A critical examination of the role of the media in portraying Intense Weather Events
This work will discuss and follow two research papers through the media. Evaluating how they are conceived and portrayed to the publisher’s captive audience. One sole source of research was not applicable to all media sources, as extreme weather events is such a broad topic covered globally, supported by extensive research many resources of information are used within the media.
Research published by Cox et al, 2018, will be media traced within news broadcasting. The focus of the paper is to create estimations to the scale of the temperature rise based around yearly global temperature fluctuations and seasonal weather events. This will be compared and contrasted for its portrayal both in the UK and the United States of America, and in science news articles, analysing is there a world-wide agreed approach to climate change. The way in which British Tabloid reporting of weather events will then be compared bearing in mind political bias, reporting the same published research from Mann et al 2017, in both the left-wing Guardian and the right-wing Daily Mail.
In recent years there have been more intense weather events reported than ever before (Mann et al. 2017 [1]). But what has caused these changes? Is it the earth’s natural ecosystem and are change inevitable or is it the impact of human behaviour, agriculture and farming, travel, industry and fossil fuel burning?
The earth’s climate is changing, in turn so is the weather. G=freak weather patterns, prolonged rain season or periods of drought, intense heatwaves or mammoth cold winters are occurring in areas of the globe that would never normally possess such weather. Climate change refers to a statistically significant variation in the mean state of the climate or in its variability, persisting for an extended period of time.
The IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, was established in 1988 by the world Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to provide a governing panel, exclusive from political and reporting bias, to provide the truth and facts surrounding global warming and climate change.
In accordance with the IPCC climate change may be due to natural internal processes or external forcing’s, or to persistent anthropogenic changes in the composition of the atmosphere or in land use (IPCC. 2016). Explaining how an incorporation of many events not placing sole blame upon altering eco-systems nor human activity.
British Broadcasting Media V American Media
From exploring the archives of the British – BBC news stories, there is a lack of published articles surrounding unpredicted weather events or global warming. Numerous articles seem to be centred around the effects of global warming upon the artic. Articles such as, “How is global warming affecting King Penguins?” in 2018, discuss the effects of global warming and what as a result will happen to the penguin population. The article states, “Scientists are warning that as many as 70 percent of them could disappear over the next 80 years”. The rising global temperature is altering the habitat in which the penguins live at a faster rate than the penguins can adapt to the new conditions. There is however, a sense that global warming is occurring and causing severe weather events that are affecting life and ecosystems, however does not give an indication to its cause However, who are the scientists in question that suggest this theory? There is no given reference nor a scientist name.
The lack of a reference when the BBC states, ‘Scientists state…” seems to be a theme. Suggesting that the facts published in their articles are not sourced from reliable primary literature nor is it predicted from a scientific model. However, its readers are reading such reports and taking the word of these publishers as scientific facts, which may or not have been published or proven. The BBC is said to be exclusive from political bias. Centred neutrally between opposing political wings.
Comparing the way, the weather events are portrayed in British news with American news provides a retrospect view on how different countries media portray the relevance extreme weather as a case for concern. Fox news is an American news broadcaster, equivalent to the British BBC. However, political influences hang over the broadcaster and the republican party dominate the publishing’s. On exploring the archives of fox news articles, the majority portray that there is no human fault for extreme weather nor is it concerning. Many articles go as far as to suggest, global warming, a leading cause for concern, is not of a significant importance nor is the effects in any way detrimental to the planet. In a recent 2018 article, ‘Catastrophic global warming less likely, study says’ disagreeing with published IPCC articles previously discussed.
However, unlike the BBC, Fox news do provide a viable reference of where the scientific evidence was sourced, a nature article, sub referencing Cox et al 2018 as the scientific basis of matter discussed. On review of the fox news article they suggest global warming will not have catastrophic effects on the basis of research completed by Cox et al. However, on review of this literature the paper suggests no facts for this sudden conclusion by fox news and provides figure which show the rapid rise in global temperature from now to 2020. The lack of prospective modelling further than 2 years also does not provide a basis for such a conclusion. Significant political bias towards the republican party and conservative causes the party voices is demonstrated as a theme from fox news articles, in support of the republican view of global warming, that money is better spent elsewhere.
