BAMOS
Sep 2019
Article
17
Letting the facts speak for themselves
Remy Shirgill and David Holmes
Monash Climate Change Communication Research Hub
Email: mcccrh@monash.edu
Given the different levels of scientific literacy of a general
audience, communicating climate science is not easy.
Non‑persuasive communication of scientific information that
avoids the politics of opinion is very effective at reaching
disparate audiences, even those who are relatively disengaged
or doubtful. This involves communicating the facts on a regular
basis to large audiences by trusted sources.
Using this methodology, the Monash Climate Change
Communication Research Hub (MCCCRH) has published 650
graphs and columns (examples above and below) in local Leader
newspapers around Melbourne since March this year, with the
intention to publish 2,300 graphs by March 2021.
The column called Changing Climates, shows a graph with a
climate trend from the nearest weather station. The graph is
accompanied by a short column explaining the trend and its
place in the broader context of climate change. It may also
include an explanation of the underlying climate science and a
comment from the local community.
The column is hosted by two trusted sources—a climate
scientist, a trusted source of climate science, and a community
newspaper, a trusted source of all things local.
Waste
3%
Road
transport
23%
Gas
13%
Residential
electricity
19%
Industrial
electricity
22%
Commercial
electricity
20%
Where do
Bayside's
greenhouse
gas emissions
come from?
A strength of the column is the hyper‑localisation of the
content. Climate change is so often talked about from a global
perspective—making it hard for a general audience to relate.
By using local data to demonstrate how climate has impacts
at a household level, climate change becomes relevant to the
reader, their family and their community.
From August, Leader newspapers are also printing graphs which
display emissions data specific to readers’ local government
area—a collaboration between MCCCRH and Ironbark
Sustainability. Where the climate graphs help translate global
climate change into local impacts, the emissions graphs start to
draw links between local actions and global solutions.
See some examples of newspaper columns here.
Images provided by Remy Shirgill.