MEERTalk July 2026

MEERTalk: Science and the Media: Is Climate Risk Being Communicated Accurately? with David Spratt

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In this talk, David Spratt explores the following questions: Claims that climate scientists have abandoned their most dire scenario have been widely reported in the media, but what is actually happening is widely misunderstood. While the highest emissions pathway is now considered unlikely, evidence suggests the climate system may still be tracking toward dangerously high levels of warming.  So how can journalists traverse the complex field of climate research? How should issues such as the IPCC (policy-mediated science), risk management (probabilities v. high-end possibilities), an uncritical reliance on models, and abrupt change be understood, when headline writers love simple numbers that lack nuance?

David Spratt is an Australian climate policy analyst and advocate, and Research Director at the Breakthrough National Centre for Climate Restoration. Spratt co-authored the 2008 book Climate Code Red: The Case for Emergency Action, which argued for urgent, large-scale action to address the climate crisis. He co-authored 2018’s What Lies Beneath: The Understatement of Existential Climate Risk, which called for a reframing of climate science within an existential risk management framework. His work explores climate threats and human security, risk methods, and the need for restorative action.

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Wednesday, July 8, 2026
8:00am EDT
1:00pm BST

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