How different countries media portray the relevance of global warming can influence the attitude of the residents of that country. Without a worldwide agreement on what needs to be done to tackle global warming, if anything at all, there is not much in the way of moving forward and extreme weather events will continue to occur.
Cox’s research that was again discussed in the news, but this time was within an online news forum within the scientific community, ‘ScienceDaily’, a source of the latest research news. Fox news used the paper to back up its argument that global warming is not an issue to worry about and that it is not due to human activities, however when the research paper was discussed and critiqued from experts within the field the main points of research were presented in a opposite way. The research does not in any way state that global warming is not happening. In fact, it provides statistical data to show that the earth’s temperature is rising and is set to further rise prospectively and is in turn having an impact on seasonal weather changes and extreme weather events.
On interviewing lead author, Cox, for the article he states, “Climate sensitivity is high enough to demand action, but not so high that it is too late to avoid dangerous global climate change.", therefore the American news story telling its readers to carry on their normal lives is not scientifically backed, and this research paper is promoting lifestyle change and laying blame upon human actions.
Right Wing V Left Wing Media Publishing
Tabloid newspaper, The Guardian, recently reported upon the link between extreme weather events, in particular flooding, and how such events are controlled under the influence of global warming. Titled “Climate change ‘human fingerprint found on global extreme weather”, suggests to the reader that human effect is the causing factor to global warming. All findings reported throughout this article stem from research, Mann et al 2017. Human activities are having a negative impact upon climate change and its impacts are now being felt by society adding urgency to cut down upon human activity that release harmful emissions. This is a controversial view to the American broadcasting previously discussed. The threat of rising sea levels is no longer just a threat to the artic, a view put forward by the article. The increase in global flooding will being to effect shores worldwide, having a severe impact on human society.
The basis of the guardian article is founded upon research from Mann et al. this research is also the focus of a Nature report. Unlike previous media sources discussed, both Nature and the guardian were concordant in reporting the scientific findings of Mann et al, 2017 [2]. The rising seas levels coupled with planetary wave resonance has been used to model and observe the increased likelihood of tidal flooding.
Opposing politically winged, socialist, tabloid the Daily Mail, also published a news article with the foundation being the work of Mann et al. Both news providers published the finding in a similar way. Finding human activity at fault for a rise in global temperature and subsequently and increase in extreme weather events, quoting increasing flood incidence as ‘a clear fingerprint' of human activity’. The mail provides a broader spectrum of effects of rising temperatures, disusing not only flooding but also large-scale droughts.
On evaluation no political bias was portrayed in either article and the correct scientific findings were published to readers as an awareness of the actions of the human race upon the planet. However, through browsing the archives of bother news outlets, the Daily Mail is much more inclined to discuss the economic impacts of extreme weather. The costs to the economy and government for preventative measures and strategies or for the repair of damage causes as a result is at the forefront of many published headlines. The Daily mail’s political orientation is conservative, the governing party currently in power within the UK. Therefore, the increase risk of flooding is for them more of a financial burden, as all actions and preventative measures have to be met by expensive, taking away from budgets and government spending that could be utilised elsewhere.
When do weather events get media attention?
A theme from analysing all sources of public information and research discussed above shows how only the extreme weather events that have been seen to cause financial damage are reported and provided with sufficient media coverage. Explored by Sisco et al, 2017, shown how large-scale disasters linked to global warming raised in turn raised significant interest in global warming and in turn spike scientific interest and research.
When publishing the impacts of weather upon life they tend to present changing seasons and hotter summers in a positive light, not as a fault of global warming but a positive. This is averse to if the weather even has a negative impact on civilisation. Weather events such as storms, floods, volcanic eruptions and are negatively reported and a public cause for concern. When the human race is being affected by weather events, affecting lives and not just plant, animal and micro-organisms species, the media peaks an interest in their cause.
Conclusion
There Is an apparent lack of worldwide agreement on the severity and cause to global warming however there is a evident mutual understanding that it is this global warming that is the causing factor to the increase in extreme weather and weather related events.
Between news broadcasters and across continent media broadcasting there is a lack of communication and misinformation regarding reliable research sources. Added to this the political bias that is evidently expressed in certain news outlets, it is evident why the general public, influenced by what is printed and broadcasters are in such doubt and confusion about the true cause of these weather events, consequences of human activity or natural ecosystem fluctuations.