Organizer
-
The Columbia Climate School
-
Website
Website: -
The climate crisis is one of the greatest threats facing humanity. In response, Columbia University established the nation's first climate school in 2020 to educate future climate leaders, support groundbreaking research, and foster essential climate solutions from the community to the planetary scale.
Communicating Climate Tipping Points
The Center for Climate Systems Research in the Columbia Climate School is excited to announce our panel event “Communicating Climate Tipping Points: Unpacking Uncertainty, Avoiding Alarmism, Inspiring Action.”
Climate tipping points—sudden and potentially irreversible shifts in Earth systems—have captured media attention as a defining metaphor of the climate crisis. However, growing concerns from the climate science community suggest that this framing may obscure the urgency of present-day climate impacts and sidetrack policy and decision making. There is also the inherent challenge of effectively communicating the evolving scientific understanding of the likelihood, drivers and consequences of such high-impact, uncertain climate events without exaggeration and sensationalism. As climate extremes increasingly affect communities, there is a risk that focusing on a distant, looming catastrophe distracts from the immediate need to build climate resilience, adapt, and mitigate emissions now.
This panel event will bring together voices from climate science and journalism to explore how tipping points are framed, and how to communicate deep uncertainty in ways that empower rather than discourage action.
Opening remarks from: Gavin Schmidt, Director NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies
Panelists:
- Raymond Zhong, Climate Reporter, The New York Times
- Robert Kopp, Professor and Co-Director, University Office of Climate Action, Rutgers University
- Marina Hirota, Associate Professor, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Brazil
- Bette Otto-Bleisner, National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
The format will include brief opening statements from each speaker, followed by a dynamic, audience-driven Q&A. We welcome attendees from across the Columbia community and the broader New York area.
This hybrid event will be held at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) at Armstrong Hall on the corner of W. 112th Street and Broadway. Please bring a federally accepted ID for check-in on the 1st floor.
We hope you’ll join us for what promises to be a thought-provoking and timely conversation.
