NEWS ANALYSIS & COMPARISON: GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
ARTICLE SUMMARIES; CNN claims that a recent study on the Karakoram glaciers
shows hope in our planet’s fight against melting due to global climate change. According to
CNN journalist Matthew Knight, the Karakoram glaciers are experiencing “small signs of
increasing in mass”. It is mentioned that one study of the Karakoram Mountains reported that
more than half of the glaciers are stable or growing slightly in mass. It is unclear whether the
aforementioned article is the same study Knight has focused on in his article or completely
separate. (There is, however, a convenient link to the ‘Karakoram Range’ Encyclopedia
Britannica page). The most clearly referenced article is from the journal Natural Geoscience.
This article isn’t directly neither linked, nor cited with sufficient details. The hyperlink provided
takes the reader to the Natural Geoscience webpage, but all of the recent articles I found related
to the Karakoram Range require a minimum payment of $18.00 to view.
Knight references Gardelle, a French scientist and one of the lead authors, “Between
1999 and 2008 the glaciers gained, on average, the water equivalent of around 11 centimeters a
year”. Knight includes information from the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS), noting
this organization has claimed that the world’s cumulative average thickness loss is an average
11.3 meters. After providing these facts, Knight quotes Michael Kemp of WGMS, “Despite the
overall picture of retreat, there are instances where glaciers are able to re-advance and
Karakoram is an example”. Again, there is no article or data set directly cited or accessible to the
reader. A faintly relevant article (also written by Matthew Knight) from the 2010 CNN achieves
is hyperlinked, as Knight brings up how the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
apologized for publishing inconclusive data in 2007 which claimed that by year 2035 the
Himalayan glaciers would be completely melted. The reader is left with a soothing statement by
Gardelle, "Global warming is far from spatially homogeneous and continuous with time. In our
NEWS ANALYSIS & COMPARISON: GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
warming world, there are regions of the Earth where, during a few years or decades, the
atmosphere is not warming or even cooling". This leaves the reader with a feeling of comfort;
global climate change doesn’t influence all parts of the world. The Himalayas are only one part
of the world. The agenda of this article is somewhat unclear. I find it unreasonable to base world
climate change conditions on one tiny fraction of our planet.
The most up to date Natural Geoscience abstract states, “Assessments of the state of
health of Hindu-Kush–Karakoram–Himalaya glaciers and their contribution to regional
hydrology and global sea-level rise suffer from a severe lack of observations1. The globally
averaged mass balance of glaciers and ice caps is negative. An anomalous gain of mass has been
suggested for the Karakoram glaciers but was not confirmed by recent estimates of mass balance.
Furthermore, numerous glacier surges in the region that lead to changes in glacier length and
velocity complicate the interpretation of the available observations” (Gardelle, Berthier, Arnaud,
2012).
The Guardian article begins by stating that two recent studies featured in renowned
science journals have supported data yielding that segments of the Himalayas are gaining mass
and previously perceived rates of glacial loss have been overestimated. There is a nod to the
wider body of research as author Jonathan Bamber recognizes how worldwide glacial melting
has been a worldwide issue for decades. He cautions readers in finding too much solace in these
recent findings, stating that the two studies that claim impedance of glacial melting have only
recorded data over the last eight to nine years. These two studies are a needle in a haystack
compared to the grand scheme of information that has been collected in the last several decades.
Out of all 160,000 glaciers on this planet, only about 120 are under continuous observation with
consistent measurements. Bamber mentions the ice sheets over Greenland and Antarctica, which
NEWS ANALYSIS & COMPARISON: GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
hold 99.5% of our planet’s land ice. He states that incontrovertible data supports accelerated
melting of these massive ice sheets since the 1990s. Glaciers and ice sheets are present in a range
of regions on our planet. They can be found in varying latitude and altitudes, explaining the
variations in composition and patterns of melting or growth. Bamber queries the reader to
consider the global impact of rising sea levels and limited water sources. He closes by stating
that glacial melting is inevitable. We need to problem solve in order to ease the affects of glacial
melting, while adjusting to how our world will change.
The most obvious similarity between both articles is the subject that inspired them to be
written in the first place. Photos of the glaciers are the cherry on top of these articles, giving the
reader a snapshot of this far-away region of the world. Global climate change has often been
portrayed through images of melting ice sheets and glaciers, all contributing to rising sea level.
