Climate Scientists are Pairing with Comedians to Communicate with the Public

Essay by Eric Worrall

This isn’t actually a joke.

Jo Brand translated my science. I’m certain that comedy can connect people to climate change

Published: February 20, 2024 12.59am AEDT
Mark Maslin
Professor of Natural Sciences, UCL

A new comedy project pairing leading comedians with climate scientists presents a novel way to communicate the climate crisis.

“If people like me have to get involved, you know we are in deep shit,” says Jo Brand, renowned British comedian and The Great British Bake Off host. Why? Because she has joined the ranks of other notable comedians such as Nish KumarKiri Pritchard-McLean, and Jonathan Pie in Climate Science Translated, a project that translates complex climate science into accessible and funny content to spur millions of people into action.

Even though climate change is the greatest threat humanity has ever faced, research by the Climate Science Breakthrough team shows that just 2% of the public can name a climate scientist. Nearly everyone knows Jo Brand. Getting famous comedians to translate what climate scientists are saying in a funny, ironic and often blunt way makes the science much more accessible.

And it works. Research shows that humour can be a transformative tool in science communication and have a positive impact on people’s understanding of climate change. So far, my video with Jo Brand has been viewed more than 3 million times and has gained mainstream attention, with celebrities like Ellie Goulding, Gary Lineker, Rainn Wilson and Thom Yorke retweeting the videos. Each time, that brings the core message to a broader audience.

Read more: https://theconversation.com/jo-brand-translated-my-science-im-certain-that-comedy-can-connect-people-to-climate-change-223745

The following is a video from the article above;

All the glaciers will melt and we’re all going to die? Ha ha?

What can I say? We at WUWT have maintained for years that alarmist predictions have degenerated into a farce. After more than three decades of getting it wrong, perhaps it is time to start laughing.

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February 21, 2024 12:31 pm

…just 2% of the public can name a climate scientist. Nearly everyone knows Jo Brand.

I can name climate “scientists” but I’ve never heard of Jo Brand.

markm
Reply to  Paul Hurley
February 24, 2024 2:19 pm

You’re not a UK resident and to the left of Stalin.

February 21, 2024 12:34 pm

Well, the tree ring hasn’t held up.
Why not try a tree ring circus?
“Send in the clowns!”

Chris Hanley
February 21, 2024 12:41 pm

Climate change is the greatest threat humanity has ever faced … we have all the solutions at hand. Renewable energy is cheaper, safer, cleaner and more secure than fossil fuels

🤣
From Professor Maslin’s profile (he/him) on The Conversation website: “he has been awarded research council, charity and Government research and postgraduate training grants of over £75 million [US $95 million]”.
That’s not so funny for UK taxpayers and energy users but it does explain a lot.

Reply to  Chris Hanley
February 22, 2024 4:15 am

Promoting Climate Change Alarmism has been good to him!

MrGrimNasty
February 21, 2024 12:43 pm

Jo was firstly a fully qualified senior psychiatric nurse, I’m glad a ‘climate scientist’ is getting the help that they realise they need.

Reply to  MrGrimNasty
February 21, 2024 4:00 pm

Nurse Ratchet then?

0perator
February 21, 2024 1:11 pm

Is Jo Brand the GB equivalent of renowned comedienne Kathy Griffin?

maxmore01
February 21, 2024 1:28 pm

Clowns pairing with comedians.

February 21, 2024 1:50 pm

This just goes to show how utterly desperate they are becoming as their stinking AGW edifice starts to crumble and sink into its quicksand foundations.

Reply to  bnice2000
February 22, 2024 4:19 am

I think that is exactly what it is showing. The Climate Alarmists have run out of arguments, and all their predictions are proving wrong, so they have to resort to improving their brainwashing techniques to keep the climate crisis meme going..

The Dark Lord
February 21, 2024 2:10 pm

“with celebrities like Ellie Goulding, Gary Lineker, Rainn Wilson and Thom Yorke” …

wait … Who ???



Reply to  The Dark Lord
February 21, 2024 3:10 pm

Gary Lineker.

Being a soccer fan, I know he was a pretty darn good striker and goal scorer for 2 or 3 clubs in the UK, and for England.

Also a very good, if sometimes controversial, commentator.

I would listen to him , and take note of what he says about things to do with soccer.

To do with Climate.. ??? Nope. !

Stick to your lane. !

