This Climate Communication Hub is focused on bringing together information, experts, organizations, policy makers, and the public to address climate communication challenges..

If you or your organization would like to curate a post within this hub (e.g. a profile post on your organization), contact climate@onair.cc.

Environmental communication is “the dissemination of information and the implementation of communication practices that are related to the environment. In the beginning, environmental communication was a narrow area of communication; however, nowadays, it is a broad field that includes research and practices regarding how different actors (e.g., institutions, states, people) interact with regard to topics related to the environment and how cultural products influence society toward environmental issues”.

Environmental communication also includes human interactions with the environment. This includes a wide range of possible interactions, from interpersonal communication and virtual communities to participatory decision-making and environmental media coverage. From the perspective of practice, Alexander Flor defines environmental communication as the application of communication approaches, principles, strategies, and techniques to environmental management and protection

This post has background information for a series of aircasts on “Climate Change & US Governance” – what the US government, Congress, and universities can do to better address current and future climate change issues.

The first aircast in this series is focused on “How do the 2021 US infrastructure bills address global warming?”.

Dr. Edward Maibach is a distinguished University Professor and Director of Mason’s Center for Climate Change Communication (Mason 4C).  Ed co-directs the Climate Change in the American Mind polling project (with Yale’s Anthony Leiserowitz), is principal investigator of Climate Matters—a climate reporting resources program that supports TV weathercasters as local climate educators, and he helps direct the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health—an educational initiative that currently involves 37 national medical societies.

In 2018, Ed was appointed a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2020, Ed was awarded the Beck Family Presidential Medal of Excellence in Research and Scholarship—Mason’s top research honor—as well as the Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication (with Anthony Leiserowitz). In 2021, Ed was identified by Thompson Reuters as one of the world’s 10 most influential scientists working on climate change.

The Center for Climate Change Communication (Mason 4C) develops and applies social science insights to help society make informed decisions that will stabilize the earth’s life-sustaining climate, and prevent further harm from climate change.

As a result of human activity – primarily the burning of fossil fuels – the earth’s climate is becoming dangerously disrupted and destabilized. Our mission is to develop and apply social science insights to help society make informed decisions that will stabilize the earth’s life-sustaining climate, and prevent further harm from climate change. To achieve this goal, our center engages in three broad activities: we conduct unbiased communication research; we help government agencies, civic organizations, professional associations, and companies apply social science research to improve their public engagement initiatives; and we train students and professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to improve public engagement with climate change.

The Center for Climate Change Communication (Mason 4C), led by Director Edward Maibach, will be coordinating a Town Hall on Decarbonizing on October 24, 2023 as part of “Meet the Changemakers” day at the George Mason University Fairfax Campus.

The Center for Climate Change Communication (Mason 4C) develops and applies social science insights to help society make informed decisions that will stabilize the earth’s life-sustaining climate, and prevent further harm from climate change.

As a result of human activity – primarily the burning of fossil fuels – the earth’s climate is becoming dangerously disrupted and destabilized. Our mission is to develop and apply social science insights to help society make informed decisions that will stabilize the earth’s life-sustaining climate, and prevent further harm from climate change. To achieve this goal, our center engages in three broad activities: we conduct unbiased communication research; we help government agencies, civic organizations, professional associations, and companies apply social science research to improve their public engagement initiatives; and we train students and professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to improve public engagement with climate change.

We conduct scientific studies on public opinion and behavior; inform the decision-making of governments, media, companies, and advocates; educate the public about climate change; and help build public and political will for climate action.

Global warming is one of the greatest threats – and opportunities – of the 21st century. Our fate will be determined by the choices of 8 billion people and counting. We are social scientists studying the causes and consequences of public opinion and behavior. We help governments, media, companies, and advocates communicate more effectively. And we publish an online climate news service and daily national radio program, Yale Climate Connections.

The Yale Program is directed by Dr. Anthony Leiserowitz. For more information about the YPCCC team, please see People & Partners. The Program is part of the Yale School of the Environment at Yale University, in New Haven, Connecticut.

The Monash Climate Change Communication Research Hub is a unique research entity, headquartered in Australia, bringing university resources to the world of climate communication. We were established within Monash University’s School of Media, Film and Journalism in late 2016, and have since grown into an international and inter-disciplinary research group working with a vast range of university, industry and scientific partners.

We apply research strategies from media studies, journalism, climate science, sociology, psychology, international relations, education, and political science. This involves researching public attitudes towards climate change, and ways to better communicate the science and solutions. We partner with mainstream media entities such as television networks and community news to deliver trusted localised climate information to large audiences in meaningful ways.