper, Environment, Observer/Guardian, Feb 22, 2020
• Former UN Climate Chief Calls For Civil Disobedience by Jeff McMahon, Green Tech, Forbes Magazine, Feb 24, 2020
• “Glacial Earthquakes” Spotted for the First Time on Thwaites by Katherine Kornei, Eos, Feb 17, 2020
• Carbon pricing may be overrated, if history is any indication by Cameron Roberts, Politics. The Conversation CA, Feb 20, 2020
• Preserving World’s Biodiversity: Negotiations Convene at FAO Headquarters by Maged Srour, Inter Press Service (IPS), Feb 24, 2020

Tue, Feb 25, 2020

• Climate change could be a 'catastrophic' national security threat, report warns by Doyle Rice, Nation, USA Today, Feb 14, 2020
• Report: At current rate of EV deployment automakers not expected to meet EU CO2 targets by Bradley Berman, electrek, Feb 21, 2020
• Teck withdraws application for $20B Frontier oilsands mine by Sarah Rieger, Canada, CBC News, Feb 23, 2020
• How much would planting 1 trillion trees slow global warming? by Dana Nuccitelli, Skeptical Science, Feb 24, 2020 
• Eastern Kentucky Has Been Underwater, but You Probably Didn’t Notice by Silas House, Ideas, The Atlantic Magazine, Feb 23, 2020
• Anti-Greta: Far-right groups trying to turn teenager into climate change-denying version of Greta Thunberg by Harry Cockburn, Environment, The Independent (UK), Feb 24, 2020
• JPMorgan Chase takes baby step toward curbing fossil fuel loans by Steven Mufson & Dino Grandoni, Climate & Environment, Washington Post, Feb 24, 2020
• Global Rescue Plan to Stop Mass Extinction 'Hopelessly Weak and Inadequate' by Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams, Feb 24, 2020

Wed, Feb 26, 2020

• Climate change and soaring flood insurance premiums could trigger another mortgage crisis by Jie Jenny Zou, Vox, Feb 25, 2020
• Solar Power Just Miles from the Arctic Circle? In Icy Nordic Climes, It’s Become the Norm by Paul Hockenos, InsideClimate News, Feb 24, 2020
• Senegal opens West Africa's first big wind farm in push for renewables by Nellie Peyton, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Feb 25, 2020
• Oregon Republicans Disappear for Another Climate Vote by Mike Baker, US, New York Times, Feb 14, 2020
• Alaskan Roulette by Zoya Teirstein, Food, Grist, Feb 26, 2020
• White House effort to roll back bedrock environmental law spurs strong opposition by Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, Feb 25, 2020
• Warmest January Ever Puts 2020 on Track to Be One of Top 10 Hottest Years by Henry Fountain, Climate, New York Times, Feb 20, 2020
• Want people to care about climate change? Skip the jargon. by Kate Yoder, Climate, Grist, Feb 26, 2020

Thu, Feb 27, 2020

• Sabotaged Science in the Arctic Refuge: Interior Department Works to Undermine Its Own Scientists by Joel Clement, Union of Concerned Scientists, Feb 25, 2020
• Nearly All Coral Reefs Will Disappear Over The Next 20 Years, Scientists Say by Trevor Nace, Science, Forbes, Feb 24, 2020
• Europe's infrastructure at "high risk" from climate change - U.N. study by Emma Farge, Reuters, Feb 25, 2020
• What Would It Take to Get More Farmers Fighting Climate Change? by Tom Philpott, Food, Mother Jones, Feb 26, 2020
• Psychic Numbing: Keeping Hope Alive in a World of Extinctions by Carl Safina, Yale Environment 360, Feb 26, 2020
• Climate Change is Pushing Giant Ocean Currents Poleward by Bob Berwyn, InsideClimate News, Feb 26, 2020
• Can you really negate your carbon emissions? Carbon offsets, explained. by Umair Irfan, Vox, Feb 17, 2020

Fri, Feb 28, 2020

• US state (Maryland) plans fossil fuel tax to fund schooling by Paul Brown, Climate News Network, Feb 27, 2020
• Are UK floods becoming worse due to climate change?, Guest Post by Jamie Hannaford, Carbon Brief, Feb 20, 2020
• Uncharted territory: Carbon dioxide expected to peak at levels last seen during Pliocene Epoch by Denise Chow, NBC News, Feb 24, 2020
• 'The world is on fire,' Greta Thunberg tells UK climate rally by Elizabeth Howcroft & Dylan Martinez, Reuters, Feb 28, 2020
• The reversal of an Obama-era regulation relaxes leak detection rules for climate super-pollutants. by James Bruggers, InsideClimate News, Feb 28, 2020
• Broadcast news networks paid more attention to climate change in 2019 by Justin Calma, Science, The Verge, Feb 27, 2020
• Beware of the 'human cost' of going green, UK teen activist says by Amber Milne, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Feb 27, 2020
• Milankovitch Cycles and Their Role in Earth's Climate by Alan Buis, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA's Vital Signs of the Planet, Feb 27, 2020

Sat, Feb 29, 2020

• How I Broke the Cycle of Stress, Opinion by Ashten Duncan, Observation, Scientific American, Feb 28, 2020
• California snowpack depleted amid what could be a record-dry February by Hannah Fry, California, Los Angeles Times, Feb 27, 2020
• EU planning carbon border measures ‘as soon as possible’ by Kate Abnett, Reuters, Feb 27. 2020
• Pay more tax to fight climate change? British district puts it to the vote by Amber Milner, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Feb 27, 2020
• Plan to drain Congo peat bog for oil could release vast amount of carbon by Phoebe Weston, The Guardian, Feb. 28, 2020
• We are literally making electricity out of thin air’; UMass develops groundbreaking technology that will change the way we power electronics by Douglas Hook, MassLive, Feb 21, 2020
• Like Snowflakes, Soot Particles Are Unique—Affecting Climate Modeling by Kelley Christensen, Michigan Tech News, Feb 26. 2020
• Carbon offsets, explained in 500 words by Umair Irfan. Vox, Feb 27, 2020