Climate resources for media

We have compiled a list of useful climate resources for journalists and media outlets. Please let us know if there is anything you would like to see added that could help you in your reporting: comms@rmets.org

Climate briefing papers

• What do we mean by climate change?

• What are the benefits of reducing global CO2 emissions to net-zero by 2050?

• Air pollution and climate change

• How climate change is affecting sea levels

• Global Carbon Budgets: Determining limits of fossil fuel emissions

• Attribution of Extreme Weather Events: How does climate change affect weather?

• Solar Variability: Does variation in the Sun’s output affect climate?

• Climate Modelling

• What is the El Niño - Southern Oscillation?

• Measuring meteorological variables for studying the climate

• How is sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic changing?

• How much warming results from increases in atmospheric CO2?

• Tipping points in the climate system

• How will climate change affect UK heatwaves?

• How will climate change impact North Atlantic storms?

• An ice-free Arctic: what could it mean for European weather?

• Understanding the impact of climate change on inland flood risk in the UK

• Detection and attribution of climate change

Spokespeople

• We have several spokespeople available from the Royal Meteorological Society 

  • Prof Liz Bentley FRMetS – Chief Executive

  • Kirsty McCabe FRMetS – Broadcast Meteorologist and Editor of MetMatters

  • Hannah Mallinson – Science Engagement Manager

  • Dr Sylvia Knight FRMetS – Head of Education

  • Prof David Griggs FRMetS - President

• We are also able to recommend speakers from our membership, please contact comms@rmets.org with any requests

• Search for a Climate Change Expert within the COP26 Universities Network

RMetS climate-focused publications

• International Journal of Climatology – includes the annual publication of the State of the UK Climate Report

• Climate Resilience and Sustainability 

• WIRES Climate Change - published in partnership with the Royal Meteorological Society and the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).

Useful resources

• https://unfccc.int/ - Official website of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

• https://www.ipcc.ch/ - The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.

• https://ukcop26.org/ - the official website for UK COP26

• https://climate.metoffice.cloud/ - Met Office Climate Dashboard (up-to-date climate data)

• https://beis.frontify.com/d/TVB3fZEuWNbm/tfop-co - Together for our Planet toolkit

• https://climatevisuals.org/ - an evidence-based climate change image library

• https://www.climatewatchdata.org/ - Climate Watch offers open data, visualisations and analysis to help policymakers, researchers and journalists gather insights on countries' climate progress.

• https://climatefeedback.org/ - a worldwide network of scientists sorting fact from fiction in climate change media coverage.

• https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/ - providing journalists with information about science and its related disciplines; making it easier to get access to the best science and scientists when science stories are making the headlines.

• https://www.carbonbrief.org/ - UK-based website covering the latest developments in climate science, climate policy and energy policy. Publishing a wide range of content, including science explainers, interviews, analysis and fact checks, as well as daily and weekly email summaries of newspaper and online coverage.

• https://skepticalscience.com/ - explaining what peer-reviewed science has to say about global warming and dispelling myths.

• https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/ - an international effort to analyse and communicate the possible influence of climate change on extreme weather events.

• Reporting extreme weather and climate change: a guide for journalists

• https://www.ukclimaterisk.org/ - where all the information about the third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment is hosted, including the latest evidence report published in June 2021.

• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yD_VWtI4MdsCH4Yh104mW7f2f4XrjVIu/view: Communicating Climate Risk - a toolkit compiled by the COP26 Universities Network.

Recent MetMatters blogs on climate

• Key findings from the IPCC's Working Group II Climate Report

• Key findings from the latest IPCC Report

• The State of the UK Climate 2020

• Wildlife and weather in a changing climate

• Extreme Heat Warnings in the UK

• The climate risks and impacts facing the UK

• Record-breaking heat in Canada

• State of the Global Climate 2020

• Record High Temperatures in Upper Oceans in 2020

• Setting Store by Carbon Sinks

• COP26 Jargon Buster

• The importance of climate education

• Conclusion from COP26

Science Council – Connected for COP26

• Blog series
• Jargon buster

Significant dates for 2021-2022

• 9 August 2021: IPCC AR6 WG1 Report published – The physical science basis

• 14 September 2021: 76^th Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA)

• 15 September 2021: RMetS VIRTUAL MEETING I The 6th Major IPCC Science Report and its Implications

• 17 September 2021: Grantham Institute and RMetS VIRTUAL MEETING I Responding to the Climate Crisis - taking action on the IPCC 6th Assessment Report

• 28 - 30 September 2021: Youth4Climate: Driving Ambition

• 30 September - 2 October 2021:  Pre-COP 26

• 30 - 31 October 2021: G20 Leaders' Summit

• 31 October - 12 November 2021: COP26

• 31 October 2021: State of Global Climate 2021 - WMO Provisional Report 

• 28 February 2022: IPCC AR6 WG2 report – impacts, adaption and vulnerability

• 4 April 2022: IPCC AR6 WG3 report – mitigation of climate change

• TBC September 2022: IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report

Climate Comms training

Over the last three years, the Society has been working alongside broadcasters and climate scientists to deliver climate change communication training for broadcast meteorologists, producers and journalists from ITV, BBC and Sky. These courses aim to refresh and deepen knowledge about climate change, enabling teams to develop a wider understanding of climate science, causes of climate change, the link between extreme weather events and climate change, and the social and economic impacts of climate change.

As well as providing guidance on where to find reliable and up-to-date information; the aim of the training is to ensure broadcast meteorologists have the knowledge to answer (often difficult) climate-related questions. Alongside this, we aim to support journalists in reporting accurately and effectively on climate change at a local level, making it relevant to their audience.

The courses are designed to be interactive, with discussion and exercises helping the delegates to learn by sharing experiences and to take an active role in their learning. We aim to help to build confidence amongst presenters and reporters when discussing climate in relation to weather events, which supports more factual reporting about climate change in a way that is accessible to a general audience.

Matt Taylor, BBC Broadcast Meteorologist said:

“It was an immensely engaging and interactive course that explored every aspect of climate change. Through real environmental examples and references to past climate, it helped give us ways to communicate the facts”

We are also now working with ITV to deliver top-up courses providing the latest climate news, we have just partnered with the PRCA to deliver courses in 2022 and we have also delivered bespoke courses to Plant Network and Bgen.

PRCA Climate Change Communications Course with RMetS

If you are a media outlet interested in finding out more about the training we can provide to support your staff. Please contact ella.clarke@rmets.org

Image credit: Neil Baker / Climate Visuals Countdown