Both articles affirm that there is a vast collection of data yielding data that confirms most
glaciers are melting, though they address them to varying degrees. Bamber and Knight utilize
information from outside sources, though Bamber uses more figures and facts whereas Knight
uses block quotes, elaborating by linking the ideas of others to his article. Segmented ideas are
broken up into smaller sections separated by white space. Bamber’s thoughts are wordy and the
ideas flow logically and Knight has abbreviated ideas that don’t flow as smoothly. Both websites
allow registered users to leave comments. These message boards are filled with a few intelligible
conversations between users peppered with insults, rude comments, and abbreviated ideas. It’s
fortunate that the readers have the ability to contribute their ideas in some way.
After reviewing the articles several times, there are notable differences to take note of.
Overall, the corporate news site has more distractible features whereas the non-corporate site has
links to internal and relevant reading material. Considering CNN broadcasts on television sets all
NEWS ANALYSIS & COMPARISON: GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
over the world, it’s no surprise that the website has a video embedded in the middle of the text,
all sandwiched between anti-smoking ads. The video is related to global climate change,
featuring a British reporter outside of the 17th U.N. Climate Change Summit in Durban, South
Africa. The reporter, framed by the headline “Tackling Global Warming”, utters the buzzword
“green-shift” to describe the overall sentiment of the U.N. meeting. She namedrops HSBC Bank;
a corporation that has invested in coal fired power plants, stating that corporations are going
beyond their previous efforts to invest in green energy. This video, a grand total of two minutes
and thirty seconds, didn’t offer much insight into the accompanying article, but it was relevant to
the overall subject of our planet’s climate. This article also features “article highlights”, bulletpointing the important details of the article. There are three bullet-points present, all of which
color the text with a tint of some kind of hope for reversing global climate change.
Bamber’s article is surrounded by relevant links to other reading material available on
The Guardian website. Author Damian Carrington’s perspective is previewed with a link to one
of his article’s regarding the newly published studies on the Karakoram glaciers. His article,
released last Sunday, discusses the controversy of such studies due to the United Nation’s
unfounded claim concerning the status of the Himalayas. Carrington’s article contains statements
that line up with Bamber’s; “In March, scientists showed that far less ice was being lost across
the Himalayas than had been estimated from sparse ground surveys on the remote slopes”.
Gardelle’s Nature Geoscience article is referenced in Carrington’s text, though the reader runs
into the same issue of needing to pay if they want to analyze the study for themselves. The reader
is left to depend upon the interpretations of journalists. Articles on similar subjects on The
Guardian are more aptly linked, allowing the reader to continue learning through related
NEWS ANALYSIS & COMPARISON: GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
transitions. In contrast, CNN features the “News Pulse”—a visual scale showing the quantifiable
popularity of certain articles at any given moment.
CNN is more concerned with wowing readers with visuals. Photo albums, videos, and
quotes of swollen text create a distractible reading experience. Transitions and flow of
information is rough. Instead of specifically focusing on the recent studies and closely related
information, Knight jumps back to 2010 to bring up the IPCC apologies, quoting Michael
Kemp’s reaction to these apologies. The method of citing facts and additional articles is
dependent upon the individual author, but one would assume that both of these news sources
have their standards for adequately supporting each journalist’s claims.
When it comes to reporting the news, I enjoy hearing scientific data along with proven
and credible facts that are clearly cited. I’m grateful for the numerous opportunities I’ve had to
think critically about world issues, and I expect news sources to exercise this pattern of
reporting. This is an unrealistic expectation. Each journalist has their own style of writing and
bias is something all humans are constantly battling. As Jello Biafra once sang, ‘don’t just
question authority, question everything’—As a developing human services professional I know
to suspend my bias when working with clients while simultaneously coming to terms with any
and all judgments I’ve thought up. Being self-aware is useful in all walks of life. As a consumer,
an individual, and a team worker, I will continue to civilly demand facts to get closer to the truth.
NEWS ANALYSIS & COMPARISON: GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE
References
Bamber, J. (2012 April 15). The glaciers are still shrinking—and rapidly. The Guardian.
Retrieved from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/apr/15/glaciersshrinking-rapidly
Carrington, D. (2012 April 15). Karakoram glaciers have grown over last decade, research shows.
The Guardian. Retrieved from:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/apr/15/karakoram-glaciers-grownresearch?intcmp=239
Gardelle, J., Berthier, E., Arnaud, Y. (2012). Slight mass gain of Karakoram glaciers in the early
twenty-first century. Nature Geoscience, 1450. Retrieved from:
http://www.nature.com/ngeo/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ngeo1450.html#/access
Knight, M. (2012 April 17). Study: Glaciers in western Himalayas bucking global melting trend.
CNN. Retrieved from: http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/17/world/asia/glacier-himalayasgain-mass/index.html?iref=allsearch