Featuring the CAU: 'Magic numbers' are clouding the climate debate

The Financial Times spoke with Dr Kris De Meyer about the language of thresholds, tipping points, and deadlines in climate communication in this article published on 20 September 2023.

The piece introduces the CAU project to create a set of climate change metrics which aims to help people understand how climate change impacts their everyday lives in the here and now (rather than fueling doomsday narratives).

Read the article 

Excerpts below: 

With climate, there is no real substance attached to the idea that [a rise] above 1.5C is disaster and below is safe. 1.5C doesn’t help you to understand why that hot day in April when you went to the beach was an unusual day weather-wise, even though there was no catastrophe.

Better metrics allow scientists — and journalists — to link abstract climate data with everyday experience, explaining, for example, how Canadian heatwaves last year pushed up pasta prices in the UK.“    but with climate, there is no real substance attached to the idea that [a rise] above 1.5C is disaster and below is safe    but with climate, there is no real substance attached to the idea that [a rise] above 1.5C is disaster and below is safe