Global warming and climate change : what Australia knew and buried -- then framed a new reality for the public / Maria Taylor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Taylor, Maria, author.

Contributor:

Australian National University, issuing body.

Series:

Open Access e-Books

Knowledge Unlatched

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Global warming--Australia.

Global warming.

Climatic changes--Australia.

Climatic changes.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 215 pages) : colour illustrations.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Canberra, Australia : Australian National University Press, 2014.

Summary:

Relevant to both Australian and overseas audiences, here is the untold story of how Australia buried its knowledge on climate change science and response options during the 1990's - going from clarity to confusion and doubt after arguably leading the world in citizen understanding and a political will to act in the late 1980's. 'What happened and why' is a fascinating exploration drawing on the public record of how a society revised its good understanding on a critical issue affecting every citizen. It happened through political and media communication, regardless of international scientific assessments that have remained consistent in ascribing causes and risks since 1990. How could this happen? The author examines the major influences, with lessons for the present, on how the story was reframed. Key have been values and beliefs, including economic beliefs, that trumped the science, the ability of changing political leaders and the mass media to set the story for the public, as well as the role of scientists' own communication over time and the use and misuse of uncertainty.

Contents:

The legacy

Foreword: the hidden history of Australia’s early response to climate change

1. History is what we make it

2. Loading the dice: humans as planetary force

3. Framing information to influence what we hear

4. What Australians knew 25 years ago

5. Australians persuaded to doubt what they knew

6. Influences on a changed story and the new normal 1990's: values and beliefs

7. Influences on a changed story and the new normal: media locks in the new narrative

8. Influences on a changed story and the new normal: scientists’ beliefs and public scepticism

9. In search of certainty and applying uncertainty

10. Dicing with the climate: how many more throws?

A chronology of some major climate science/policy milestones

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

CC BY-NC-ND

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed August 18, 2015).

OCLC:

881681678

Publisher Number:

https://doi.org/10.26530/OAPEN_515850