Majority of Climate Change News Stories Focus on Uncertainty: Study

"About eight in 10 stories contain some discussion of uncertainties and risk, according to Oxford analysis"



"The uncertainties of climate change science have become a major focus of media coverage on the subject, a new study shows.

About eight in 10 stories on climate change and related scientific research contain some discussion of uncertainties and risk, according to a report from Oxford University. Roughly eight in 10 also refer in some way to the disasters that are likely to result from unchecked global warming and greenhouse gas emission rises.

The remaining uncertainties – such as the sensitivity of the climate to increases in carbon dioxide concentrations, and the roles played by major parts of the Earth's systems such as the absorption of carbon and heat by the oceans – will come under the spotlight next week, when leading climate scientists gather in Stockholm to hammer out the final details of the long-awaited fifth report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)."

Fiona Harvey reports for the Guardian September 18, 2013.

SEE ALSO:

"Case for Climate Change Is Overwhelming, Say Scientists" (Climate News Network)

"Finding a Better Message on The Risks of Climate Change" (Yale Environment 360)

"Climate Change in the Media" (Reuters Institute)

Source: Guardian, 09/18/2013