The news and social media undoubtedly play major roles in shaping public opinions in the modern world. However, being vigilant of the media that we consume can give us a better understanding of the topics that we read about and prevent us from being misled.
The news is an immemsely valuable asset to society. Nevertheless, while news companies have a responsibility to inform and educate their audiences about timely issues, they are, of course, businesses. They are motivated by profits and will make decisions based on what generates the most attention and resultant revenue. This is the most sustainable way for such companies to operate, and while it shouldn’t be criticized, consumers of the information that the media puts out should keep this in mind when in pursuit of the truth.
This is especially relevant in the discussion surrounding climate science, a topic of the utmost importance in all parts of the globe, especially as climate change poses a significant threat to life on Earth.
One aspect of climate change that continues to be topical is the depletion of the ozone layer. The ozone can be used as an interesting case study into the relationship between media sources and their audiences. One reason for this is that the size of the ozone holes vary seasonally, and usually form at the poles each year during their respective springtimes.
While it would be interesting to collect data that showed whether or not news sources published more articles when the ozone holes became more apparent each year, this data metric is hard to gather. Using results from google news, I found that, since 2004, articles directly mentioning the ozone layer were published 11.2% more often in the Southern Hemisphere’s spring season (when the hole is the largest) than during its winter season (when the hole is the smallest). However, these results are certainly not conclusive in any manner, as the articles that simply mention the ozone layer are not necessarily all about the layer, and this search metric also does not take into account the reach of each of these articles or the change in rates of normal article publication depending on the time of year. Nevertheless, it was the only method that I could come up with to understand when articles about the ozone are most often published.
While collecting data on article publication is quite difficult, it is far easier to gather information on consumers of media thanks to Google Trends. Using Google Trends, it was clear that Google users from the United States were most likely to search for the ozone layer when the Antarctic ozone hole opened. Every single year has a trough in July, and most of them peak in April or September.
Photo Credit: Google Trends
The only significant outliers on the graph above are April of 2020 and March of 2022, which both had an abnormally high number of searches. However, a potential source for this high number of searches can be found when looking at the articles that were published during this timeframe. In both months, significant headlines were issued; in April of 2020 the Indian Express, CNN, CBS, NASA, Vice, the Washington Post, and several other news sources all covered the appearance of a record-breaking Arctic Ozone Hole, and in March of 2022, Business Insider, CNET, the Natural History Museum, Yale, and other sites all covered studies about potential damages that the Australian wildfires could cause to the ozone layer.
It is clear how much of an impact media sources have on the public staying up to date with climate change, and it is therefore incredibly important to hold these sources accountable. Consumers must ensure that news sources are largely unbiased and present information in an accurate and straightforward manner before reading them. Otherwise, audiences can be deceived and efforts to combat increasingly-threatening issues such as climate change can be inhibited.
One example of recent misinformation regarding climate change that was spread on the internet was a claim that, because the ozone layer was discussed less often in recent years than it was in the early 2000s, the issue was exaggerated to begin with. However, this is not the case, as the recovery of the ozone layer was simply not discussed as much as its depletion. An imminent threat often gets more attention online than an avoided one. Nevertheless, the story behind the ozone’s path to recovery was one of astounding international collaboration, which is an attitude that continues to prove necessary for fighting climate change.
This is why our writers at Clean Westchester hope to supply you with the most accurate and informative articles we can.
Read about the history and science behind the ozone here: https://cleanwestchester.org/articles/sciencebehindozonelayer
Read about the ozone layer’s depletion and recent recovery here: https://cleanwestchester.org/articles/ozonelayerstillunderthreat
Sources:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/arctic-ozone-hole-largest-closed/
https://www.britannica.com/story/is-the-ozone-layer-finally-healing-itself
https://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/monthly/monthly_2020-09_SH.html
https://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/facts/history_SH.html
https://www.britannica.com/print/article/437240
https://www.uvfab.com/uv-spectrum-and-applications/
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sauerstoffgehalt-1000mj2.png
https://eartharchives.org/articles/life-on-land-made-possible-by-ozone-layer/index.html
https://ozonewatch.gsfc.nasa.gov/facts/SH.html
https://globalnews.ca/news/8970778/ozone-layer-hole-tropics/