Public Resource
Talking Climate: The Science of Climate Change Communication
Social scientists have identified 5 main barriers to understanding climate change: distance, doom, dissonance, denial, and identity. To overcome distance: bring climate impacts close to home, connect issues that matter to your audience, and invoke "legacy." To overcome doom: emphasize solutions and benefits and beware of the overuse of emotional appeals. To overcome dissonance: channel the power of social norms and appeal to group identity. To overcome denial: understand different sources of doubt, don’t repeat the myth, and don’t overload with facts. To overcome identity factors: appeal to identity-based values and social norms. Watch the full webinar here.