Barkemeyer, R, Dessai, S, Monge-Sanz, B et al. (2 more authors) (2016) Linguistic analysis of IPCC summaries for policymakers and associated coverage. Nature Climate Change, 6. pp. 311-316. ISSN 1758-678X
Abstract
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Summary for Policymakers (SPM) is the most widely read section of IPCC reports and the main springboard for the communication of its assessment reports. Previous studies have shown that communicating IPCC findings to a variety of scientific and non-scientific audiences presents significant challenges to both the IPCC and the mass media. Here, we employ widely established sentiment analysis tools and readability metrics to explore the extent to which information published by the IPCC differs from the presentation of respective findings in the popular and scientific media between 1990 and 2014. IPCC SPMs clearly stand out in terms of low readability, which has remained relatively constant despite the IPCC’s efforts to consolidate and readjust its communications policy. In contrast, scientific and quality newspaper coverage has become increasingly readable and emotive. Our findings reveal easy gains that could be achieved in making SPMs more accessible for non-scientific audiences.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015, Macmillan Publishers Limited. This is an author produced version of a paper published online in Nature Climate Change. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Sustainability Research Institute (SRI) (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EU - European Union 284369 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 29 Oct 2015 11:46 |
Last Modified: | 05 May 2016 01:48 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2824 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Nature Publishing Group |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/nclimate2824 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:91167 |