As another international climate conference gets underway, it’s understandable to feel just a wee bit exhausted. Almost daily we’re bombarded by a litany of climate horrors, from wildfires in our backyards to wearying news of floods, heatwaves, and melting glaciers around the world. With all this gloom and doom, it’s no surprise that the media is reporting rising incidence of climate anxiety and eco-guilt about everything from flying in planes to having kids. All this bad news is affecting our mental well-being, contributing to existential dread and depression, particularly among young people. This psychic numbing isn’t just unhelpful, it can actually lead to paralysis in our efforts to address the climate crisis.
Fortunately, bombarding readers with mind-boggling data and the urgency of taking action aren’t the only tools in our toolbox. And they likely aren’t the best way to engage the mainstream. Studies show that narratives that rely heavily on “scientific ways of knowing” have failed to significantly engage and activate large audiences, and that gloomy interpretations actually stifle audiences rather than inspiring action. With this in mind, climate communicators have sought to adopt “smartening up” approaches that can more effectively bring people together around a divisive topic like climate change.
Enter: climate comedy
At the heart of these “new” approaches is comedy, which is actually a time-honored medium for getting people to pay attention to an issue. Humor isn’t simply a way to temporarily distract us from reality. It has wide-ranging psychological and behavioral benefits, by “bringing some light to the darkness.”
A quick scan of the late-night comedy circuit reveals that climate change has become a hot topic, with everyone from Trevor Noah of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” to Jimmy Kimmel, host of ABC’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” seizing the opportunity to use humor to increase understanding and engagement.
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