Preview

Climate Chage

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
12401 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Climate Chage
Public Understanding of Climate Change in the United States
Elke U. Weber Paul C. Stern Columbia University National Research Council

This article considers scientific and public understandings of climate change and addresses the following question: Why is it that while scientific evidence has accumulated to document global climate change and scientific opinion has solidified about its existence and causes, U.S. public opinion has not and has instead become more polarized? Our review supports a constructivist account of human judgment. Public understanding is affected by the inherent difficulty of understanding climate change, the mismatch between people’s usual modes of understanding and the task, and, particularly in the United States, a continuing societal struggle to shape the frames and mental models people use to understand the phenomena. We conclude by discussing ways in which psychology can help to improve public understanding of climate change and link a better understanding to action. Keywords: risk perception, climate change perception, mental models, expert–novice differences limate change” is the name given to a set of physical phenomena and of a public policy issue, sometimes also referred to as “global warming,” even though climate change involves much more than warming. This article describes the development of scientific and public understanding1 of climate change in the United States, focusing especially on the riddle of noncorrespondence: Why, as scientific understanding of climate change has solidified, has U.S. public understanding not, and instead become more polarized? It also considers the implications of this situation for the future of public understanding and action. “Climate change” emerged as a public policy issue with improved scientific understanding of the phenomena involved, resulting in concerns. In 1959 an observatory on Mauna Loa, Hawaii, recorded a mean level of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) of 315 parts per million, well above

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In the documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth,” Al Gore offers a rallying cry to his audience in an attempt to gather support to help fight the Earth’s climate crisis. In order to do this, he presents his audience with a variety of facts on the issue of global warming and provides stories on his background experiences as an environmentalist. He details his experiences studying global warming, his involvement with environmental Senate hearings that led nowhere, and he lays out solid facts about the Earth’s atmospheric issues to ascertain his credibility as an environmentalist. For example, he references the failure of the Kyoto Treaty to appeal to Congress and how it may have helped significantly reduce carbon emissions…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Comparative Analysis

    • 869 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Concerning Climate Change “Clear, Catastrophic threats, Manne opens the article with an anecdote, that a “part of the english syllabus [as a schoolboy] was “clear thinking”” (Manne 2011). This anecdote should set up a relevance and an accessibility to the reader drawing them in and sympathising with the argument that will be put forward. Almost a third of the article is dense with data. “1500 or so leading climate scientists” (Manne 2011), “928 scientific papers” (Manne 2011), “...peer­reviewed scientific journals” (Manne 2011), a part of a letter written to every US senator from the American Association for the Advancement of Science in regards to climate change. Following this Manne uses an appeal to authority as a persuasive technique. Climate change being an issue where expertise is paramount, the use of authority anchors the argument to what is right and wrong, clear. Manne does this by bringing up Naomi Oreskes, a historian of science, whose work showed evidence of the consensus of the fundamental theory of climate change. The work was included in the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in which it was the basis of the report. Finally, and probably most importantly, the article uses science as an authority. Science deals with facts and evidence, therefore using a definate as an authority it is effective in persuading the reader that the stance of the article is the right stance.…

    • 869 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Environmental Racism

    • 1203 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Additionally, concern is also focused and geared towards the economic and social struggles in the lack of environmental policy, including environmental racism and justice. While President Nixon created the Environment Protection Agency, others after him, such as President George H.W. Bush’s Administration revisited these victories by leading America to losses for it’s environmentalists. With so many failed attempts in gathering the loyal attention from the public in decades, and engaging them in how important and absolutely necessary it is in creating and maintaining an environment in which fossil fuels, carbon emissions, rises in sea levels, and hazards to aquatic life, are constantly fought against, there needs to be more strength in how the scientific information is shared. Additionally, the lack of consistency and cooperation from differing parties regarding the importance of climate change and global warming, especially in Congress, continuously hurts the work the United States can accomplish in combating climate change. Today, President Obama is criticized for his work towards environmental policy. However, the Obama Administration has been a leading force in the fight for a healthier and more green future, and that has been evident in the policies he has been pushing through with the Environmental Protection…

    • 1203 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Controversy over global warming exists as a dispute regarding the nature and consequences of global warming. The theory of global warning as presented in the mainstream media currently assumes that carbon dioxide is an atmospheric greenhouse gas and since humans are producing more carbon dioxide than previously, the temperature must therefore rise. The cause of global warming is not actually known, but in it 's simplest terms the debate boils down to whether or not global warming is caused by human interference or part of a naturally occurring cycle. The debate has recently become one-sided in favor of human interference due mostly to three factors: political pressure on scientists to produce research that supports the global warming theory, public misconception of what scientific consensus is, and an irresponsible that media promotes sensationalized viewpoints to sell advertising.…

    • 1586 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Matt Patterson argues in “Global Warming – The Great Delusion” that the alleged scientific consensus surrounding the theory of global warming is based not on fact, but rather on a web of mass hysteria and deceit. Patterson contends that “In fact, global warming is the most widespread mass hysteria in our species’ history”, and that the beliefs of global warming proponents are the result of their own delusional imaginations and a subconscious apocalyptic yearning toward which masses of people tend to subject themselves. While Patterson worries that what he perceives to be the delusions of global warming proponents run amok could prove to be a legitimate threat to the progress of Man, he argues that there is a growing trend of dissenters to the theory among the scientific community that will break the supposed fever of global warming hysteria.…

    • 1310 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Oreskes Climate Change

