the glaciologist Peter Neff shows his 220,000 TikTok followers a sample of ancient ice excavated from Allan Hills in Antarctica, a good example of scientists using the platform to explain and combat climate change.
The greenhouse gases trapped inside the site contain valuable information about Earth’s past climate, explains Neff, known on social media as @icy_pete.
As a report published on the website of Japan Todaya growing number of scientists are taking advantage of the application of short-form video to boost climate change literacy, campaign for action or combat rampant misinformation online.
Some have gone viral and Neff admitted to AFP that TikTok is an ideal way to send a message of awareness: “TikTok allows me to give people a lens through which they can embody the experience of being a climate scientist in Antarctica.”.
“I share my inside perspective on how we produce important past weather records without having to spend too much time editing and playing all the games to create perfect content.”.
Neff isn’t the only tiktoker scientist
For his part, NASA climate scientist Peter Kalmus, started posting videos on the platform after he was arrested in a civil disobedience action organized by the Scientists Rebellion group in Los Angeles in April 2022.
“When you get involved in civil disobedienceyou take risks to try to have a positive benefit for society. So you want that civil disobedience action to be seen by as many people as possible”, he expressed.
The most viral video of Kalmus to date shows him locked in the gates of the Wilson Air Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, delivering a speech. to protest carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from private jets.
Neff and Kalmus are two of the 17 tiktokers and instagrammers featured in 2023 Climate Creators to Watch, a collaboration between emerging outlet Pique Action and the Harvard School of Public Health.
