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“This story, says Joanna Huxster, Ph.D., assistant professor of environmental studies at Eckerd College, “is a prime example of how our observations can fool us. But it’s so convincing to hold a snowball.
“Unfortunately, it’s like taking a ruler and laying it on the ground and saying the Earth is flat.”
Climate change and COVID-19 are prime examples in the discussion of how scientific information can be manipulated.
Trying to figure out which information is correct and which is not can be extremely difficult, Huxster explains. If anyone knew, she would. She studies public understanding of environmental issues and teaches courses in environmental communication and climate change. There is a waiting list to enter both classes.
“The issues are very polarized,” says Huxster. Whether someone identifies as conservative or liberal is one of the main dividing lines, she points out. “Age can also influence people’s sense of urgency, but political ideology seems to be the real driver. “
Partisanship in the media does not help.
Huxster, who received her undergraduate and doctoral degrees from the University of Delaware, says she also focuses on studying and testing effective communication techniques “to increase public understanding of science and inspire actions on environmental issues “. In other words, which messages work and which do not.
Can we blame the internet and the myriad sources of good and bad information? Yes and no, she said. “The internet has absolutely disseminated more information faster. But what is unique is that we have never been so politically polarized as we are today.
And it goes beyond that. “For climate change, a lot of the disinformation has been funded by the fossil fuel industry. The oil industry has followed the big tobacco playbook and has done an incredible job of casting doubt on climate change. They knew that fossil fuels were the root cause of climate change as early as the late 1970s. ”
With a problem as massive as climate change, Huxster sees some very anxious students. And this is not without merit. “We’re on a big precipice right now,” she said. “I’m really interested to see how it goes. … I want to feel like these are conversations students aren’t afraid to have. And I want them to think about how they can get involved in meaningful and effective campaigns to fight climate change. That they know how to act beyond changing their bulbs.
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