And a happy, healthy New Year! Opinion Shifts in Climate Change, and more...

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John Oliver’s segment on the media’s false balance in reporting climate change stories garnered over 5 million views on YouTube. Oliver tackles one of the more pervasive misunderstandings of the so-called climate change debate: the idea that there is any kind of ‘debate’ at all about the existence, or cause of climate change, among actual climate scientists.

Similarly, on September 23, 2014, Jon Stewart’s ‘Burn Noticed’ segment highlighted debates taking place in the US government on the validity of climate change, by using a glass of ice water to dramatically illustrate the effects of melting glaciers on sea level rise. But that wasn’t the only way in which climate discussion went mainstream.

The BBC Trust issued a report earlier this year asking that the network no longer issue equal airtime to climate deniers, marking the first time a major national network issued such a declaration. Even Catholic leader Pope Francis waded into the discussion, urging nations to agree on a climate change deal following the talks in Lima.

Forty four percent of Americans now support this viewpoint, according to a 2014 Pew Research survey. Perhaps even more important, the number of Americans who think that the government should limit emissions from power plants is high and growing at 65 percent.

A Canadian Environics poll found that 63 percent of Canadians - the highest yet - said human-made climate change is happening, and that 56 percent of Canadians now favour a BC-style revenue neutral carbon tax. 

Humour on climate change debate and more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjuGCJJUGsg

http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/the-universe-is-scary

http://www.therules.org/

SFU Professor Bruce Lanphear presented a new video, Little Things Matter (7:01 min), at the first Prenatal Environmental Health Education Forum in November 2014 .

And be sure to watch this 14 year old Canadian girl debate Kevin O’Leary over GMO foods: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec1Rvd4lyNw