Making the Climate a Part of the Human World

Abstract

Doubts about the scientific evidence for anthropogenic climate change persist among the general public, particularly in North America, despite overwhelming consensus in the scientific community about the human influence on the climate system. The public uncertainty may be rooted in the belief, held by many cultures across the planet, that the climate is not directly influenced by people. The belief in divine control of weather and climate can, in some cases, be traced back to the development of agriculture and the early city-states. Drawing upon evidence from anthropology, theology, and communication studies, this article suggests that in many regions this deeply ingrained belief may limit public acceptance of the evidence for anthropogenic climate change. Successful climate change education and outreach programs should be designed to help overcome perceived conflict between climate science and long-held cultural beliefs, drawing upon lessons from communication and education regarding other potentially divisive subjects, such as evolution.

Enhancing learning, communication and public engagement about climate change – some lessons from recent literature

“…Campbell, 2011;Donner, 2011;Featherstone et al, 2009). Many voices are blended in public discourse on climate change, representing different positions and standpoints towards how laypeople could best contribute to mitigating and adapting to climate change effects.…”

“…Whitmarsh et al, 2011). This is known in the social science literature as the "value-action gap" or the "attitude-behavior divide" (Grob, 1995;Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002;Nicholson-Cole, 2005) and it can be observed not only for climate change, but also for other so called "bigger-than-self problems" which may not be in people's immediate self-interest to contribute to solving (Corner & Randall, 2011 (Donner, 2011;McCright, 2011;Whitmarsh, 2011;Wolf & Moser, 2011).…”

Integrated science and art education for creative climate change communication

“…Climate change science remains controversial despite consensus in the scientific community, suggesting that more creative teaching and communication approaches are needed (Donner 2011, Jacobson et al 2012. Environmental education and outreach ideally promote interdisciplinary understanding of the natural and built environment through the sciences, arts, and humanities.…”

Cross-Cultural Insights into Climate Change Skepticism

“…The conjecture that climate change skepticism stems from universal features of human psychology is simply assumed a priori to be true (Jamieson 2007;Johnson and Levin 2009), or variations in climate change acceptance are considered only within a single society, usually the United States (Feinberg and Willer 2011;Feygina et al 2010;Kahan et al 2007). A notable and commendable exception is the work of geographer Simon Donner (Donner 2007(Donner , 2011, who focuses specifically on the public misconception that human beings cannot influence the weather (as opposed to other climate-skeptics' arguments, such as the assertion that the planet is not in fact warming or that warming trends are benign). Donner draws from diverse ethnographic and historical sources to assess to what extent such skepticism is ancient and crossculturally widespread, as opposed to historically novel and culturally specific.…”

“…He places dismissal of human influence on the climate squarely in the first category. In his earlier article (Donner 2007), Donner is unequivocal: human influence on the climate is "an extremely new concept" and a "major paradigm shift, arguably on the order of the Copernican Revolution" (Donner 2007, p. 233). In his later article (Donner 2011), Donner concedes that the perception is not universal, but nonetheless heavily emphasizes its widespread, long-lasting, and cross-culturally recurrent nature, calling it "the ancient view" and suggesting that it traces back to our hunter-gatherer ancestors (Donner 2011(Donner , p. 1298.…”