Nature Reports Climate Change on Framing, RWOS, and Storm World

As I wrote in response to the NY Times‘ review of Storm World, the success of The Republican War on Science provides a powerful frame of reference for Chris Mooney’s latest book. In some cases, reviewers can’t read Storm World without evaluating it via the lens of Mooney’s previous work. Given such a strong association, reviewers are assigned what is really a well-researched and lively popular science narrative, but expect the Republican War on Hurricanes.

At Nature Reports Climate Change, in a review that opens by discussing the Nisbet & Mooney article at Science, Alexandra Witze notes with irony that perceptions of Storm World are inevitably framed by the success of RWOS.

She’s right. It’s a difficult frame to break, but as hurricane season appears to be picking up, I expect new associations and perceptions to emerge.