The Need to Focus More on Climate Change Communication and Incorporate More Systems Approaches

Figures & data

Figure 1. Systems approaches are an iterative process.

Figure 2. The communication system and what to consider for precision communication.

Table 1. How society is at an inflection point

Element	Trend	Potential Positive Communication Actions	Potential Negative Communication Actions
Human Activity	Humans continue to: Burn fossil fuels for: Generating power Manufacturing goods Transportation Producing food Contribute to deforestation Make land use changes Consume too much (e.g., clothing, electronics, plastics)	Communicate how human activities are contributing to climate change Communicate how people can minimize their contributions to climate change	Provide misinformation/dis-information that denies or minimizes the impact of human activity on climate change
Climate Change	Average global temperatures increasing Rising greenhouse gas levels More extreme climate events becoming more common Rising sea levels, flooding and storms threatening residents and infrastructure	Better communicate the actual changes that are occurring in the climate	Claim that weather changes/events are normal or positive occurrences
Effects on Human Health	Worsening chronic medical conditions (e.g., respiratory and heart diseases) Increased heat stroke Increased mental health impacts Spread of vector-borne illnesses Worsening food insecurity	Better communicate climate change’s effects on human health Better communicate how to prepare for impacts to human health	Downplay climate change’s impacts to human health Communicate that trends are the result of non-climate related elements only
Available Data	Exponential growth in the amount of data available on climate change Data comes from a wide range of sources Data sources are largely disconnected/not integrated.	Integrate available data from various sources to inform climate comms. Design effective climate communication strategies aided by the use of integrated data on climate change	Focus on siloed topic areas/individual datasets to communicate about climate change
Media Attention	Climate change coverage increasing over time Increasing use of clickbait headlines Increasing use of algorithms to drive what content gets to which specific viewers Climate change most often covered as it relates to individual extreme weather events Bigger picture context not frequently covered (e.g., longer term effects, solutions)	Highlight larger systems of human activity, climate change and its resulting impacts in media coverage Better communicate actionable solutions to combat climate change/prepare for effects in the media	Communicate about individual weather events as they relate to climate change Communicate short-term impacts only Sensationalize climate catastrophe/doom Exclude certain demographics when communicating
Communication Channels	Newer channels emerging (e.g., multimedia, apps) Channels reaching more people than ever Emergence of AI use within communications (comms.)	Communicate about climate using newer channels to reach wider, untapped audiences Leverage AI advances for climate comms.	Rely on more traditional channels for climate change comms. Not accounting for people who do not use particular channels leading to missed messages
Global Population	Population continues to increase Globalization is increasing Urbanization is increasing Heterogeneity and diversity are increasing	Consider how people are more numerous, interconnected and heterogeneous when developing climate comms. strategies	Ignore global trends when designing climate change comms. strategies Assume all audiences are homogenous and separate/disconnected
Technology	More computational power than ever before Emergence of AI New communications technologies (e.g., 5 G networks, augmented reality) New media technologies (e.g., blogs, wikis, online social networking)	Use increased computational power to identify and prioritize climate change comms. strategies Leverage AI and newer comms. technologies and methods to more effectively communicate about climate change	Communicate about climate change using only traditional technologies and methods (e.g., press conferences, news channels)
Systems Approaches	Have been advancing in certain fields (e.g., manufacturing, air traffic control, finance) Methodologies (e.g., systems mapping and systems modeling) becoming used more frequently	Apply a systems approach to climate change comms. Use systems mapping and modeling tools to develop more effective comms. that take the wider systems into consideration	Communicate about just one or a few aspects of the overall climate system at a time
Precision Approaches	Increasing utilization of precision methods to improve health outcomes (e.g., precision medicine, precision nutrition, precision population health) More tailored treatments to account for people’s unique differences	Use precision communications to tailor communications about climate change to different populations Acknowledge diversity within different populations	Communicate using a one-size-fits-all approach regarding climate change Treat populations as homogeneous groups