Forget Being Nice, Tell The Truth About The Climate Crisis

If you want to get more people onside regarding the climate and nature emergencies, you can’t be all gloom and doom - you have to offer hope, maybe use humour, people don’t want to hear it otherwise…..

FORGET THAT.

I’m sorry, but I don’t go along with this trending narrative. I know we live in more enlightened times (in most parts of the world), where we care more about people’s feelings and don’t want to cause any more anxiety than we need to.

And I know that people will put their heads in the sand if they think a problem is too big to deal with.

But come on! People need to know this stuff and do something about it! Quick!

We are living in an age of extinction. Hence the title of this publication. That’s as big as it gets for things going not quite the way we’d like them to go.

Here’s a story from back in 2017 that should have woken people up:

A “biological annihilation” of wildlife in recent decades means a sixth mass extinction in Earth’s history is under way and is more severe than previously feared, according to research.

Scientists analysed both common and rare species and found billions of regional or local populations have been lost. They blame human overpopulation and overconsumption for the crisis and warn that it threatens the survival of human civilisation, with just a short window of time in which to act.

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Now, honestly, can you recall a story more important than that one?

Take some more in, before you sugar-coat it…

Prof Gerardo Ceballos, at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, who led the work, said: “The situation has become so bad it would not be ethical not to use strong language.”

Not ethical, not to use strong language. Exactly. It’s time to wake the fuck up, people.

Only, that message has been shared a million times and still we are sleepwalking into disaster.

So how on earth is a watered down message going to help?

All too often I’ll see articles like the one quoted above, littered with cuddles. Phrases like ‘more studies need to be done’ and ‘there remains hope, however’ have crept into the media’s vernacular, even when that simply isn’t the case.

Think the climate crisis is funny?

There have been well intentioned efforts to engage people with humour, such as through Climate Science Breakthrough, which has seen comedians teaming up with scientists. Here’s an example…

But just think of the mindset of someone after watching that.

Either they found it darkly funny, and now they’ve moved on to watching other funny content. Or they didn’t find it funny, and they’ve now moved on to watching other funny content.

The science of climate crisis communication is a complex one, and everyone reacts or is triggered in different ways.

But seriously… this is serious.

I know that the masses will not watch this next video, but our gloom and doom is all laid out in this recent chat among scientists about a devastating new survey…

I’ll save you the job of watching it - we’re screwed.

How we tell people this is indeed a challenge, because all we can do is adapt. We can’t reverse the climate and nature polycrisis. Some tipping points have been passed beyond the point of no return.

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But there is still hope!

Yes there is, there is hope and optimism in making things better, in saving lives, in saving habitats, in providing a less polluted and safer world for our children and grandchildren .

But we still live in an age of extinction. The planet will still warm, whatever we do now. And with the breakdown of ocean currents, some parts of Earth will freeze. A devastating imminent future of extremes awaits.

So please don’t tell me to cushion the blow. I take no pleasure in frightening people. But it just happens to be where we are.