    • 1162 Words
    • 5 Pages

    There have been plenty of disputes regarding the infamous topic global warming, despite the fact that there is a unanimous scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change. A history professor at UCSD, Naomi Oreskes, discusses this in her article, “The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change”. She begins her investigation by researching credible experts and environmental organizations, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the National Academy of Sciences, and several others. By utilizing these various sources as evidence it strengthens her argument about the scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change. In this case, Oreskes audience consists of the general public with a minimal education of high school, interested about climate change. This article is published in a standard science magazine thus the selected audience should have some background knowledge regarding global warming, otherwise it would be too complex to comprehend. She constructs three main dependent claims that convince readers in support of her main claim-that humans are affecting climate change. These three main dependent claims consist of a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, peer reviewed scientific journals, and concrete factual evidence from various corporation supporting her claims. As a result, it has allowed her to create a more persuasive argument, by using logic based data and credible sources with contextual knowledge on climate change.…

    • 1162 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Global climate change is a topic that is research and data heavy. Theories cannot be proven and predictions cannot be justified without substantial research. Everyday something new comes out – oftentimes contradicting previous assumptions on the issue. Do we believe in everything presented? No. It is up to us to dissect which ones have substance and are fruits of true research. Critical thinking is required for we cannot blindly follow and believe what is said without forming our own conclusions. This does not assert our freedom as intelligent human beings. Global climate change is a big, important and substantial issue. Actions – what we do, what we believe in and especially what we know can all be a means to produce some kind of difference in the world. If we are too gullible and accepting, we will end up equipped with the wrong data and facts. Information is power and with the wrong information we are useless in bringing about actual change. Certain sectors of society – those who are educated and knowledgeable and those who can think critically can act as catalysts in reshaping the world. Therefore, properly concluding which are truths and fallacies is important especially when we want majority of the public to be well informed on the issue.…

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In March of 1992, Dr. Richard Sanford wrote an outspoken paper opposing the claims of the global warming hysteria of recent time. Sanford discusses how people accept global warming theories as scientific fact without questioning their validity. I can honestly say that I was one of these people who agreed with the media's interpretation of these theories. After reviewing the pro global warming material in the course text, Environmental Science, written by G. Tyler Miller, and reading several articles on the opposition of global warming, I find myself becoming not a hardcore skeptic, but someone that will no longer take information at face value without reviewing as many of the particulars as possible.…

    • 269 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Global Warming is an issue demanding of world wide attention, yet widely ignored. Global Warming will change our planet drastically yet under the benefit of cheap energy we do nothing to shrink our carbon footprints. Many ignore the topic of Climate Change as they don’t believe in it, or simply don't understand why they should bother. This is exactly what Michael Pollan trys to argue in his article, “Why Bother?”, published by The New York Times,…

    • 912 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Al Gore is a politician and environmentalist that gave his speech “Climate Emergency” at Yale School of Forestry in 2004. He also presented it during the presidential campaign that same year. He argues that the Earth’s environment is in fact vulnerable, and that humans have a big impact on it. In his speech he uses scientific facts, statistics, maps, and graphs to demonstrate. Gore explains why he used the title “Climate Emergency”, “it is intended to convey what it conveys- that this is a crisis with an unusual sense of urgency attached to it, and we should see it as an emergency. The fact that we don’t, or that most people don’t is part of what I want to cover here” (Gore, 861)…

    • 323 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    While climate change is part of daily conversation, it gets disguised as something else. Whether we are talking about climate change on the farm, in the classroom, or in Washington, people shy away from uttering the words itself. Instead, they disguise it as “just talk about the weather”, like Gil Gullickson says, an editor for Successful Farming magazine.…

    • 1314 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    President Barack Obama once claimed, “No challenge poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change.” Obama’s statement brings forth the global issue of climate change that continues to affect not only everyone’s favorite homeland, Earth, but also the human population as well. The issue also imposes several consequences on the human population as it begins to impact sacred resources. New York Times author Michael Pollan instills a sense of fear as he addresses the topic of climate change in his article Why Bother?. Pollan essentially argues that although the planet is in grave danger due to excess amounts of continuous carbon emissions, the human population has done absolutely nothing to stop it. The author asserts, “For us to wait for legislation or technology to solve the problem of how we’re living our lives suggests we’re not really serious about changing–something our politicians cannot fail to notice. They will not move until we do” (Pollan), arguing that as the population wait for legislation or a…

    • 564 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When new information comes out about climate change it is easy to accept that information if it confirms something you had believed prior to (37). So when information that goes against your current position on climate change comes out it is hard to accept as being something positive. This attitude is what leads to comparisons being made to nearly every negative time in our history.…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Watergate Failure

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages

    With the recent appointment of Scott Pruitt to the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, common sense and order will soon be restored. While to those hippies living in their parent’s basements, appointing a man whom has described himself to be “against the EPA’s liberal agenda” may seem foolish, but be assured, Pruitt will help make America back into the wonderland that it was in the 1920’s. A man like Pruitt isn’t afraid to say what’s on everybody's minds. He questions if carbon dioxide even actually contributes to global warming. But how can carbon dioxide contribute to global warming in global warming isn’t real. Pruitt is also highly overqualified for the position of head of the EPA, with his degree in political science and communications, he’ll be the library of environmental knowledge that saves us…

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    These doubters, unfortunately, are not average Americans; they are high-powered government officials that can and will decide the fate of this country. The head of our country, Donald Trump, has claimed that global warming is a “hoax perpetuated by the Chinese.” The majority of his advisors agree with him on his stance that global warming isn’t happening. Contradictorily, according to Yale’s program on climate change communication, more than six in ten trump supporters endorse the taxation and regulation of pollutants…

    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays