How communication on climate change has changed over time2 min read

Do you remember when speaking of global warming (and not climate change, this is also worthy of note) it was very common to come across news and images of habitats far from our daily lives at risk of extinction or dangerous changes in balance?

And everything remained confined there: to distant ecosystems that had no major impact on us.
Or at least so it was thought.

It was therefore not uncommon to come across images of distant natural habitats. The most common to raise awareness on this topic, perhaps, was that of a polar bear who with difficulty juggled on a piece of floating ice and was decidedly small for its size.

This was in the 80s and 90s more than anything else.

Climate change has gone mainstream

But then something changed.
Not only has climate change become mainstream (with social media, with Greta Thunberg, with Greenpeace, with the various sustainability and ESG contents related to the topic) but it has really started to scare.

Whether or not climate alarmism is good for achieving the desired results, we will cover it another time.

Let’s stay on how communication has changed. Indeed, where has the object of communication changed.

Gradually, the speech moved closer and closer to us.

On the one hand, because the regulators have made it the main topic in their agendas, and on the other, consequently, because the media have changed the frequency and the way of communicating global warming and/or climate change.

Here then the polar bears have been replaced – just to name a few – with discussions and images of people. Ordinary people in our cities, who could be our families, our friends, our acquaintances. And all, unfortunately, are increasingly subjected to the following:

• seasons no longer “regular” as before
• increasingly frequent extreme weather events
• extreme temperatures
• floods
• drought and lack of clean water
• etc.

So, in addition to disappearing bears in our discussions, the phenomena have (unfortunately) also come close to our daily lives.

From bears in the Arctic to the suffering faces of people impacted by extreme weather conditions. From far, very far away, to close to us.

Have you noticed it too? What do you think?

Featured image by Marina Shatskih on Unsplash