During the 23 July US Democratic presidential debate, candidates responded to video questions from the public submitted via YouTube. In one video, an animated snowman begged the candidates to consider climate change, which it described as the “single most important issue to the snowmen of this country.” Turning to a smaller snowman, it asked the candidates: “What will you do to ensure that my son will live a full and happy life?”

It was part of an innovative debate format that included several minutes of discussion about global warming, energy efficiency and nuclear power. Triggered in part by former presidential candidate Al Gore and his Oscar-winning movie An Inconvenient Truth, and by coverage of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports on global warming, these topics are receiving a spike in attention from the US public and policymakers.

What is the implication for research careers? With so much talk of innovative science and policy solutions for global warming, scientists should be looking at a better job market. But beware. As this week's feature reveals on page 618, it depends on where you look. The most promising jobs, in the short term, seem to be in the private sector, where companies are increasingly looking to hire climate experts. This makes sense — companies are under pressure to develop 'greener' practices that reduce carbon-dioxide emissions and foster sustainability. It is partly an attempt to be more responsible, and partly a public-relations ploy to appease customers and stockholders.

US academic institutions recognize the need for more training and the development of new interdisciplinary programmes, but many have not increased the number of tenure-track professorships in the atmospheric sciences. There are mixed prospects in Europe too, where, despite funding from the EU's Seventh Research Framework Programme, climate-science positions are surging only in niche areas. The YouTube generation has helped promote the issues, but young researchers interested in atmospheric science should be careful when considering their career paths.