Climate Change News! Do Media Headlines Reflect the Actual Science? How Should the Average Person Think About Climate Change Data, Predictions and Possible Solutions? Dr. Elizabeth Herndon Discusses.

The Best Paragraph I've Read: Under scenarios deemed likely by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a connection between ocean currents and discharge would increase the overall discharge rate in one region of the continent by some 10% by the end of the century. But to emphasize the idea being tested, the modelers used human influences almost three times larger. Even though that fact is stated in the paper, reporters rarely catch such nuance, and the media goes with headlines such as “Antarctic Ice Melting Could Be 40 Percent Faster Than Thought” with the absurd statement that “a massive tsunami would swamp New York City and beyond, killing millions. London, Venice and Mumbai would also become aquariums.” A more accurate headline would read: “Ocean currents connecting antarctic glaciers might accelerate their melting.” This paragraph comes from an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal By Steven Koonin.  The title of the article is "Don’t Believe the Hype About Antarctica’s Melting Glaciers"  You can read the full article here: https://www.wsj.com/articles/dont-believe-the-hype-about-antarcticas-melting-glaciers-ice-sheet-climate-change-global-warming-sea-levels-greenland-iceberg-ocean-11663618509 Zac and Don are joined by Dr. Elizabeth Herndon of Oak Ridge National Labs.  They discuss climate headlines and whether the media does an accurate job matching the headline to the science.  They talk about the challenges of communicating complex ideas to people without a science background.  They also discuss climate change solutions and how best to think about the issue. Here is Dr. Herndon's contact information and biography: https://www.ornl.gov/staff-profile/elizabeth-m-herndon