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BACKGROUND: This paper summarizes data from 7 studies that used Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) to guide climate messaging with the goal of increasing climate-mitigating behavioral intentions. Together, the studies address 5 research questions. 1) Does PMT predict behavioral intentions in the context of climate change mitigation? 2) Does PMT work similarly for climate change deniers vs acknowledgers? 3) Are the effects of threat and efficacy additive or multiplicative? 4) Does adding measures of collective threat and efficacy improve the model accuracy for a collective problem like climate change? 5) Can threat and efficacy appraisals - and ultimately behavioral intentions - be shifted through climate messaging? METHODS: Seven online experiments were conducted on US adults (N = 3,761) between 2020 and 2022. Participants were randomly assigned to a control condition or to one of several experimental conditions designed to influence threat, efficacy, or both. Participants indicated their belief in climate change, ethnicity, gender, and political orientation. They completed measures of personal threat and efficacy, collective threat and efficacy, and behavioral intentions. RESULTS: Multiple regressions, ANCOVAs, and effect sizes were used to evaluate our research questions. Consistent with PMT, threat and efficacy appraisals predicted climate mitigation behavioral intentions, even among those who denied climate change. Different interactions emerged for climate deniers and acknowledgers, suggesting that in this context threat and efficacy are not just additive in their effects (but these effects were small). Including measures of collective threat and efficacy only modestly improved the model. Finally, evidence that threat and efficacy appraisals can be shifted was weak and inconsistent; mitigation behavioral intentions were not reliably influenced by the messages tested. CONCLUSIONS: PMT effectively predicts climate change mitigation behavioral intentions among US adults, whether they deny climate change or acknowledge it. Threat appraisals may be more impactful for deniers, while efficacy appraisals may be more impactful for acknowledgers. Including collective-level measures of threat and efficacy modestly improves model fit. Contrary to PMT research in other domains, threat and efficacy appraisals were not easily shifted under the conditions tested here, and increases did not reliably lead to increases in behavioral intentions.

The article discusses the importance of incorporating climate education in business curricula and highlights the challenges faced by educators in doing so. It introduces En-ROADS, a computer simulation model developed by Climate Interactive, the MIT-Sloan Sustainability Initiative, and Ventana Systems, as a promising tool for experiential learning about climate change and the role of businesses in addressing it. The simulation allows participants to propose actions that can mitigate climate change and assess their impact on global temperatures and equity considerations. The article emphasizes the effectiveness of En-ROADS in increasing knowledge, engagement, and optimism towards climate action, and highlights its versatility and availability as open-source software. [Extracted from the article]

In this paper I review recent research on climate migration, including estimates of the numbers of future migrants owing to climate change. I introduce a typology of climate migration including strategic, disaster, managed relocation and trapped populations. I draw on migration theory and findings on the integration of immigrants and refugees to suggest that a good way to manage and prepare for climate migration is for rich countries to allocate extra visas to poorer countries that are suffering the effects of climate migration, partly as reparations for climate injustice. These visas will allow strategic migrants to seed further migration by tying the countries together through social networks, and eventually will provide a co-ethnic community for disaster migrants and relocated communities. I also review research on refugees to suggest questions for researchers to answer on how best to integrate disaster migrants going forward. Finally, I review the growing intersection of climate denialism and anti-immigrant sentiment among right-wing movements. I suggest that planning for the successful integration of large numbers of migrants fleeing climate change should be a top priority not least because this success will help to preserve the social trust that is necessary for successful climate mitigation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research in the Western world shows that men are in general more likely than women to deny human-induced climate change or certain aspects of it. We hypothesize that threatened masculinity contributes to such gender differences in Sweden. Threatened masculinity refers to the perception that a man's masculinity is being challenged, undermined, or devalued, often due to societal changes that advance women's rights. Given that environmental care and concern are typically associated with femininity, men who perceive that masculinity is threatened may be more likely to deny climate change to restore a sense of masculinity. Across three cross-sectional online surveys with representative samples of Swedish adults (total N = 2,476), men were more likely to deny climate change than women. Threatened masculinity—measured by belief in a shift in sexism and belongingness with men's rights activists—predicted climate change denial. In line with our hypothesis, belief in a sexism shift and, to a lesser extent, belongingness with men's rights activists mediated from gender to climate change denial. Hence threatened masculinity contributes to a higher tendency among men compared to women to deny climate change in these samples. This research adds to the understanding of gender gaps in environmental attitudes found in many Western countries and highlights climate change denial as a potential correlate of the growing gender-related polarization observed in these contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "Rethinking the psychoanalysis of masculinity: From toxic to seminal" by Karl Figlio in the British Journal of Psychotherapy explores a revised psychoanalytic theory of masculinity from a Kleinian perspective. Figlio challenges Freud's focus on castration anxiety and introduces the concept of "seminality" to redefine male sexuality. He discusses the impact of early experiences on masculinity, misogyny, and the financial crisis of 2008, linking toxic masculinity to unresolved conflicts with the mother. Figlio's work offers a comprehensive and thought-provoking analysis of masculinity, emphasizing the importance of understanding male vulnerabilities and anxieties. [Extracted from the article]

