Collective guilt mediates the effect of beliefs about global warming on willingness to engage in mitigation behavior

The present research examines whether collective guilt for an ingroup's collective greenhouse gas emissions mediates the effects of beliefs about the causes and effects of global warming on willingness to engage in mitigation behavior. In Study 1, we manipulate the causes and effects of global warming and then measure collective guilt. Results demonstrate that collective guilt for Americans' greenhouse gas emissions is stronger when participants believe that global warming is caused by humans and will have minor effects. Study 2 employs the same manipulations and then measures collective guilt and collective anxiety, as well as willingness to conserve energy and pay green taxes. This study replicates the effect from Study 1 and rules out collective anxiety as a plausible alternative mediator. Collective guilt for Americans' greenhouse emissions was the only reliable mediator of the effect of beliefs about global warming on willingness to engage in mitigation behaviors. The importance of collective guilt as a tool for promoting global warming mitigation is discussed.     

Effect of outdoor temperature, heat primes and anchoring on belief in global warming

It is generally acknowledged that global warming is occurring, yet estimates of future climate change vary widely. Given this uncertainty, when asked about climate change, it is likely that people’s judgments may be affected by heuristics and accessible schemas. Three studies evaluated this proposition. Study 1 revealed a significant positive correlation between the outdoor temperature and beliefs in global warming. Study 2 showed that people were more likely to believe in global warming when they had first been primed with heat-related cognitions. Study 3 demonstrated that people were more likely to believe in global warming and more willing to pay to reduce global warming when they had first been exposed to a high vs. a low anchor for future increases in temperature. Together, results reveal that beliefs about global warming (and willingness to take actions to reduce global warming) are influenced by heuristics and accessible schemas. Several practical implications are discussed.     

Why are Californians interested in hybrid cars?

This paper explores quantitatively Californians' interest in hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) based on a statewide phone survey conducted in July 2004 by the Public Policy Institute of California. The paper develops ordered choice models and factors that summarise beliefs about energy and the environment using principal component analysis. As expected, Californians concerned about the environment, energy efficiency, global warming and recent increases in the price of gasoline state a higher interest in hybrids; an even more important reason for considering hybrid electric vehicles, however, is the possibility of using high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes while driving alone, especially for people with potentially long commutes to work. The findings also suggest that beliefs about energy and the environment should be included in vehicle type choice models.     

Effects of Information on the Social Acceptability of Alternatives to Clearfelling in Australian Wet Eucalypt Forests

The effects of viewing different types of information were investigated in people judging the social acceptability of alternative forest harvest systems. Approximately 500 Tasmanians were shown still-simulated images of four harvest systems (a clearfell system, two aggregated retention systems, and a selective system) and were asked to judge their acceptability. Individual interviews were conducted with 12 of the participants. It was anticipated that people holding different beliefs about the consequences of harvesting would have different responses to information. Cluster analysis was used to group participants according to these beliefs. Responses to still images were compared with responses to two other types of information: information about consequences of the harvest systems in the form of indicator symbols, and information about regeneration over time, presented as visual animations. The effects of information differed across both harvest system and belief cluster groups of participants. The largest effects of information occurred in people who held a mix of beliefs about consequences. Within this group, participants who viewed the indicators rated a 30% aggregated retention system higher and selective harvesting lower, than those who did not view the indicators. Viewing animated sequences led to slightly higher ratings of the more intensive harvest systems and significantly lower ratings of the selective harvest system than those based on the still images. The interview data provided examples of interviewees viewing information critically against their own values and beliefs. Only some interviewees appeared to use it in judging social acceptability     

How Science Contributes to Environmental Reporting in British Newspapers: A Case Study of the Reporting of Global Warming and Climate Change

This article examines the role of science in environmental reporting in a number of British newspapers. The findings indicated that in reporting about global warming and climate change, the views of scientists were used to give legitimacy to the content of articles. However, in both the tabloids and broadsheets, there was little evidence provided, in the form of data, to substantiate the claims being made. Furthermore, uncertainties about global warming were not explored effectively. Newspaper reports tended to focus on the potential consequences of global warming, but made little attempt to address the suspected causes that would inevitably involve criticism of highly consumptive lifestyles in the west.     

The connectedness to nature scale: A measure of emotional connection to nature?

Mayer and Frantz (2004) proposed that their connectedness to nature scale (CNS) provides a measure of people's emotional connection to nature. After reanalyzing data from their article, collecting and analyzing our own data, and conducting a content analysis of CNS scale items, we conclude that the CNS does not measure an emotional connection to nature. Although results from our Study 1 and Study 2 support Mayer and Frantz's conclusion that the CNS measures one predominant factor, we suggest that factor measures cognitive beliefs and not emotional connections. Results from our Studies 3 and 4 suggest that the self-referential, less negatively toned wording of CNS items may account for differences in correlations, between the CNS and environmentalism (a measure of environmental identity) and between the New Ecological Paradigm Scale (a measure of environmental beliefs) and environmentalism, reported by Mayer and Frantz. In Study 5, we suggest that correlation differences reported by Mayer and Frantz may also be attributable to method variance, as opposed to content differences between the CNS and the New Ecological Paradigm scale. We provide recommendations for revising the CNS to focus on beliefs about their connection to nature.     

