There’s so much news about climate change these days, daily news outlets can hardly keep track of it all. Fortunately, Facebook pages can! Here are six – in addition to the Moms Clean Air Force Facebook page – that you might want to check out. They do a great job linking to everything from the latest study of climate impacts on our health to news flashes about extreme weather events. These sites also provide a much-needed counterweight to climate deniers and industry outlets that continue to argue that there’s no climate crisis or that we need to keep burning fossil fuels.
NOTE: All groups listed below link to real news events and solid, fact-based science.
NASA’s Global Climate Change Page – Many federal websites under the Trump Administration have limited or even removed their climate-related information and resources. Somehow, NASA’s Facebook page endures. The page links to explanations of climate science and an “Earth Minute” whiteboard animation series that “explains Earth science to the science-curious.” A recent cartoon was headlined, “Earth Has A Fever” and suggested, “It’s time to seek attention right away.” From this page you can get to the National Park Service’s climate change page, among others.
Environmental and Climate News – The page for this group “recognises that the world climate is already in the process of changing.” It posts news, pictures, and video footage “relevant to climate past, present, and future.” But because the hosts understand that the climate and the environment are inextricably linked, the page also posts stories on topics such as global water shortages, rainforest destruction in the Amazon, and the drinking water crisis in places like Flint, Michigan, where the local water supply was tainted with lead.
Climate Change News – This page stays up-to-date on news being made around the world about climate change and its impacts. It mostly provides links to news stories you’d probably miss otherwise. One recent link connected to a story on Apple.news about how climate change is shaping Iowa’s physical and political landscape. Another, highlighted the New York Times report on how state birds might be forced to leave their home states as climate change increases. A third noted NPR’s report on the impact climate change is having on the ancient agricultural practices of tribes in the Pacific Northwest. Very interesting all!
Climate News Network – This page pulls the headlines and key stories from ClimateNewsNetwork.net. Recent topics range from an analysis of how hurricanes wreak greater havoc as temperatures soar to how penguins are imperiled as winds change and heat rises in Antarctica. A particularly grim headline noted that climate-related starvation may “force nations to war.” This page and the site it comes from is useful for keeping current on news reports all over the world.
Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) – This group offers webinars that explain the link between climate and energy. It also reports on important research projects, like one studying the impacts of the climate crisis on three different penguin communities in the Antarctic.
Center for Climate Change Communication – The Center, based at George Mason University in Virginia, explains climate science and impacts in a way that helps you both understand it and explain it to others. Recent posts linked to a report on how heavy downpours associated with extreme weather events can contaminate drinking water, published by @docsforclimate. The Center also tracks developments in the political sphere. Check out their recent report about how millennials (including Democrats, Republicans, and Independents) support regulating carbon dioxide as a pollutant.
Once you “like” and “follow” a group, please share the news you value on your own page. Social media provides an important way to counteract fake news and climate deniers. Your elected officials monitor social media, too. You can help educate them through the stories you link to from your own page.
TELL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE: IT’S BEYOND TIME FOR CLIMATE SAFETY