{"id":1320,"date":"2022-04-11T15:52:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T20:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ic4ml.org\/?p=1320"},"modified":"2022-04-17T16:22:23","modified_gmt":"2022-04-17T21:22:23","slug":"just-look-up-the-sixth-ipcc-report-polar-temperature-spikes-and-the-slap-seen-around-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ic4ml.org\/pt-pt\/blogs\/misinformation\/just-look-up-the-sixth-ipcc-report-polar-temperature-spikes-and-the-slap-seen-around-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Just Look Up!: The Sixth IPCC Report, Polar Temperature Spikes, and the Slap Seen Around the World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Don\u2019t Look Up, <\/em>the Oscar-nominated Netflix film warning of the dangers of an impending planetary crisis, was repeatedly criticized because its satire of US politics and media was seen as a heavy handed and melodramatic caricature. But the spectacle of Will Smith\u2019s live TV assault on Chris Rock during the 94th Academy Awards ceremony and how it obscured alarming climate news, demonstrates that reality is more than sufficient to supply an over-the-top parody of itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Antarctica
via The Economist<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

As The Slap Seen Around the World saturated the media, there was little notice of two major climate news items that should have been blaring with all the bells and whistles of a breaking news alert. First is the unbelievable spike in temperature in the poles, in which the Arctic reached 50\u00b0F and Antarctica 70\u00b0F above normal<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second is the sixth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change<\/a>, which is its bleakest yet. As stated by UN Secretary General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, \u201cToday\u2019s IPCC report is an atlas of human suffering, and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership.\u201d During the week of the report\u2019s release, a series of actions by Scientist Rebellion<\/a>, in which climate scientists engaged in civil disobedience to draw attention to the dire conditions of the climate, also were ignored by mainstream media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Correspondingly, the news is dominated by Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine. But this needs to be framed within the larger problem of the climate crisis. Many argue that this war is the latest in a series of fossil fuel wars<\/a> that wouldn\u2019t exist had we already transitioned into decentralized renewable energy infrastructures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IPCC report summarizes many dangers that impact all of us, requiring an all-hands-on-deck approach from educators and schools. It\u2019s now a certainty that no region in the world will be unimpacted by the climate emergency; half the global population is highly vulnerable; major ecosystems are losing their capacity to absorb CO2; and we have three years to peak our emissions until we cut them drastically.<\/p>\n\n\n

But of interest to media literacy, this is the first IPCC report to cite misinformation as a major hurdle to climate action.<\/strong> <\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n

Quoting the North America section of the report (Chapter 14<\/a>, p. 3):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAddressing these risks have been made more urgent by delays due to misinformation about climate science that has sowed uncertainty, and impeded recognition of risk (high confidence)\u201d;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDespite scientific certainty of the anthropogenic influence on climate change, misinformation and politicization of climate change science has created polarization in public and policy domains in North America, particularly in the US, limiting climate action (high confidence).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Climate
via 350<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In a future post I will outline what media literacy can do to address climate misinformation, but clearly the IPCC is calling media literacy folks to jump into the mix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the record, it\u2019s necessary to state clearly why the climate crisis touches all aspects of society. 350.org\u2019s summary of climate emergency science<\/a> offers a succinct overview. Here I supplement it with my own comments (350.org\u2019s wording in italics):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 It\u2019s warming.<\/em> The UN Climate Programme reports<\/a>: \u201cClimate change is real and human activities are the main cause. The concentration of greenhouse gases in the earth\u2019s atmosphere is directly linked to the average global temperature on Earth. The concentration has been rising steadily, and mean global temperatures along with it, since the time of the Industrial Revolution. The most abundant greenhouse gas, accounting for about two-thirds of greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2), is largely the product of burning fossil fuels.\u201d To prevent warming beyond 1.5\u00b0C, we need to reduce emissions by 7.6% every year from this year to 2030<\/a>. The status quo puts us on a course for a rise to at least 4\u00b0C, which will wipe out living conditions for civilization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 It\u2019s us.<\/em> When we say \u201cus,\u201d it\u2019s important that we contextualize the term. The myth of the Anthropocene blames equally all humans for the climate emergency, but it\u2019s caused by a minority of the world\u2019s population and is the direct result of the dominant global economic system. The most vulnerable populations in the world who contributed the least CO2 emissions are the greatest victims, leading to planetary ecological apartheid. What we need is climate justice<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 We\u2019re sure<\/em>. Climate change is not a belief\u2014it\u2019s scientific fact. A review of scientific journal articles demonstrates that, \u201cGreater than 99% consensus on human caused climate change in the peer-reviewed scientific literature<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 It\u2019s bad<\/em>. Across the world we are experiencing record-breaking extreme heat, ocean warming\/acidification, accelerated storms, sea level rise\/melting ice, and loss of habitat and migration for human and nonhuman alike. See: \u201cThe climate disaster is here<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b7 We can fix it<\/em>. You don\u2019t have to face it alone. We have solved global environmental problems in the past, such as the ozone hole. The good news is that we know what we must do: keep fossil fuels in the ground and transition from fossil fuel culture to a decarbonized economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
via @ClimateBen on Twitter<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Discussing how to get media to cover the climate crisis will be the topic of a future post in this series, as well as how media literacy can respond. As noted in at tweet<\/a> by lit teacher Ben See, the short version is this: \u201cState & corporate media are owned, influenced, & controlled by groups & individuals who risk losing their wealth & power if humans choose the right response to this ecological emergency: we must reassess & replace the global growth economy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

The slap we should really pay attention to is the one we are getting from an unstable climate. It\u2019s time to look up!<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n

Epilog:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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