Key Phrase Trends in Climate Change Research and Communication. Andersen, T. IEEE Earthzine, 6(1):442835+, 2013.
abstract   bibtex   
Summary. The media plays an important role in communicating climate change science to the public. Due to various agendas or misinterpretation, the media does not always report research as intended by the scientific source. It has been suggested that terminology itself influences perceptions of climate issues. In this study, newspapers, peer-reviewed research articles and National Science Foundation (NSF) grants were analyzed for trends in the key phrases 'climate change' (CC) and 'global warming' (GW). CC is arguably the more meaningful term because it facilitates communication between scientists, the media, and the general public and it conveys that the range of risks associated with a warming climate are not limited to temperature alone. Results indicate that the media preferentially uses the term GW while research tends to use CC. Three high-circulation newspapers exhibit similar trends in usage over time and have recently increased usage of CC. All data sources indicate climate change discourse peaked around 2008 to 2011, however, this trend may be a result of the discussion turning from general climate change to specific risks. Additional key phrase searches such as 'glacier melt' and 'sea level rise' may yield different results.
@article{andersenKeyPhraseTrends2013,
  title = {Key Phrase Trends in Climate Change Research and Communication},
  author = {Andersen, Theresa},
  year = {2013},
  volume = {6},
  pages = {442835+},
  abstract = {Summary.

The media plays an important role in communicating climate change science to the public. Due to various agendas or misinterpretation, the media does not always report research as intended by the scientific source. It has been suggested that terminology itself influences perceptions of climate issues. In this study, newspapers, peer-reviewed research articles and National Science Foundation (NSF) grants were analyzed for trends in the key phrases 'climate change' (CC) and 'global warming' (GW). CC is arguably the more meaningful term because it facilitates communication between scientists, the media, and the general public and it conveys that the range of risks associated with a warming climate are not limited to temperature alone. Results indicate that the media preferentially uses the term GW while research tends to use CC. Three high-circulation newspapers exhibit similar trends in usage over time and have recently increased usage of CC. All data sources indicate climate change discourse peaked around 2008 to 2011, however, this trend may be a result of the discussion turning from general climate change to specific risks. Additional key phrase searches such as 'glacier melt' and 'sea level rise' may yield different results.},
  journal = {IEEE Earthzine},
  keywords = {*imported-from-citeulike-INRMM,~INRMM-MiD:c-12214056,climate-change,global-warming,science-policy-interface,scientific-communication,terminology},
  lccn = {INRMM-MiD:c-12214056},
  number = {1}
}

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