The Evolution of Communicating the Uncertainty of Climate Change to Policymakers: A Study of IPCC Synthesis Reports

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports on climate change have served to alert both the public and policymakers about the scope of the predicted changes and the effects they would have on natural and economic systems. The first IPCC report was published in 1990, since which time a further four have been produced. The aim of this study was to conduct a content analysis of the IPCC Summaries for Policymakers in order to determine the degree of certainty associated with the statements they contain. For each of the reports we analyzed all statements containing expressions indicating the corresponding level of confidence. The aggregated results show a shift over time towards higher certainty levels, implying a 'Call to action' (from 32.8% of statements in IPCC2 to 70.2% in IPCC5). With regard to the international agreements drawn up to tackle climate change, the growing level of confidence expressed in the IPCC Summaries for Policymakers reports might have been a relevant factor in the history of decision making

The Theme of Earth Day and the social perception of what is really happening to our planet

Summary. The social perception of information is increasingly diverse and based on sources that in many cases are far removed from the traditional ones. New social mass media have opened the door to a universal 'rumorology,' which in the case of news related to science or objective knowledge often results in the transmission of misinformation and conspiracy theories. Global warming and climate change are a clear example of how scientific sources can be distorted and how, despite a scientific basis, the original source declared can be obscured. In the world of social networks, the communication of ideas and knowledge and of objective news are hopelessly confused. In society as a whole, science and news involving scientific knowledge are often reported unfiltered or without prior peer review, with only vague background knowledge. The social and global perception of climate change and the future of the planet have been shaped by social networks. Consequently, the theme of Earth Day 2011 is even more significant: 'A Billion Acts of Green,' or the universal socialization of a global necessity

How weather influenced the mood of people during the COVID-19 lockdown in Catalonia: a review of Twitter posts

This article is the result of a campaign done during the COVID-19 lockdown in Catalonia. The Television of Catalonia audience was involved in an action to inform about the weather from their own homes by posting Twitter videos. Some of the videos were shown on air in the weather segment of the television station's main news programs. We have correlated participation in the campaign with meteorological and public health data and found that weather is related to the mood of people when using social media platforms such as Twitter

Global short-term mortality risk and burden associated with tropical cyclones from 1980 to 2019: a multi-country time-series study

Summary Background The global spatiotemporal pattern of mortality risk and burden attributable to tropical cyclones is unclear. We aimed to evaluate the global short-term mortality risk and burden associated with tropical cyclones from 1980 to 2019. Methods The wind speed associated with cyclones from 1980 to 2019 was estimated globally through a parametric wind field model at a grid resolution of 0·5° × 0·5°. A total of 341 locations with daily mortality and temperature data from 14 countries that experienced at least one tropical cyclone day (a day with maximum sustained wind speed associated with cyclones ≥17·5 m/s) during the study period were included. A conditional quasi-Poisson regression with distributed lag non-linear model was applied to assess the tropical cyclone-mortality association. A meta-regression model was fitted to evaluate potential contributing factors and estimate grid cell-specific tropical cyclone effects. Findings Tropical cyclone exposure was associated with an overall 6% (95% CI 4-8) increase in mortality in the first 2 weeks following exposure. Globally, an estimate of 97 430 excess deaths (95% empirical CI [eCI] 71 651-126 438) per decade were observed over the 2 weeks following exposure to tropical cyclones, accounting for 20·7 (95% eCI 15·2-26·9) excess deaths per 100 000 residents (excess death rate) and 3·3 (95% eCI 2·4-4·3) excess deaths per 1000 deaths (excess death ratio) over 1980-2019. The mortality burden exhibited substantial temporal and spatial variation. East Asia and south Asia had the highest number of excess deaths during 1980-2019: 28 744 (95% eCI 16 863-42 188) and 27 267 (21 157-34 058) excess deaths per decade, respectively. In contrast, the regions with the highest excess death ratios and rates were southeast Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. From 1980-99 to 2000-19, marked increases in tropical cyclone-related excess death numbers were observed globally, especially for Latin America and the Caribbean and south Asia. Grid cell-level and country-level results revealed further heterogeneous spatiotemporal patterns such as the high and increasing tropical cyclone-related mortality burden in Caribbean countries or regions. Interpretation Globally, short-term exposure to tropical cyclones was associated with a significant mortality burden, with highly heterogeneous spatiotemporal patterns. In-depth exploration of tropical cyclone epidemiology for those countries and regions estimated to have the highest and increasing tropical cyclone-related mortality burdens is urgently needed to help inform the development of targeted actions against the increasing adverse health impacts of tropical cyclones under a changing climate

The Theme of Earth Day and the social perception of what is really happening to our planet

Summary. The social perception of information is increasingly diverse and based on sources that in many cases are far removed from the traditional ones. New social mass media have opened the door to a universal 'rumorology,' which in the case of news related to science or objective knowledge often results in the transmission of misinformation and conspiracy theories. Global warming and climate change are a clear example of how scientific sources can be distorted and how, despite a scientific basis, the original source declared can be obscured. In the world of social networks, the communication of ideas and knowledge and of objective news are hopelessly confused. In society as a whole, science and news involving scientific knowledge are often reported unfiltered or without prior peer review, with only vague background knowledge. The social and global perception of climate change and the future of the planet have been shaped by social networks. Consequently, the theme of Earth Day 2011 is even more significant: 'A Billion Acts of Green,' or the universal socialization of a global necessity

Is temperature reducing the transmission of COVID-19?

The first confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 in the city of Barcelona, Spain, was identified on February 25th, 2020. Since then, the epidemic spread countrywide, and Spain has become the second most affected country worldwide (130,759 cases, on April 5th) after the United States, and the second in the number of deaths (12,418 deaths, on April 5th) after Italy (Our World in Data, 2020)