Our Guide to Staying Updated on Climate Issues
Scientists say that we have roughly a decade to reverse our impact on the environment and seemingly prevent the Earth from imploding yet climate issues tends to go grossly underreported in mainstream media. In fact, just last week 750 gallons of oil mixture was spilled into the San Francisco Bay by a leak in a Chevron pipeline. This spill has been devastating to local wildlife and ecosystems but is still only being covered on local news channels. Why exactly this is true is unknown but it likely has to do with the historical power of oil companies, such as Chevron, to cover up their environmental mishaps.
So where can you still learn about how climate change is affecting your community and the globe? Like the SF spill, local stations and papers may be more likely to cover local affects of climate change so that’s a great place to start.
The Guardian has also announced that they are committed to reporting on climate change and their section (which can be found here) is regularly updated with news on policy, proposals, and climate activism. While it might not always be considered “front page news” the NYTimes’s also covers climate change and you can find their section here.
Podcasts are another way to stay updated without keeping you on a screen and they’re great to multitask with (consider meal prepping, cleaning, going on a walk, or baking something fun while you listen)! These are honestly some of the best ways to get updated information on climate change because it’s a place where you can get in depth info without having to analyze long policy or articles.
Podcasts We Recommend:
TILclimate Podcast
This award-winning MIT podcast breaks down the science, technologies, and policies behind climate change, how it’s impacting us, and what we can do about it. Each quick episode gives you the what, why, and how on climate change -- from real scientists -- to help us make informed decisions for our future.
How to Save a Planet
This podcast follows journalist Alex Blumberg and scientist and policy expert Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, as they look for solutions to climate change and talk to people who are making a difference.
Hot Take
Taking a bit of a different approach to informing about climate change, Hot Take is a media criticism show about climate change coverage. On it, Mary Heglar and Amy Westervelt along with guests analyze how much climate is being covered, how well it is being covered, and what stories have fallen through the cracks as well as who’s doing a good job.
Mothers of Invention
Hosted by former Irish president, Mary Robinson, comedian-writer, Maeve Higgins, and series producer, Thimali Kodikara the podcast focuses on the intersection between climate change and feminism. Each episode features a guest who has been fighting for climate justice – including lawyers and policy experts as well as activists, senators, and scientists. Last year they also launched the Climate Reframe Project, an initiative to highlight the work of Black, Brown, Asian, People of Colour and UK based Indigenous Peoples who are climate experts, campaigners and advocates living and working in the UK.
Inherited
This podcast about the youth climate movement and explores the fact that there is no one single story about what a climate activist should be by telling of the diverse group of teens and young adults fighting for their futures. Episodes have covered everything from specific protests to the mental health struggles associated with the climate crisis.
