In the past few weeks we have been working on developing a video to educate a broad audience about climate change. In the process we have looked at many exemplary videos and guides on making a good video. One of the most important aspects of making an effective video is understanding who your audience is and crafting a video specifically for them. The guide How to Make Videos that don’t Suck states that “even if you think your video will be great for everyone, there has to be a subset of ‘everyone’ who will especially like it”. I have found this to be especially true while making my video.

It has been somewhat of a challenge to target such a broad audience. The main issue with this is explaining the issue in a way that is accessible to those who already have a background on climate change while not losing or boring those who already understand the science behind it. The reason why some people don’t think climate change is real is because they don’t understand the science proving that it is indeed a thing and that humans are causing it. Therefore any video that attempts to have a big impact on how we act should attempt to explain some of the science behind climate change.

Recently the media has put a lot of emphasis on the president’s opinion and views on climate change. A quick twitter search quickly reveals many articles that talk about how Trump does not believe climate change is caused by humans and real. The articles range from strong critiques to comedic pieces. One of the most popular stories that comes up is an interview he had recently in Florida. In this interview he stated that he didn’t believe humans were the cause of climate change. If the president is openly denying climate change people are going to listen. Therefore it is now more important than ever before for people to speak out and actually act to make a difference.

It is hard to believe that the president of the United States, an Ivy-league educated adult is unable to comprehend the science behind climate change. Yet he denies it. He may be one of the few people with a background like this that still speaks against climate but he, and people like him are still part of the audience we have been trying to target. Therefore it is equally important to be shape the video for an audience with a very high level of education as well as a younger population that has been exposed to less education.

We hope you are all excited to see the video that is currently in the making. Once it is out please share it with your friends and family and help us reach out to as many people as possible.

Does bringing a snowball into congress in February mean that climate change is false? That is a question we will try to answer on today’s blog post. I’m glad to have you back today, let’s go ahead and dive into it.

James Inhofe is a senior United States senator from Oklahoma. Inhofe, a member of the Republican Party was also chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works for several years. In 2012 Inhofe published the book, “The Greatest Hoax”. This book conveys his strong opinions about global warming and how it is not actually true. In February of 2015 Inhofe chose to use a prop in congress to convey his message. He brought a snowball. He then proceeded to use the snowball to communicate that global warming was false due to the fact that it was “unseasonably cold” outside and he could therefore bring a snowball into congress. Was his logic sound?

To answer this question we must first think about what the term global warming means. Most textbooks define this as an average increase in overall global temperature. As you can see this definition does not specify a specific time of year or a specific place on Earth. Both of these specifications are ones Senator Inhofe made when producing his snowball argument. Inhofe based his argument around the fact that it was snowing in Washington DC in February. I’m sure most people will agree that snowfall in that specific situation is somewhat unusual, and definitely unexpected. Regardless, one day of snow in this city, or even a couple, probably won’t do much to bring the average overall global temperature down. The fact that Inhofe was able to produce a snowball in congress on that day does not change the fact that in 2015, out of the 16 warmest recorded years on Earth, 15 of them were from the 21^st century.

So the senator’s logic was pretty flawed. Luckily, he did “go viral” pretty quickly. The fact that such an educated bureaucrat made such a big mistake became material for dozens of satirical videos. To this day there are a lot of videos still circulating the media about this incident. Why did videos about this incident become so popular? In search for the answer I read Steve Stockman’s book, how to make videos that don’t suck. Most of the satirical pieces out there are videos, they are pretty funny, and are insanely popular. So they do not suck. One of Stockman’s first claims is that any video is a transaction between the viewer and the producer. A viewer will only watch the video if they are entertained. Luckily for people producing videos about this occurrence, a senator making an erroneous claim in front of congress and national television happens to be very entertaining in and of itself. Stockman next talks about audience and how it is important to know whom you are making the video for. Even though the videos making fun of this incident are easily available to most, the material of the video suggests that this was intended for people that care about the planet and know a little about global warming. Someone that has the same misgivings about global warming will probably not enjoy a video that is equally mocking them and the senator at the same time.

For anyone out there looking for a video that talks about the issue mentioned here and wants to see an example of a high quality video that talks about other climate change issues I would redirect you to this episode of the Colbert Report. This video follows most of the tips given by Stockman in his book like appropriate shot length, constantly changing the shot to keep the audience hooked, and having a hero.

That’s all for this week and thanks again for coming. Remember to follow me on twitter @ivan96cornish for more information about climate change and things happening on social media. See you in two weeks.