The Impact of Local versus National Framing on Willingness to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions: a case study from central Pennsylvania

This paper explores the impact of the frame in which people interpret global warming. In 1999, 637 respondents completed a mail survey in five counties in central Pennsylvania. Half of the sample received questionnaires that framed global warming in terms of the local impacts of mitigation policies, whereas the other half received questionnaires that framed global warming in terms of the national impacts of mitigation policies. The results show a statistically significant but small difference between the local and national frames in the respondents' willingness to support government policies, as well as to take voluntary actions to mitigate climate change.     

The effects of large-scale afforestation and climate change on water allocation in the Macquarie River catchment,NSW, Australia

Widespread afforestation has been proposed as one means of addressing the increasing dryland and stream salinity problem in Australia. However, modelling results presented here suggest that large-scale tree planting will substantially reduce river flows and impose costs on downstream water users if planted in areas of high runoff yield. Streamflow reductions in the Macquarie River, NSW, Australia are estimated for a number of tree planting scenarios and global warming forecasts. The modelling framework includes the Sacramento rainfall-runoff model and IQQM, a streamflow routing tool, as well as various global climate model outputs from which daily rainfall and potential evaporation data files have been generated in OzClim, a climate scenario generator. For a 10% increase in tree cover in the headwaters of the Macquarie, we estimate a 17% reduction in inflows to Burrendong Dam. The drying trend for a mid-range scenario of regional rainfall and potential evaporation caused by a global warming of 0.5 degree C may cause an additional 5% reduction in 2030. These flow reductions will decrease the frequency of bird-breeding events in Macquarie Marshes (a RAMSAR protected wetland) and reduce the security of supply to irrigation areas downstream. Inter-decadal climate variability is predicted to have a very significant influence on catchment hydrologic behaviour. A further 20% reduction in flows from the long-term historical mean is possible, should we move into an extended period of below average rainfall years, such as occurred in eastern Australia between 1890 and 1948. Because current consumptive water use is largely adapted to the wetter conditions of post 1949, a return to prolonged dry periods would cause significant environmental stress given the agricultural and domestic water developments that have been instituted.     

The Impact of Local versus National Framing on Willingness to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A case study from central Pennsylvania

This paper explores the impact of the frame in which people interpret global warming. In 1999, 637 respondents completed a mail survey in five counties in central Pennsylvania. Half of the sample received questionnaires that framed global warming in terms of the local impacts of mitigation policies, whereas the other half received questionnaires that framed global warming in terms of the national impacts of mitigation policies. The results show a statistically significant but small difference between the local and national frames in the respondents' willingness to support government policies, as well as to take voluntary actions to mitigate climate change.     

Vitalizing effects of being outdoors and in nature

Five studies utilizing survey, experimental, and diary methods assessed the effects of being outdoors on subjective vitality. In Study 1, we used a vignette method to examine whether being outdoors was associated with vitality, above and beyond the influences of physical activity and social interactions. Study 2 explored the effects of being outdoors on vitality through an experimental design contrasting indoor and outdoor walks. In Study 3, participants were exposed to photographic scenes of either nature or buildings. Results showed that only the nature scenes enhanced subjective vitality. Studies 4 and 5 used a diary methodology to examine within-person variations in subjective energy as a function of being outdoors, again controlling for physical and social activity. Being outdoors was associated with greater vitality, a relation that was mediated by the presence of natural elements. Limitations of these studies are discussed, as well as their implications for research on energy and vitalization.     

Do mitigation strategies reduce global warming potential in the northern U.S. corn belt?

Agricultural management practices that enhance C sequestration, reduce greenhouse gas emission (nitrous oxide [N?O], methane [CH?], and carbon dioxide [CO?]), and promote productivity are needed to mitigate global warming without sacrificing food production. The objectives of the study were to compare productivity, greenhouse gas emission, and change in soil C over time and to assess whether global warming potential and global warming potential per unit biomass produced were reduced through combined mitigation strategies when implemented in the northern U.S. Corn Belt. The systems compared were (i) business as usual (BAU); (ii) maximum C sequestration (MAXC); and (iii) optimum greenhouse gas benefit (OGGB). Biomass production, greenhouse gas flux change in total and organic soil C, and global warming potential were compared among the three systems. Soil organic C accumulated only in the surface 0 to 5 cm. Three-year average emission of N?O and CH was similar among all management systems. When integrated from planting to planting, N?O emission was similar for MAXC and OGGB systems, although only MAXC was fertilized. Overall, the three systems had similar global warming potential based on 4-yr changes in soil organic C, but average rotation biomass was less in the OGGB systems. Global warming potential per dry crop yield was the least for the MAXC system and the most for OGGB system. This suggests management practices designed to reduce global warming potential can be achieved without a loss of productivity. For example, MAXC systems over time may provide sufficient soil C sequestration to offset associated greenhouse gas emission.     

