Bearing Witness? Polar Bears as Icons for Climate Change Communication in National Geographic

This article investigates how polar bears were established as icons of climate change in the popular science magazine National Geographic. In a multistep process, anthropomorphized depictions first established polar bears as subjects of identification. Then, polar bears were visually connected to the endangered Arctic. Finally, they emerged as ambassadors of a threatened ecosystem and icons of climate change. I highlight the wider political contexts of this process of iconization and the semiotic and cultural resources on which it draws, showing what kind of climate change communication the polar bear icon enables or inhibits. The icon lends itself to being deployed in visual communication strategies creating personal concern and public awareness for climate change. At the same time, the icon fosters an individualized, emotionalized, and localized account of climate change but does not make its wider causes visible.     

The Effects of Discussion of Familiar or Non-Familiar Information on Opinions of Anthropogenic Climate Change

ABSTRACT

The study found that encountering new information in an online chat rather than information that participants already knew and were familiar with was more likely to reduce support for the view that climate change is due to anthropogenic causes, even though the majority of the presented information supported anthropogenic causes. Participants reported feeling more competent and knowledgeable about the topic and felt less ostracized from others in the chat when participants were already familiar with information others discussed than when information discussed by others in the chat was new information. However, they viewed other chat members as more competent and knowledgeable when those others mentioned new information. Results are discussed within knowledge deficit model of science communication and the bias for common information.     

农村食品安全消费态度、意愿与行为的差异研究

现阶段,我国食品安全状况不容乐观。通过梳理频繁发生的食品安全事件,可以发现食品安全问题的产生不仅仅是食品生产商、供应商或政府相关部门等方面的原因,食品消费者对于食品安全问题的产生和治理同样起到重要作用,其差异化的食品安全消费态度和行为也显著影响食品企业和政府部门的行为选择。现有研究大多针对消费者食品安全消费意愿和行为的影响因素及其相关方面进行分析,往往忽视了消费者食品安全消费态度、意愿和行为之间的客观差异现象。本文基于我国20个省份500个自然村实证调研数据,在引入空间地理分析概念的基础上,采用空间相关性检验的全局Moran’I指数分析农村食品安全消费、意愿和行为的大致集聚分布状况;再进一步利用局部Moran’I自相关指数分析判断相关具体集聚区域;最后通过消费态度、意愿、行为集聚区域的不一致性验证区域农村食品安全消费态度与行为差异的现实存在,对我国农村居民食品安全消费态度、意愿和行为之间的具体差异状况以及影响因素进行研究。结果显示:1现阶段,我国农村居民普遍持有较高程度的食品安全消费态度;2食品安全消费态度与食品安全消费意愿、行为之间存在一定程度上的差异;3造成这种差异的主要影响因素包括:主观规范作用、感知行为控制影响、农村消费者固有消费习惯障碍、安全食品消费基础设施建设不完善、政府监管认证力度不足以及相关政策制度缺失等。最后,文章提出针对性对策建议,具体包括:加强安全食品报道和宣传;加大科技技术投入力度;健全农村食品安全流通市场体系;加强食品检验检测等。     

国外环境行为影响因素研究述评

基于心理性因素与内外因素相结合的视角对国外环境行为影响因素研究加以梳理,发现大多数研究认为环境行为是在自我约束和自我控制下做出的契合自身实际的选择,其对改善环境状况与提升环境质量有着积极正向作用,并将环境态度/环境关心视为关键变量,以揭示实施环境行为复杂的内在过程与心理机制;大多数研究采取问卷调查的方式收集某一时点的数据,借助结构方程模型等高级统计方法着重探究自我报告的一般意义或某类具体环境行为.其相对忽视了社会经济发展、文化变迁、制度政策变化、阶层分化、地区差异、信息分割等外在结构性因素对环境心理的可能塑造及其对环境行为的动态影响,进而提出在准确厘定环境行为内涵的基础上,针对社会群体成员或社区居民采用问卷调查、实验法、实地观察、深度访谈等多元研究方式长期追踪收集纵向数据或资料,以及将心理性因素与结构性因素结合起来探讨不同类别的环境行为,有助于突破既有研究的心理学局限与行为决定论桎梏,且切实反映环境行为的历时性变化与动态性影响.     

Objectivity as Trained Judgment: How Environmental Reporters Pioneered Journalism for a “Post-truth” Era

Amid debate about the role and practices of journalism in the era of Presidents Trump and Putin, this commentary argues that environmental journalism offers a conceptual model and guide to action for all journalists in the “post-truth” or “post-fact” era. Since the specialism was formed in the 1960s, environmental journalists have reported on politically partisan issues where facts are contested, expertise is challenged, and uncertainty is heightened. To deal with these and other challenges, environmental journalism, this commentary argues, has reassessed and reconfigured the foundational journalistic concept of objectivity. The specialism has come to view objectivity as the implementation of a transparent method, as the pluralistic search for consensus, and, most importantly, as trained judgment. By developing these definitions through the reporting of several science policy controversies, environmental journalists have pioneered journalism for the “post-truth” era.     

