Dear all Australian fires are raging and deep failures mark efforts to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The science of attributing individual extreme events to climate change has exploded in such conditions, and communications specialists stress the need to clearly communicate the role of climate change in such events.
Titled "*When climate change is not blamed: the politics of disaster attribution in international perspective*," an article by Myanna Lahsen (myself) with Gabriela de Azevedo Couto & Irene Lorenzoni is just out in Climatic Change: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-019-02642-z (open access) . Examining the politics and policy implications in Brazil of attributing extreme weather events to climate change, we find that a variety of contextual factors compel even *e*nvironmental leaders and IPCC-involved scientists in Brazil to avoid and discourage highlighting the role of climate change in national extreme weather-related events. Rather than failed understanding or communications, as analysts typically assume, we argue that this reflects sound strategic, socio-environmental reasoning, even when the aim is to enhance environmental protection and societal resilience to climate impacts. The case study has implications beyond Brazil by begging greater attention to policies and politics in particular places before assuming that attribution science and discursive emphasis on the climate role in extreme events are the most strategic means of achieving climate mitigation and disaster preparedness. Factors at play in Brazil might also structure extreme events attribution politics in other countries, not least some other countries of the global South. It might be interesting to teach together with an article such as: Hassol, S. J., et al. (2016). "(Un) Natural Disasters: Communicating Linkages between Extreme Events and Climate change." WMO Bulletin 65(2): https://public.wmo.int/en/resources/bulletin/unnatural-disasters-communicating-linkages-between-extreme-events-and-climate . Cheers, Myanna *Dr. Myanna Lahsen *| Wageningen University and Research Centre Senior Associate Researcher (Titular), Center for Earth System Science, INPE, Brazil; Associate Professor, Environmental Policy Group, Wageningen, The Netherlands E-mail: [email protected]. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "gep-ed" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/gep-ed/CANjRGC25ygRmzrM%3DMLVnjBuu9bX0bYsRmCysXLFhyXBrqS%2BWxQ%40mail.gmail.com.
