nprs-climate-guide

The guide advises journalists to frame climate change as a factor that makes extreme weather worse rather than a sole cause. It provides key data on global warming, noting a 2 degree Fahrenheit increase since pre-industrial times and the goal to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The text details how climate change intensifies heat waves, floods, and hurricanes—noting that hurricanes now lose only 50% of their strength in the first 24 hours after landfall compared to 75% fifty years ago. It also highlights risks to biodiversity, the role of agriculture in producing a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, and the scientific necessity of eliminating new carbon emissions by 2050.

• Journalists are encouraged to shift the framing of weather events from asking if climate change caused a specific event to asking if it made the event worse.
• The average global temperature has risen by approximately 2 degrees Fahrenheit (just over 1 degree Celsius) since pre-industrial times, and current policies are insufficient to meet the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
• Climate change is altering hurricane behavior, making them larger and more powerful due to hotter ocean water, and slowing their decay after landfall; storms now retain 50% of their strength after 24 hours on land, whereas they lost 75% fifty years ago.
• Agriculture contributes about 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions, primarily through land clearing, nitrogen fertilizer, and methane from livestock.
• To prevent the most catastrophic outcomes, the world must essentially stop new carbon emissions by 2050, though the long atmospheric lifespan of carbon dioxide means warming will persist even after emissions reach zero.

APA

Ludden, J. (2021). nprs-climate-guide. Covering Climate Now. https://coveringclimatenow.org/resource/nprs-climate-guide/

Chicago

Ludden, Jennifer. nprs-climate-guide. Covering Climate Now, 2021. https://coveringclimatenow.org/resource/nprs-climate-guide/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ludden |first1=Jennifer |title=nprs-climate-guide |publisher=Covering Climate Now |date=29 March 2021 |url=https://coveringclimatenow.org/resource/nprs-climate-guide/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ludden2021nprsclimateguide, author = {Ludden, Jennifer}, title = {{nprs-climate-guide}}, institution = {Covering Climate Now}, year = {2021}, month = mar, url = {https://coveringclimatenow.org/resource/nprs-climate-guide/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }