1. Media & Climate Change March 6th 2007 Hadi Dowlatabadi The University of British Columbia University Fellow, Resources For the Future Adjunct Faculty, Engineering & Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University

2. 2 06.03.07 What do media cover? 2 billion do not have potable water. >1 billion women do not have control over their reproduction. 1 billion cannot access electricity. 780 million suffer from chronic hunger. 200 million have severe malaria. ~ 40 million are living with HIV/AIDS Biodiversity loss is at least 1000 times faster than ever before.

3. 3 06.03.07 What do media cover? 2 billion do not have potable water. >1 billion women do not have control over their reproduction. 1 billion cannot access electricity. 780 million suffer from chronic hunger. 200 million have severe malaria. ~ 40 million are living with HIV/AIDS Biodiversity loss is at least 1000 times faster than ever before. Brittany Spears shaved her hair.

4. 4 06.03.07 A contrast Media: –Address injustice –Promote free speech –Sell more advertising Science: –Address ignorance –Promote a formal examination of evidence –Get more research funding

5. 5 06.03.07 A contrast Media: –Address injustice –Promote free speech –Sell more advertising Science: –Address ignorance –Promote a formal examination of evidence –Get more research funding Different views of objectivity. Each is self serving Both have abused one another

6. 6 06.03.07 Studies of media’s coverage of science show F ailure to reflect qualifications O bfuscation of source information A mplification of effects M ore factual errors

7. 7 06.03.07 Reported cases of Dengue 1980-96: Does climate change abruptly at the border? Source: US National Assessment

8. 8 06.03.07 Summary * is a business. Greater success comes from greater sensationalism. Caveat Lector!

9. 9 06.03.07 Life expectancy is a political map not a climatic one

10. 10 06.03.07 Annual Per Capita Emissions (tCO 2 eq)