Communicating the Climate Crisis

Julia B. Corbett is professor in the Department of Communication and Environmental Humanities Graduate Program, University of Utah.

• Table of ContentsChapter 1: EairthChapter 2: Fossil Fuel CultureChapter 3: Individuals as Social Actors, Not ConsumersChapter 4: Emotions and Climate SilenceChapter 5: Breaking the Silence: Strategies for Talking About Climate ChangeChapter 6: Justice and Faith: The Moral Imperative of Climate ChangeChapter 7: A New Relationship with EairthChapter 8: Telling a New Story

Corbett…[makes] a valuable contribution to the contemporary climate change conversation. In a sea of politically divisive, self-serving denier narratives and fear-inspiring scientific predictions, Corbett steers a course of hopeful, informed, and effective "conversations," addressing readers directly to inspire positive action. Tables and extensive chapter notes provide valuable research sources, and each chapter includes hands-on persuasive suggestions for how to evoke emotionally authentic responses in others. While Corbett acknowledges that top-down strategies emanating from international, national/federal, and regional government sources are likely the most effective for dealing with a global problem (as confirmed by evidence from addressing contemporary free-rider COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy/denier issues), her book focuses almost exclusively on bottom-up, grassroots strategies. This contrast nearly amounts to a problem, but Corbett's text conveys hope that creating direct responses evoked by personal stories/narratives will help readers contribute to ground-level, incremental solutions and pressures, ultimately influencing top-down decision makers. This book is sure to function as a source of helpful academic information as well as a primer for the ongoing development of communication and social practices around grassroots actions to foster community-based climate change solutions. Highly recommended. All readers.