In 1913, one of the earliest media appearances by climate change was printed in The Boston Globe. It warned of clams growing on the roofs of homes and seaweed swaying in the Public Garden because of a rise in global sea levels.
But, the report said, citizens need not fret. The rise of the oceans caused by increasing temperatures would take another 500,000 years.
More than a century later, despite irrefutable scientific evidence for climate change, mainstream media coverage of situation in the US has scarcely improved.
The media has failed to deliver the science behind climate change to the public, listeners were told at a New York University-Abu Dhabi lecture on Monday night.
The panel talk, Public Perception of Climate Change – Past, Present and Future was led by the independent science journalist and former CNN science reporter Miles O'Brien.
In the early 20th century, climate change was presented as a distant problem, either temporally or geographically. This remains the case today.
And yet, Mr O'Brien said, the evidence is before our eyes: hurricanes; drought; wildfires; snowstorms; flooding and more.
“We can no longer say this is one of those stories that is vague, distant, and happening in the future, and hard to find a picture for,” Mr O’Brien said.
Newscasters often fail to connect local events to global trends. In an analysis of 15,000 stories about Hurricane Harvey last year, US President Donald Trump was mentioned in 900 stories. Climate change was mentioned in just 79.
In the US, science has been hijacked by partisan politics. This is a step back from 30 years ago, when Republicans such as former president George Bush Sr could discuss it as a fact that required action.
“Some may be tempted to exploit legitimate concern for political positioning,” Mr Bush said in a speech to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. “Our responsibility is to maintain the quality of our approach, our commitment to sound science and an open mind to policy options.”
What he warned against has come to pass.
This shifted about two decades ago, when high carbon producers hired the same public relations team that worked with big tobacco companies.
As Republican adviser Frank Luntz wrote in one memo: “The scientific debate is closing against us but not yet closed. There’s still a window of opportunity to challenge the science. Voters believe that there is no consensus about global warming within the scientific community. Should the public come to believe that the scientific issues are settled, their views about global warming will change accordingly.”
That playbook is still being used, Mr O’Brien said.
News consumers must choose which news to watch, read and support. "You pick the journalism you like but it shouldn't be free," he said.
Closer to home, NYU Abu Dhabi undergraduate Dana Al Hosani presented her capstone project on how people in the Emirates talk about climate change. Or, more often, how and why they don’t.
In the UAE, where climate change is broadly accepted, a surprising factor limits the adoption of sustainable habits: good manners.
Interviews with three focus groups found social pressure to be the largest hurdle.
For instance, one interviewee said that she would prefer to put out a single jug of water for guests when hosting but would opt for small bottles in case someone might consider a jug unhygienic.
Pointing out environmentally poor choices such as using straws and plastic bags was not acceptable, participants said.
Instead, they found two methods effective at raising discussion. The first was to broach climate change and ethical environmental choices through the topic of religion.
The second was that among adults, many parents found they could discuss responsible behaviour by sharing the new habits their children had brought home, such as minimising food waste to reduce the family’s carbon footprint.
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Read More:
Will rising waters leave Abu Dhabi under water? NYU Abu Dhabi scientists seek answers
Explained: 10 ways to cut household water consumption
Special report: Abu Dhabi's dwindling water reserves chartered in worrying Sorbonne research
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With praise instead of criticism, delicate subjects could be introduced and positive habits formed.
But before behaviour can change, people must connect the abstract with the everyday, Ms Al Hosani said. "I think it's very important that we restructure the idea of what climate change is. Climate change is such an abstract idea to the individual that it's not necessarily something you want to tackle every day."
Anna Zacharias
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
RACE SCHEDULE
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday, September 29
First practice: 7am - 8.30am
Second practice: 11am - 12.30pm
Saturday, September 30
Qualifying: 1pm - 2pm
Sunday, October 1
Race: 11am - 1pm
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Continental champions
Best Asian Player: Massaki Todokoro (Japan)
Best European Player: Adam Wardzinski (Poland)
Best North & Central American Player: DJ Jackson (United States)
Best African Player: Walter Dos Santos (Angola)
Best Oceanian Player: Lee Ting (Australia)
Best South American Player: Gabriel De Sousa (Brazil)
Best Asian Federation: Saudi Jiu-Jitsu Federation
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Results
4pm: Al Bastakiya – Listed (TB) $150,000 (Dirt) 1,900m; Winner: Panadol, Mickael Barzalona (jockey), Salem bin Ghadayer (trainer)
4.35pm: Dubai City Of Gold – Group 2 (TB) $228,000 (Turf) 2,410m; Winner: Walton Street, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
5.10pm: Mahab Al Shimaal – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,200m; Winner: Canvassed, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
5.45pm: Burj Nahaar – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Midnight Sands, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson
6.20pm: Jebel Hatta – Group 1 (TB) $260,000 (T) 1,800m; Winner: Lord Glitters, Daniel Tudhope, David O’Meara
6.55pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (TB) $390,000 (D) 2,000m; Winner: Salute The Soldier, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
7.30pm: Nad Al Sheba – Group 3 (TB) $228,000 (T) 1,200m; Winner: Final Song, Frankie Dettori, Saeed bin Suroor
The Gentlemen
Director: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant
Three out of five stars
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Scores
Scotland 54-17 Fiji
England 15-16 New Zealand
