There is no question that people are very interested in and concerned about species such as pandas, polar bears, penguins and similar species under threat from anthropogenic climate change.
Watching various social networking sites you can see articles about these species quickly become ‘popular’ as they are variously noted, dugg, hugged, buzzed, stumbled, etc (ie voted for by other members). At the same time articles about climate science, educating about climate change, and climate policy generally languish with little attention paid to them.
See the disconnect?
OK, to be fair posts promising “10 easy things you can do about global warming” also tend to do moderately well, so clearly people are sincere and want to do something. But if I may quote the US President elect ” ‘Well, the truth is, Brian, we can’t solve global warming because I f—ing changed light bulbs in my house. It’s because of something collective’.“ It’s Not About the “F***ing” Light Bulbs!
And there’s the rub. We cannot hope to save these species, or ourselves, merely through the personal action of those who accept the reality of the threat. We need everyone to take those actions, and collectively we need to be implementing infrastructural changes to permit even more radical action. There is no other hope.
“Strength without compassion is violence. Compassion without justice is mere sentiment. Justice without love is Marxism. And love without justice is baloney!” – Jaime Lachica Cardinal Sin
It is not enough to care. It is not enough to signal that you care by approving articles that mourn the imminent demise of these species and millions of others. If we truly care then it is necessary to take action. As the Nature Conservancy reported at this time “only 18 percent of survey respondents [US] strongly believe that climate change is real, human-caused and harmful.”
That’s not nearly enough, not even close. Not enough personal action, and not enough for political change. If we hope to make any sort of difference we need to change those numbers, and that means education.
This is not an admonition about what anyone should do, but rather an observation about what we must do if we hope to see these species survive.
One of the vehicles for education is social networks. You already knew that, but are you doing your part to see that the education gets out there? That you personally are know the issue? If you are a social networker on sites like Care2, Digg, etc there are things you can do to promote education and action on climate change.
I realize that quite a few people already do these (below) things, but the differences I noted above means that far too many people don’t, and all of us need to be taking action. A question for those already doing these things, what can we do to support/encourage more people to be doing them? (seriously – if you have some good suggestions please share them in the comments).
* When you see posts on climate science, education about climate change, climate policy, or
dispelling myths about climate change, make a point to check them out. Not all of them will appeal to you, but some will, so read them and ‘vote them up’.
* If you liked an article or thought it was useful, post it to other networks that you belong to, twitter it, share it on Facebook or MySpace. Make the facts of climate science as visible as the threat to the species you care about.
* Check out the site that the post came from. If it seems to suit you bookmark it or subscribe to the RSS feed. Regularly check for interesting posts and then share them on your networks.
* Find a site that offers good, basic, science based information on what climate change is and how it is happening. Bookmark the site and consistently post the link when you see disinformation being spread. There are quite a few good sites and I am trying to put together a reasonable list of them as a future post.
* Link good sites and pages as often as you reasonably can; on forums, in comments, on your own blog/profile/site – anywhere that it is relevant and appropriate (don’t spam). This i) makes you more credible as you provide sources, ii) directs more people to good information, and iii) helps the site by increasing it’s rank in search engines meaning more people will find it more easily.
* When you see posts denying the reality of climate change check those out too. Comment on them, share the knowledge you have, vote down the comments and posts that are spreading false and misleading information.
A question for those who have not been doing these, and probably won’t. I am curious about why and would really appreciate a comment as to the reason(s). Thanks
We are not going to make much progress until education about climate change and what to do about it is getting as much visibility as it’s impact on species that we care about. To accomplish that we are all going to have to do our part.
“Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.” Edward Abbey
Let’s turn that 18% into 81%.
“Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed.” Abraham Lincoln
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Denier “Challenge” aka Deathwatch Update: Day 40 … still no evidence.
