Dissecting the Joke: Using Humor to Communicate Climate Issues

Explore the intersection of climate science and humor in this 24-minute conference talk from the AGU Chapman Conference on Communicating Climate Science. Discover how well-placed metaphors and funny anecdotes can enhance audience engagement and information retention, even for complex scientific topics. Analyze examples from various media sources, including online cartoons, news articles, cable broadcasts, NGO campaigns, and media pranks, to understand the effectiveness of humor, satire, and parody in communicating climate issues. Learn about the potential pitfalls of using humor in science communication and gain insights into crafting impactful, accurate, and entertaining messages about climate change.

Introduction
Why use humor
How to use humor
Writing a bio
Another example
The spectrum of allies
Examples of sensationalism
The Yes Men
Halliburton
Survivable
Balls Across America
Playing on stereotypes
BuzzFeed
Be Careful
Be Selfdeprecating
No Inside Jokes
No Sarcasm Font
Serious Sarcasm
Example