The other names.. may as well pick up a telephone book!

ntesdorf
February 21, 2024 2:11 pm

Current scores stand at: Circus Clowns 1, Comedians and Comedian Scientists Nil.

February 21, 2024 3:40 pm

Just exactly backwards. The best defense against these jokers is to make them the butt of a joke.
How many climastrologists does it take to change a light bulb?
Doesn’t matter, there won’t be any electricity to run the light bulb.

MarkW
February 21, 2024 4:10 pm

How do you tell them apart?

markm
Reply to  MarkW
February 24, 2024 2:22 pm

One tells unfunny jokes. The other _is_ and unfunny joke.

Seriously, anyone who knows no client scientist names will not know any after watching these shows – they’ll only know the name of someone who pretends to be a scientist while utterly avoiding the scientific method.

February 21, 2024 4:29 pm

“Research shows that humour can be a transformative tool in science communication”

But the Left doesnt have a sense of humor. Oh, I get it! This is to convince folk on the the Right.

Here’s my favorite using humor re saving the planet:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7W33HRc1A6c

sherro01
February 21, 2024 4:43 pm

My PC has a file named “Vocabulary Theft” into which I dump bits and pieces of fun and logic, some about climate change and now covid-19. Is any of this funny? Geoff S.
…………

Why is ‘abbreviated’ such a long word
When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.
“Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes.” William Shatner, Airplane 2.
Yes, and as far as news outlets are concerned, CNN is the mother faker.
Why is there only one Monopolies Commission?
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
Farming is hard when you use a pencil for a plow.
I ran out of toilet paper and had to use newspaper. The Times are rough.
Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins.
I have kleptomania, but when it gets bad, I take something for it.
Never trust an answer from an atom. They make up everything.
When a man opens a car door for his wife, it’s either a new car or a new wife. (Prince Philip)
I started with nothing. I have most of it left.
…and the geek shall inherit the Earth… Gatthew 5:5
I have a degree in vacuum physics. I know everything about nothing.
Dyslexia is a form of DAHD.
The man that invented predictive text has died. May he rust in piss.
You can eat at the Lunar Cafe restaurant, nice place, but no atmosphere.
autocorrect is your worst enema.
Brevity is – – – of wit.”
‘Woke’ definition: A state of awareness only achieved by those dumb enough to find injustice in everything except their own behaviour.”

Reply to  sherro01
February 22, 2024 4:25 am

Really funny! 🙂

I was going to pick out a favorite, but I liked them all!

observa
February 21, 2024 5:49 pm
Reply to  observa
February 22, 2024 4:28 am

So, it looks like the Western nations are just spinning their wheels with their CO2 reduction efforts.

The coal burners will offset any Net Zero gains, and then some. From now and into the future.

So why are Western nations still pursuing Net Zero? Does that make sense given the realities?

Edward Katz
February 21, 2024 6:08 pm

The very line that climate change is the greatest threat humankind has ever faced is a big enough joke in itself, so it doesn’t make any difference who’s telling it. And when there are few signs that anyone from governments to industries to businesses to consumers are making any big operational or lifestyle changes to combat this “threat” or “crisis” or whatever the alarmists want to call it is further proof that they view it as nothing but an exaggeration or a joke from the outset, especially when they see that fossil fuels continue to be the dominant energy-generating source by a wide margin. As well, when it’s obvious that the really big emitters have no intentions of switching away from them to supposedly save civilization, any demands that the rest of us should do this are met with a horse laugh.

Reply to  Edward Katz
February 22, 2024 8:54 am

I think it is reasonable to assert that scientists are a greater threat to humankind considering just how many people were killed by their genetically engineered Covid-19 virus. Let alone the other things scientists have created, from nuclear weapons to fentanyl.

Walter Sobchak
February 21, 2024 7:24 pm

Aren’t the comedians afraid of losing credibility by being associated with “climate scientists”?

markm
Reply to  Walter Sobchak
February 24, 2024 2:32 pm

Apparently not these “comedians”. I use quotes because I can’t imagine how someone who totally lacks a BS detector can be funny rather than pitiful.

Keitho
Editor
February 21, 2024 10:01 pm

This has a bit of a Fonzi on water skis feel about it.

John XB
February 22, 2024 7:03 am

Comedians joining climate scientists.

How shall we know which are the clowns?

Brad Keyes
February 22, 2024 4:18 pm

Climate comedy is to comedy what climate science is to… well, you know.

February 25, 2024 3:21 am

Jo Brand isn’t funny, She is a rancid chippy old wokester.