全球变暖对人类健康的影响与对策研究

全球变暖是当前人类所面临的一个非常严重的环境问题。全球变暖等环境问题的产生是与人类的各种活动息息相关的，环境的恶化必将给人类的健康带来严重的后果。本文吸收了较新的科学发现对全球变暖成因进行了阐述；综合该领域近年的研究进展，将全球变暖对人类健康的影响纳为三个方面，并作了比较详尽的分析；从多个方面探讨了应对策略。     

Coastal flooding, global warming and environmental management

A review of the difficulties associated with the definition of coastal flood frequencies and magnitudes leads to a recognition that there is considerable doubt in many parts of the world as to the precise nature of this particular hazard. Similarly, a review of the sea-level measurements that have been used to indicate a response to global warming shows that there is uncertainty about the amount of other controlling influences. What is clear, however, are that past management decisions about human endeavours in the coastal zone (including flood defences, occupance of flood-prone lands, extraction of ground water and natural gas) have had an impact on relative land and sea levels and have done more to increase the risk of coastal flooding than can be assigned so far to global warming. In addition, these changes induced by human activity may render inappropriate calculations of coastal-flood frequencies based on historical records since the latter relate to a period of time when the controls on flooding may have been very different.     

Implicit beliefs about self and nature: Evidence from an IAT game

Recent psychological research has examined the beliefs that individuals hold about their relationship with the natural world. This article builds on the previous literature on connectedness with nature and we introduce a new game version of the Implicit Association Test (IAT), known as FlexiTwins. The game is intended to facilitate research using the IAT and provides a flexible platform for measuring implicit associations. In this paper, we report three studies in which we use the game to measure self-nature associations. Study 1 reports the development and validation of FlexiTwins with a college sample. Study 2 further validates the game using a known-groups sample of environmental activists. Finally, Study 3 examines the implicit connectedness of a sample of 30 grade school children. Across all three studies, we find good evidence for reliability, as well as theoretically meaningful results.     

The environmentalist who cried drought: Reactions to repeated warnings about depleting resources under conditions of uncertainty

Three studies examined the impact of warnings about depleting resources. In Study 1, participants played 16 trials of a 5-person resource dilemma game with complete resource uncertainty. After trial 12, participants were told they were close to depleting the resource, and thereafter received no additional warnings. Size of harvests dropped after the warning, but rebounded within 3 trials to pre-warning levels, a pattern stronger under low harvesting variability. In Study 2, participants received warnings after trials 12 and 16 of a 22-trial game. Again, harvesting dropped after the first warning, but rebounded to pre-warning levels within 3 trials, a pattern stronger under a short-term vs. a long-term warning. Harvesting was unaffected by the second warning. In Study 3, when participants received no feedback about others' harvests, harvesting dropped after both warnings, and was lower among those led to believe the resource would last a short number of trials.     

Perceptions of behaviors that cause and mitigate global warming and intentions to perform these behaviors

Individual household and travel behaviors represent a sizeable contribution to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. This paper investigates people's knowledge of these behaviors and perceptions of these behaviors' impact in causing and mitigating climate change. In the present study, a sample of college students were asked to list the behaviors they perform that cause global warming (GW) and the behaviors they could perform to mitigate GW, to rate the impact of the behaviors in terms of their effect on causing or mitigating GW, and to rate their intention to perform each of the behaviors. Results revealed that this sample was well aware of the effect of driving on GW. However, participants underestimated the relative impact of adjusting the thermostat and eating meat on GW and overestimated the impact of littering on causing GW. Although knowledge about GW-mitigating behaviors was not consistently related to behavioral intention, belief that a behavior mitigated GW (whether accurate or not) was strongly related to intention to perform that behavior. Specifically, correlations between belief in the mitigating potential of a behavior and intention were relatively high for adjusting the thermostat, reducing meat consumption, and several behaviors that do not mitigate GW, but were relatively low for reducing driving and not littering. Practical implications and comparisons with previous literature are discussed.     

