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Esther
What I am bewildered about is the lack of leadership from international
leaders. The level of inactivity by nations is almost suicidal. Yes,
politicians are in office for a short time but isin't everything on a
shorter time line than global climate change? Being elected to office means
you have to face difficult choices that are going to have effects long
after you are out of office. Most of the decisions congress' and
president's (prime ministers, premiers etc) make have long, long term
consequences. And sometime unintended consequences but the major science of
global climat change is good enough to act upon. It is not only in each
countries interest to come together and act in consort but it is in all our
interests to preserve the Earth until it can die a natural death in future
millenenia.
What role can we play and I think we do have a role to play? I am not sure
that expalining the science and allowing visitors to draw their own
conclusions to drive a Prius or change their light bulbs. These are all
worthy and certainly make us feel good. The necessary level of action is at
a higher level. I played a game to day at the Koshland center in which you
had to make choices to drastically lower the levels of carbon dioxide to
avoid the temperature levels that will be destructive over time. One thing
was absent when I did make sufficient choices to do "save the world" was
the cost. There was no estimate of what the costs to the international
economies to attain levels ot avoid catastrophic temperature increases. It
was disapointing that this information was not calculated. I've not seen
any estimates. Anyone? It would be good to know what national sacrifices
need to be made. But maybe it would be too depressing.
Martin
On Wed, May 16, 2012 at 3:29 AM, Esther Hamstra <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
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> Dear Martin,
>
> It is depressing indeed. But, I do not believe that stressing the probable
> inevitable coming catastrophe in communications to the general public will
> help. (I realize that Jim Hanson’s message was meant for the US and
> international policy, not for the general public, but it inspired me to
> write down the things below)
> To compare: I can recommend everyone www.futerra.co.uk/downloads/**
> Branding_Biodiversity.pdf<http://www.futerra.co.uk/downloads/Branding_Biodiversity.pdf>to be inspired with a refreshing sound. A publication that I came across
> while preparing for a biodiversity exhibition.
>
> Years ago, in my graduation year, I wrote my thesis on the use of fear
> appeals in health communication. My review of the literature at that time
> led me to conclude that framing your message in a frightful message (e.g.
> if you don’t examine your breasts regularly, you might discover breast
> cancer too late) is a risky venture. If you do not accompany this type of
> messages with explanations of how easy AND efficient it is to perform
> certain health behaviour, people tend to stick their heads in the sand and
> ignore the message.
>
> My research to the use of fear appeals considered health. Something that
> is one of the most important goods of individuals to maintain. Something
> that is personal and that takes place right now. Even then, people’s
> attitudes and behaviours are hard to change. You can imagine how hard it is
> to change the attitudes and behaviours of people about the Climate.
> Something that is invisible, changes so slowly, and changes aren’t really
> ‘felt’ by the individual. Climate is global, and individuals --who can only
> act local-- will easily consider themselves incapable of relieving such a
> big problem. Even for policy makers, who have to score within their period
> of reign, which does not often exceed four years or so, there often are not
> clear (short-term) gains from Earth-favourable measures.
>
> People who are preaching fear, are preaching to the choir. I already
> ‘believe’. I already eat almost completely vegetarian, I cycle to work, I
> don’t owe a car, I have lower energy and water bills than the average
> Amsterdammer, and I separate my waste.
>
> Just like Futerra, I believe we need different messages to get the public
> working for the climate. People need to have the attitude they want to
> change, not that they should or have to change. Moreover, people need to
> believe that change is easy, fun and worthwhile.
>
> Esther
>
>
> Esther Hamstra
> Content manager
> NorthernLight
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> [log in to unmask]
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--
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Martin Weiss, PhD
Senior Scientist
New York Hall of Science
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