Bad News Sells Papers!

Ok, so we have all been told not to believe everything we read in the newspapers, but just how accurate are the UK news reports on Climate change? There seems to have been a big increase in the coverage of climate change, this is most likely due to many events that have happened over the past 8 years. Such as the G8 meeting at Gleneagles, the release of Al Gore’s film, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ and the release of the Stern Review. From week to week we see various reports on climate change in both the UK tabloids and broadsheets. It can be very difficult to decide which of these reports is fact or fiction, especially if you do not really understand what you are reading about. I believe it also depends on which type of paper you have brought. It would appear to me that broadsheet papers are aimed at an academic market and can often contain lots of scientific facts and research, making them more reliable than tabloid papers.

Tabloid papers on the other hand appear to aim themselves at the working class reader and although they are looking at similar aspects of climate change they tend not to be quite as scientific. They seem to rely on satire and much more accessible language to sell their papers and make them easier to read and understand. This has consequences though, as on many occasions papers such as The Sun and The Mirror have been said to be contributing to ‘climate complacency’ and misrepresenting climate change in some of the UK’s most widely read papers. Some research carried out by the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute found out that about a quarter of coverage in four UK tabloids from 2000 through to 2006 misrepresented ‘wide scientific agreement’ about Green House Gases having a large role in global warming.

News papers say they are just trying to cover a crucial area, but all I can see they are doing is scaremongering and making issues out to be far more devastating than they perhaps are. This in turn is leaving people feeling helpless against the fight of climate change. If you look at the tabloids such as the Daily Mail or the Sun you would be likely to spend longer looking for an article involving climate change than what you would if you looked at a Broadsheet like The Independent or The Guardian.

More often than not at the present the issues surrounding climate change relate back to sustainable development. No matter whether the article is about ecological issues or cultural and social problems involving climate change it always seems to be linked with sustainable development. An article in The Independent recently looked slashing the University of East Anglia’s carbon emissions. This Norwich based University is diving in to an £8million project to help it become the most sustainable campus in the country. They are going to have a biomass power station built on campus which will be powered using locally-sourced woodchips. Hopes are that it will reduce the Universities carbon emissions by up to a third after 2 years, making the University much more sustainable. More and more newspapers are looking at similar issues, where by reducing problems such as CO2 emissions we can start taking more action to help our planet and work towards a more sustainable future.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/power-station-to-slash-university-of-east-anglias-carbon-emissions-969244.html

Where would we be without private cars? For many people the private car is there only mode of transport. There are lots of locations which have poor public transport leaving the car as the only option for many. I can speak from experience on this situation as I live in a small village in North Norfolk where public transport is very limited. With a bus service that only runs through the village two or three times a week I have no other way to travel into work or nearby towns or villages therefore relying on my car.

Up until I was 17 I was dependent upon my parents for transport. Now however I have my own car and with my brother also being 17 and needing to get to work we have a total of 5 cars in the family. This is extremely unsustainable, but I am guessing we are not the only household that is in this situation. My car is petrol and not the most economic. It is too big and generally unsuitable for my needs. Making me just another one of the statistics leading to the rise in C02 emissions.

Of course public transport, walking, cycling or even car sharing are fantastic ideas in theory, but for many people these are not realistic options. For example if I was to car share a lift to work it would mean someone coming 15 miles out of there way just to get me. Therefore it is not about whether the private car is a good choice as for many it is the only choice.

This is why I believe there has not been much progress in reducing C02 emissions from private cars. In 2005 the average car was emitting 162g of C02 per kilometre. The European commission is hoping that by forcing carmakers to increase the fuel efficiency of new cars by 20% by 2012 it can reduce these C02 emissions to 130g/km.

It would appear that we are already taking a step in the right direction. There are new cars appearing on the market with great efficiency. Such as the new Volkswagen Blue Motion, a low C02 emissions car with good efficiency and the Peugeot 308 HDi diesel family car, also highly efficient in low C02 emissions. The Volkswagen Polo 1.4 TDi blue motion 3dr has a 1422cc engine and emits just 99g/km and the Ford Fiesta Econetic 1.6 TDGi DPF 3dr has a 1560cc engine and only emits 98g/km. These two cars are highly efficient in comparison to the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti with 5748cc emitting 470g of C02 per km or the Bentley Arnage 6761cc emitting 465g/km. There are some links below which have further information on some of the cars.

The Volkswagen Blue Motion Polo

These new economic cars could really help to lower our C02 emissions. If we try to educate more people on the situation then maybe we could increase the use of public transport and other more sustainable ways of travel such as car sharing when possible and If we all try to walk or cycle when we can maybe together we can make a difference today ready for our future.

www.carpages.co.uk/C02/
www.volkswagen.co.uk/bluemotion
www.peugeot.co.uk/308