Policy evaluation of vehicle exhaust standards in Japan from 1995 to 2005 based on two human health risk indices for air pollution and global warming

Measures for vehicle exhaust emissions aimed at reducing either air pollution or global warming could have counterproductive effects on one another. Increasing diesel passenger vehicles, which generally have lower CO₂ emissions than gasoline counterparts, leads to increasing particulate matter (PM) emissions, while gasoline has lower PM emissions than diesel. It is said that stringent limits on PM emission factors discourages improved CO₂ emission factors. Without including both effects in a risk evaluation, one cannot evaluate whether the total risk is reduced or not. Hence, we evaluated representative exhaust emission measures based on risk evaluation for both air pollution and global warming. Considering consumer choice between diesel and gasoline passenger vehicles and emissions standards adopted in Japan from 1995 to 2005, we built five cases for vehicle policy evaluation. For each case, we estimated disability-adjusted life years (DALY) as an index of human health risk caused by lung cancer linked to inhalation exposure of elemental carbon in PM as well as due to global warming linked to CO₂. The results of our risk evaluation reveal that the case adopting the 2005 new long-term Japanese emission standard reduces the human health risk caused by lung cancer due to air pollution by 0.6 × 10³ DALY, but would increase the risk due to global warming by 31.9 × 10³ DALY compared with the case of adopting EURO 4, for the same conditions of passenger vehicle choice from 1995. These results suggest that the characteristics of Japanese emissions standards are mainly designed to reduce air pollution.     

Application of strategies for sanitation management in wastewater treatment plants in order to control/reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Greenhouse gases (GHG), basically methane (CH(4)), carbon dioxide (CO(2)) and nitrous oxide (N(2)O), occur at atmospheric concentrations of ppbv to ppmv under natural conditions. GHG have long mean lifetimes and are an important factor for the mean temperature of the Earth. However, increasing anthropogenic emissions could produce a scenario of progressive and cumulative effects over time, causing a potential "global climate change". Biological degradation of the organic matter present in wastewater is considered one of the anthropogenic sources of GHG. In this study, GHG emissions for the period 1990-2027 were estimated considering the sanitation process and the official domestic wastewater treatment startup schedule approved for the Metropolitan Region (MR) of Santiago, Chile. The methodology considers selected models proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and some others published by different authors; these were modified according to national conditions and different sanitation and temporal scenarios. For the end of the modeled period (2027), results show emissions of about 65Tg CO(2) equiv./year (as global warming potential), which represent around 50% of national emissions. These values could be reduced if certain sanitation management strategies were introduced in the environmental management by the sanitation company in charge of wastewater treatment.     

Evaluations of a sacred place: Role and religious belief at the Magh Mela

People perceive places differently because of the different material, social, and symbolic aspects of the locations and because individuals have different backgrounds and different reasons for being at the locations. Two studies examined how role and religious beliefs affect perceptions of the environment at the Magh Mela, an annual religious festival at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers in north India. In the first study (n=375), we interviewed individuals who were at the Mela for one of six reasons (religious pilgrims, sweepers, boatmen, police, businessmen, or student volunteers) about their religious beliefs and their perceptions of the Mela. Results indicated that the evaluations of pilgrims, who were at the Mela for religious reasons, were associated with evaluations of physical amenities and religious social support, whereas the other five groups, who were at the Mela primarily for nonreligious purposes, evaluated the Mela on the basis of material characteristics only. In the second study (n=311), we found that religious leaders’ evaluations of the Mela were affected by material characteristics, religious social support, and intrinsic religious belief.     

Changes in soil organic carbon contents and nitrous oxide emissions after introduction of no-till in Pampean agroecosystems

We reviewed published results to estimate no-till effects on SOC and denitrification in the Argentine Pampas and the potential of no-till to mitigate the global warming effect. On an equivalent mass basis, 42 paired data sets were used for SOC comparisons of no-till vs. plow till (moldboard plow or disk plow), 18 paired data for comparison of no-till vs. reduced till (chisel plow or harrow disk), and 20 paired data for comparison of plow till vs. reduced till. Twenty-six denitrification data sets were used for evaluation of tillage system and fertilization effects on N2O emission. Changes in SOC under no-till were not correlated to time since initiation of experiments. Averaged over years a 2.76 Mg ha(-1) SOC increase (P = 0.01) was observed in no-till systems compared with tilled systems, but no differences were detected between plow and reduced till. The SOC under tillage explained most of the SOC variation under no-till (R2= 0.94, P = 0.01). The model had a positive intercept and predicted a relatively higher increase of SOC in areas of low organic matter level. The conversion of the whole pampean cropping area to no-till would increase SOC by 74 Tg C, about twice the annual C emissions from fossil fuel consumption of Argentina. Emissions of N2O were greater under no-till with a mean increase of 1 kg N ha(-1) yr(-1) in denitrification rate for humid pampean scenarios. The increased emissions of N2O might overcome the mitigation potential of no-till due to C sequestration in about 35 yr, and therefore no-till might produce global warming.