How to Break Bad Climate News

British Columbia wildfire

Bad news and bleak realities don't go away if we just don't talk about them or ignore them. This seems so obvious, yet we do it all the time. Often people will ignore troubling physical symptoms or warning signs of a home in disrepair, only to have

Katharine Hayhoe is a leading climate scientist who lives in Texas. She is a Canadian by birth, upbringing, and citizenship, and she happens to be a committed Christian. I appreciated hearing her speak at St. George's Anglican Church in Kingston a few years ago. She  reminds us that talking about climate change is essential, but how do we do so with those who are resistant? In a TED talk she shares how, and this is the description of her address:

How do you talk to someone who doesn't believe in climate change? Not by rehashing the same data and facts we've been discussing for years, says climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe. In this inspiring, pragmatic talk, Hayhoe shows how the key to having a real discussion is to connect over shared values like family, community and religion -- and to prompt people to realize that they already care about a changing climate. "We can't give in to despair," she says. "We have to go out and look for the hope we need to inspire us to act -- and that hope begins with a conversation, today."
https://www.ted.com/talks/katharine_hayhoe_the_most_important_thing_you_can_do_to_fight_climate_change_talk_about_it?language=en

Bye the way, Dr. Hayhoe regularly points out that climate change is not a matter of belief, it is science.



Hurricane Harvey Houston

Here is the link to an article in Yale Climate Change Connections called How do I break bad news about climate change?': A six-step guide to honest and compassionate conversations by Sarah Peach which addresses the same challenge.

https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2018/11/how-to-break-bad-news-about-the-climate/