Lecture 4: Climate Change Flashcards
(35 cards)
NASA GISS, GISS TEMP (1800-2017)
- Most countries WERE between -1 degrees and 0 degrees in 1880
- Most countries are now between 1 degree and 1.5 degrees (2017)
Why is the difference between 1.5 and 2 degrees important?
Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees, compared to 2 degrees, could reduce the number of people both exposed to climate related risks and susceptible to poverty up by several hundred million by 2050
(IPCC, 2018)
Give an example of the importance of the difference between 1.5 and 2 degrees
Extreme weather
- 1.5 degrees = 100% increase in flood risk
- 2 degrees = 170% increase in flood risk
Steps necessary for 1.5 degrees
IPCC (2018): this data shows how quickly the global degree needs to drop to keep in 1.5 degrees - there is a cliff face drop that needs to take place to remain in 1.5 degrees. Need to half emissions in the next 10 years to keep on the 1.5 trajectory
Psychologies contribution to addressing climate change (1-3)
- researching and promoting public understanding and engagement
- insights into peoples perceptions of CC
- reducing emissions from peoples choices and behaviours.
Psychologies contribution to addressing climate change (4-6)
- systems that result in climate change are also underpinned by peoples decisions and actions - wider political contexts (consumerism)
- beyond ‘behaviour’- people as agents of change
- supporting adaptation and coping with CC - mental health and eco-anxiety
Poortinga et al., (2019)
European social survey asking questions about Ps perception towards CC
Results:
- the reality of CC is now accepted by everyone
- CC has mainly been caused by humans
- Lower numbers of the impacts being bad
Capstick et al., (2019)
Survey assessing how worried people were about CC
- assessed UK representative sample with the aim to gauge the level of UK concern about CC
- 1/5 say that they are extremely worried
- majority of people showing concern and worry
When asking people how concerned they are about CC
- 52% respond with “very concerned”, 33% responded with “fairly concerned”
What determines Awareness and Concern?
- Science, facts and information
- Role of values
Evidence of science determining awareness/concern
Ming Lee et al., (2015):
- assessed whether CC awareness and concern is determined by knowledge and information.
Results:
- found that more developed countries had more awareness and concern of CC compared to Africa, at this time, being more variable
In terms of basic awareness, they identified possible predictors (education, communication, access, other).
- They found that the main predictor was EDUCATION
They also assessed CC risk perception, with predictors of CC risk being:
1. cause of global warming
2. local temperature perception
- Findings show that developed countries risk of CC was due to knowing the causes, whereas less developed countries (Africa and Asia) used local temperatures as a guide to risk perception
Ming et al., (2015) conclusions
- Worldwide educational attainment is the single strongest predictor of CC awareness
- Understanding the anthropogenic causes of CC (human actions) is the strongest predictor of CC risk perceptions
Evidence of the role of values determining awareness/concern
Shi et al., (2016)
Shi et al., (2016): found that knowledge of the cause and consequence of CC were important influences on concern. ALSO biospheric values (values centred on the concern about nature) was important influences about concern about CC.
Evidence of the role of values determining awareness/concern
Lorenzoni et al., (2006)
Asked Ps what their first image was to come to mind when saying the word “Climate change” between US and UK Ps.
Results:
- US most prominent image was ice melting
- UK most prominent image was weather, global warming, and ozone
IMPORTANTLY - images categories that weren’t present are important:
- health
- justice
- politics
- history
- the future
- the urgency
- action
Gifford et al., (2011) Barriers to attitude change
7 psychological barriers to attitude change
1. limited cognition
2. ideologies
3. other people
4. investments
5. discredence
6. perceived risk
7. limited behaviour
“Dragons of Inaction”
Almost all evidence suggests that many people are aware of the CC crisis, BUT do they care? (2 viewpoints)
- Psychological Distance
- Availability Heuristic
Spence et al., (2012): What is psychological distance (Construal Level Theory)
Used this notion of psychological distance from construal theory to examine the extent to which people are or are not psychologically distant from the topic of CC.
Assessed
- geographic distance
- social distance
- temporal distance
- hypothetical distance
Results:
- absolute levels of psychological distance are not high - this means that people are actually quite concerned AND are psychologically close to the notion of CC.
- More people argued that their local area will be effected.
BUT psychological distance (inversely) predicts concern - the extent to which people did have psychological distance did influence their level of concern about the issue and their preparedness to reduce energy use.
What is the availability heuristic
If something is available, it means its salient and easily brought to mind. In the case of CC, we may be able to recognise when we are asked about it that it is an important issue but its availability is low - its a potential, future, uncertain risk.
Increasing the AVAILABILITY of CC through the TEMPERATURE
Zaval et al., (2014): demonstrated (using objective measures) that temperature affects attitudes
- In one experiment, Ps were given a jumble of words and they had to piece them together to make a sentence. If the sentence formed were more related to heat, then people were more likely to report higher levels of belief and concern about CC
- In another experiment, people felt that if the day they were in the lab was warmer than usual, then they were more likely to say that there had been greater portions of warmer than average days.
Capstick et al., (2015): evidence of using temperature as an example of the availability heuristics
Quasi-experimental studies suggest that changing temperature and weather conditions may affect climate change perceptions, over many studies, researchers found that public opinion data (level of concern and belief) varied over time. Also if the weather changed overtime, further change in beliefs were observed.
Evidence of EXPERIENCE as an example of the availability heuristics - Demski et al., (2016)
This work was linked to winter floods in the UK. People who either HAD direct experience with the floods or did not have direct experience with the floods were surveyed.
Findings showed that those who had direct experience were more concerned about CC and felt that it was more personally salient
Evidence of EXPERIENCE as an example of the availability heuristics -Myers et al., (2016) DESIGN ONLY
This study posed the chicken and the egg question
1. do climate change impacts lead people to become more certain of the reality of climate change. OR
2. does prior belief shape peoples perceptions of impacts through motivated reasoning?
This study looked at this in more detail. They assessed personal experience and belief certainty over two time points and tested a range of statistical models - to assess whether CC beliefs influenced whether they thought they had experienced extreme weather OR whether experiences of the weather effected peoples beliefs
Myers et al., (2016) RESULTS ONLY
They found that both processes occurred:
- experiential learning occurs primarily among people who are less engaged in the issue (experiencing extreme weather leads to different CC beliefs)
- motivated reasoning occurs primarily among people who are already highly engaged in the issue (those who are already concerned about CC notice when the weather is more extreme)
What behaviour change is needed?
Wynes & Nicholas (2017):
- Tried to quantify the effective/impactful actions.
MOST-to-LEAST impactful:
- have fewer children
-live car free
-avoid a transatlantic flight
-eat a plant based diet
- wash clothes in cold water
- recycle
- hang dry clothes
- upgrade light bulbs
We need to think about IMPACT rather than INTENT
where, by whom, does the change need to happen?
There is a strong link between income and carbon footprint. The top 1% need to reduce their emissions by a very large amount
