Physics World Environment and Energy is pleased to announce that it is participating in the Covering Climate Now media initiative in the run-up to the UN Climate Action Summit in New York on 23 September.
More than 220 media outlets, including Physics World, have committed to increase their coverage of climate change in the eight days before the meeting. The initiative officially begins today; from tomorrow we aim to bring you two pieces of climate coverage each day, more than double our normal offering. Watch out for a physicist-led call to action, news on the latest climate research, a climate takeover of our weekly podcast, the challenges of managing retreat from climate change, and more. From university academics’ carbon footprints to what climate scientists think about Extinction Rebellion and other campaigning groups, we’ve got it covered.
At the Climate Action Summit, governments will submit their plans for reaching the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global temperature rise well below 2 °C.
“The need for solid climate coverage has never been greater,” says Kyle Pope, editor and publisher of CJR, which founded the Covering Climate Now project along with The Nation. “We’re proud that so many organizations from across the US and around the world have joined with Covering Climate Now to do our duty as journalists – to report this hugely important story.”
Outlets participating in Covering Climate Now will “run as much high-quality climate coverage as they can – and thereby signal to their audiences the paramount importance of the climate story”, according to CJR.
Recent Physics World coverage of climate change includes making labs more sustainable, a special climate edition of the Physics World Stories podcast, and the impacts of flying on academic productivity. We’re looking forward to bringing you more of the same high-quality content in the week to come. For years, climate scientists, many with a physics background, have carefully observed and modelled the changes to and outlook for our planet. Slowing and adapting to the climate change they’ve projected from our greenhouse gas emissions to date and in the future will take many minds and much innovation; we hope our audience can contribute to that story too.
