Alarmism and Accountability in Climate Communication During Extreme Events

Abstract

The attribution of extreme events to climate change is now a recurrent feature of public communication. These statements are part of a wider refashioning of science and societal institutions to address the catastrophic risks of climate change. This incorporation of catastrophe into climate communication has heightened the tension between scholars concerned with undue alarmism and scholars emphasizing accountability to those most at risk or harmed by climate change. I discuss this tension in the context of extreme event attributions, their role in public discussions of losses and damages, and their implication in problems of climate communication more generally. I suggest it is time for assessments of accountability to balance fears of alarmism during discussions of disaster and denial.