Andy Revkin, environmental journalist from the New York Times and friend of the youth movement of climate, wrote a thought-provoking piece on Sunday's paper about the current trends on climate change journalism. I have to admit that I was at first confused when he highlighted issues that still remain unknown on climate debate, giving the impression that we need to water down basis for action to stop climate change. Is Andy suggesting that we need water down our climate messaging? No, he is suggesting that it might be time for messaging change. We have been trying to avoid a negative message, and with that we have avoided talking about adaptation.
It is not time to change our message to "we are all going to die", but to "this is what your negligence is going to cost you and your children". We have focused on mitigation, but we have forgotten that we need to adapt. Even if GW Bush was to let go of his criminal neurosis for oil, we would still be stuck with >300 CO2 ppm for the next hundred years. We do not need to scare people, we just need to tell how much this is already costing us.
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