Public Attitudes Towards Policy Instruments for Congestion Mitigation in Shanghai

Congestion causes many externalities for the society, including time delays, excessive fuel consumption, air pollution, noise and safety concerns. In Shanghai, various policy options have been explored, piloted or applied; however, not all of them may be understood and accepted by the public. A survey was conducted to investigate people＇s attitudes towards several policy options. The main findings reveal that Shanghai residents are resistant to certain policies, such as congestion charges, higher parking charges in congested areas and car restrictions. Instead, they favor public transport provisions. The paper suggests that there is a case for promoting public transport and more efficient trips when the car ownership is still low, and for investing in a policy of educating the public on the ＇true＇ costs and causes of congestion before embarking on ,an intensive policy of congestion charges or restrictions.     

Linking Conservation and Development: An Analysis of Local People’s Attitude Towards Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal

Factors influencing local people’s attitudes towards conservation of the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR) are analyzed using an ordered logit model. The results indicate that households living closer to the KTWR are more likely to reveal negative attitude towards conservation. Similarly, respondents from larger households tend to show negative conservation attitude. Educated respondents and farmers are likely to demonstrate a positive conservation attitude. The results consistently show that households with poor socioeconomic status and greater dependence on the KTWR for firewood, fodder, and raw materials are likely to possess a more negative attitude towards conservation. Poor households may not necessarily be less concerned about conservation, although institutional settings and abject poverty near protected areas appear to affect their attitudes. Sustainable management of protected areas and local support for natural resource conservation would require socioeconomic development.     

依靠科技进步发展生态农业

本文通过对山东省农业现状的分析,从理论与实践的结合上阐述了发展生态农业是促进农业稳步健康发展的必然抉择,是实现高产优质高效的途径。对如何依靠科技进步促进生态农业发展的做法和经验进行了系统的总结,供有关部门借鉴和参考。     

Exploration of Science Parks

1 DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE PARKSThe concept of science park originated in the US. Manyterms are used to describe science parks, such as researchpark, technology park, science centre, research centre,innovation centre, and with various combination of these(MacDonald, 1987). The first science park in the worldis Stanford Industrial Park established in 1951. In 1955,only seven companies were located in the park. By 1980there were ninety companies including Hewlett PackardCompany, whic…     

A Survey of Perception, Knowledge, Awareness, and attitude in Regard to Environmental Problems in a Sample of two Different Social Groups in Jakarta, Indonesia

A quantitative study was conducted in 1998 to investigate differences in perception, knowledge, awareness, and attitude with regard to environmental problems between educated and community groups and to identify human-dimension factors to improve public perception, knowledge, awareness, and attitude in relation to global environmental conservation concerns in developing countries. Educated and community groups in Jakarta were interviewed, and data obtained from a total of 537 males aged 30-49 years were analyzed. The data were evaluated by the chi-squared test and logistic regression was applied after factor analysis. The results show that: (1) The perception, knowledge, awareness, and attitude of educated subjects in regard to regional and global environmental problems were much better than those of subjects in the community group; (2) The highest 'yes' response in the community group was in regard to perception of AIDS (82.9%). Few subjects in the community group knew the effects and the cause or source of environmental problems, however, they were well informed about AIDS (86.4% for effects and 93.9% for cause or source). The conclusions are: (1) subjects in the educated group had better perception, more detailed knowledge, were more aware, and had better attitudes in regard to regional and global environmental problems than those in the community group; (2) more education is needed to develop environmental actions and ethics in developing countries; (3) non-formal environmental education through popular mass media should be used more widely and frequently, and more detailed information on the environment should be provided to literate people by newspapers and other means.     

An empirical research on the determinants of Chinese college students’ carbon label cognition and interpersonal communication willingness

Carbon labels are innovative medium and tools for climate change communication and low-carbon marketing. This study aims at examining how college students are aware of low-carbon and carbon labels, whether they are more willing to communicate low-carbon ideas, and also the determinants affecting their interpersonal communication of carbon labels. The multiple regression analysis shows that Chinese college students’ willingness of interpersonal communication of carbon labels are significantly influenced by their awareness of climate change crisis, the perceived value of carbon labels, the consideration of product environmental attributes, the preferences of carbon labels, the household background, and their educational background. In response to these factors, this paper proposes, in a public perspective, the strategies to enhance the dissemination of carbon labels.