GEF

Unit 10  |  Toward a Sustainable Future 227 SUSTAINABILITY CONCEPTS The mainstreammedia relies on journalistic standards that prioritize controversy and gives equal weight to both sides of a story. While this may be an appropriate strategy for covering news, it can be highly misleading when covering scientific studies. For example, the vast majority of climate scientists agree that human emissions of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels are causing climate change. There is a small minority of scientists, some funded directly or indirectly by fossil fuel companies, that dispute this claim. However, many mainstreammedia outlets maintain that it is important to balance the consensus view that human activity is causing climate change with the skeptics’ view. As a result, the public is left with the impression that the main findings of climate science are still unsettled, and therefore taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is premature.