The environmental organization Carbon Brief estimates that the world’s leading climatologists represent a very homogenous community and very limited diversity, which in turn directly guides their studies.
In 2021, the Reuters Agency compiled a list of 1,000. MeteorologistsMeteorologists The most influential in the world, a list based on the number of their scientific publications, but also on their popularity Social networksSocial networks. And of those 1,000 climatologists, only 122 are women, and only a handful of them are from the Southern Hemisphere! That’s why almost all influential climatologists are men living in the Northern Hemisphere. Three-quarters of climate studies authors come from Europe and North America. Less than 1% of authors come from Africa.
9 out of 10 meteorologists work for rich countries.
The Carbon Brief estimates that “ It creates blindness to the needs of those who are most vulnerable. Climate changeClimate change », in other words, southerners and women are overrepresented among the victims of climate disasters. The Environment Agency regrets the fact that the community of climatologists is not a representative sample of the international community: 9 out of 10 climatologists work for organizations located in rich countries (European states, especially England, the United States or Oceania). 29% of climatologists are from the United States.
In contrast, some countries, although greatly affected by the consequences of global warming, have no climatologists. This is the case with many nations in Asia and Africa. The reasons for such disparity are obvious: access to education in the poorest countries, lack of state funding for scientific research, the cost of new technologies, but also the language barrier of publishing studies in scientific journals.
A biased vision and lack of information sharing
Carbon Brief believes that this creates two major problems: First, scientists in the wealthiest countries do not necessarily share their data with the most vulnerable countries they study. There are clearly studies on the climate of African and Asian countries. But when they are carried out by large American or European institutions, visiting scientists often do not share their knowledge or their technological innovations, other than climate data or Weather reportWeather report Collected on site with scientists from the country in question.
Another issue raised by Carbon Brief is the choice of countries studied and the perspective of the study, which is determined by the vision of male researchers living in northern regions. As the organization points out, women’s and men’s brains are different: women underrepresented in climate studies It deprives us of another type of mind that can contribute to science. ».
Likewise, “cClimate science is biased towards visions of rich countries and cold regions. » Dr. Farhana Sultana, professor of environmental sciences, explains in an interview with Carbon Brief, from New York. Climate science will therefore be elitist, incomplete and narrow in its approach to Northern Hemisphere countries.
” It is a mistake to believe that science is neutral and that we are not affected by everything that happens in our lives […]. Climate change is a global issue and our approach must be very broad, including people who do not speak English, indigenous communities and all those who are never invited or consulted.explains the environmentalist. Without them, we cannot claim to know all the solutions ».
