How Al Gore is using social media to try to change the conversation on climate change

The third annual 24 Hours of Reality is a live online broadcast that kicks off this on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2013, and will showcase the local effects of extreme weather and carbon pollution across six continents over a 24-hour-period.

The Climate Reality Project is relying heavily on social media and new media to craft its message, recruit participants and bring in viewers. It’s one way to attract, and galvanize, young viewers, and it’s also a way to make the project interactive. Former Vice President Al Gore said that they’re embracing online and social media partly because it has a lower barrier to entry than working with traditional media, which he said have mostly fallen down on the job of covering climate change. Online and social media is also displacing traditional media in many ways, so there’s no reason why his group shouldn’t be at the forefront of the discussion, said Gore.