IMAGE CREDITS:
Emperor penguins by U.S. Antarctic Program Photo Library found at Wikimedia Commons
Greenfyre's 
Maybe if leaders led by example you’d see the change you wish to see. A new study from Rutgers University found that those that believe in the global warming hype are no more likely to modify their behavior to save the planet than someone who doesn’t. The WWF is promoting a jet-setting travel package to exotic destinations around the world, all the while complaining about penguin populations coming ashore in South America. Gore whines about the environment, yet he has Towncars idling with air conditioning for 20 minutes while he finishes his speech. There’s complete hypocrisy and no accountability with many of these folks. And many Americans see right through the phony veil. Want to make 18% 81%? Get the people running the cause you so vehemently support to act like they care. They can change all the solar panels they want on their homes, but flying in a personal jet to destinations around the world is more visible to the public. And while some may think that it’s important for these people to cross the globe to get our their message, it makes them look hypocritical to the masses.
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Al Gore is fat therefore the IPCC is wrong? Great argument there, right.
As for greenfyre’s original point, it’s something I’ve been wondering about. I think part of the problem’s that while global warming is real, it doesn’t feel real. Pandas are cute, but anything that happens to pandas is easy to think of as Happening To Some Other Species In Some Faraway Land, and therefore Not Real.
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Butterflies and bees are not without charisma. There’s getting to be more of this sort of material. Another example that hits close to home is fisheries.
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But this entire article is about educating the public, not about the science. So my “hyperbole” being less credible than the science is irrelevant in this conversation. It’s the “do as I say, not as I do” attitude that causes the stench emanating from the global warming crowd.
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@skepticsglobalwarming
Just because you’ve identified a few people that you think are hypocrites (Al Gore certainly is not – research what he has done with his house), does not absolve you or anyone else of their personal responsibility.
Also, you betray your deep-seated bias and irrationality with “stench emanating from the global warming crowd.” Really ‘the stench’ emanates from those who deny scientific reality, proudly refuse to modify their behaviour and perpetuate a pattern of consumption that is unsustainable and deeply damaging for nearly every species on this planet.
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Speaking of hypocrisy, what does ‘skepticsglobalwarming’ have to say about all the ‘skeptics’ who repeatedly whine, whine, whine about ‘alarmists’ who ‘politicize’ the science… right before they start spouting stuff about Freedom and Capitalism and Socialism and the US Constitution? Oh wait, that’s not hypocrisy, no sir.
And the ‘skeptics’ who keep screaming persecution while repeatedly making (empty) threats to sue Al Gore and James Hansen and Naomi Oreskes and whoever else? No sir, not hypocrisy, no sir.
Thanks. It’s just my very wild guess, borne out of a bit of introspection. I suspect that to most people, climate regulation is simply something that’s Other People’s Business, and there aren’t many who can be bothered to actually campaign for it or against it.
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Look for an unusual angle?
I’m preparing a talk for my local astronomy society, on how astronomical influences affect our climate. They will be expecting Milankovitch and sunspots, which they’ll get (along with GCRs, extinctions and Nemesis.
They won’t be expecting Greenhouse gases, but they’ll get that as well. 🙂
S2, if you can, be sure to mention that Svensmark and Friis-Christenson have essentially debunked their own theory. Cosmic ray decrease tracks almost exactly with temperature after you remove a few things that are completely unconnected with cosmic rays (a perfectly legitimate analysis method, for those unaware of it). The unconnected things they removed were volcanoes, ENSO, and a 0.14C linear warming trend. (0.14C is roughly what you’d find if you remove ENSO and vulcanism from the instrumental records.)
Cheers, Brian. I hadn’t read the “Reply to Lockwood and Fröhlich” before.
Thanks!
One thing I’ve noticed people caring about: the expansion of poison ivy’s range northward as things warm up; fire ants also will follow the warmth, as sea lice have in the oceans. Nothing like a good rash to make things personal.
I am sure somebody will sooner or later post a blog decrying that all the feverish activity by people concerned about CO2 emission, is in itself a significant source of…CO2 emissions…
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If you’re referring to Al Gore’s private jet which doesn’t exist, then yes, people have already written about it. And they ended up with eggs on their faces.
honestpoet:
I don’t think the effects of poison ivy expansion are that immediate, though…
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