This study explores how European think tanks with obstructive positions on climate policy use the social network X to advance their agendas. The aim is to understand their digital communication strategies, the issues they address, the use of hyperlinks, and the impact on interaction and online polarization. A mixed-methods analysis was conducted on tweets from twelve organizations known for opposing climate policies. Out of an initial 96,607 tweets, 803 relevant messages were selected to evaluate thematic content and interaction reach. The analysis identified five dominant thematic areas in the tweets: economic impacts of climate policy, ideological perspectives, questioning of official science, proposed technological solutions, and other messages. The higher levels of interaction were generated by messages with a political or ideological focus and those proposing technological solutions. In addition, most hyperlinks directed users to the think tanks' own websites rather than to external sources. European anti-climate change think tanks use social network X to promote their agendas through ideological and technical messages that generate high engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of anthropogenic climate change are rapidly worsening, but current efforts to mitigate this crisis are insufficient. Therefore, it is critically important to understand how to motivate more individuals to take action to protect against future climate change impacts. This study examines the individual‐level factors that predict motivations to act, as well as potential barriers to action in a sample of Canadian adults. Participants completed a questionnaire that assessed a) demographics; b) climate change knowledge, opinions, and scepticism; and c) psychological factors that may impede action. The responses were analyzed to determine the factors that explain whether individuals would change their actions in light of climate change and to what extent climate change considerations impact their actions. Predictors of action included how informed individuals were about climate change, perceived severity of its effects, perceived urgency to act, and climate change scepticism. The strongest predictor was perceived powerlessness; individuals who felt a sense of powerlessness were less likely to change their actions and reported that the threat of climate change had less influence over their behaviours. Powerlessness in turn was associated with age and political affiliation. Implications of these findings, and possible solutions to overcome the barrier of perceived powerlessness, are discussed. Key messages: The strongest predictor of climate change inaction is perceived powerlessness.Climate change action is also predicted by how informed individuals feel about climate change, the perceived severity of its effects, the perceived urgency to act, and climate change scepticism.Targeted interventions may help individuals become more empowered to act on climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates how the work sphere shapes climate-cultural orientations by looking at the differences in climate-related discourses typically practiced at the workplace. These discourses are based on different normative convictions and result in various practical implications that together form employees' collective climate-cultural orientations. The occupational context plays a decisive role, as most adults invest large shares of time into their work. Yet, thus far, relevant questions have remained substantially under-researched, as the bulk of social-scientific analyses still focuses on the consumption side of sustainability issues, although the potential impact within the work sphere is much higher than the level of efficacy that individual consumers can exert in the private sphere. Based on seven focus-group discussions with different occupational groups, I present diverging climate-related convictions, underlining that society is currently far from reaching an agreement on the consensus formulated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Fusing Pierre Bourdieu's theory of social space with Kari Marie Norgaard's observations on the social organization of climate-change denial, the study initially considers the role of different group-specific forms of (not) knowing. Subsequently, it focuses on circulating efficacy expectations and (related) attributions of responsibility to different societal actors. I then show that climate denial is prevalent in all the work spheres I consider, albeit to different degrees, and that it can manifest explicitly or implicitly. Even occupational groups whose work is directly related to climate matters and whose socioeconomic situation would allow for more consistent climate action, report that inconsistent information and norms of individual freedom and flexibility prevent action, fostering implicit denial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Distrust in science has been linked to scepticism over vaccines and climate change. Using data from nationally representative surveys administered in eight key countries for global efforts to mitigate climate change and COVID-19 (Australia, Brazil, China, India, Japan, South Africa, the UK and US), we find that distrust in scientists was an important predictor variable for most sceptics, who were sceptical of one issue but not both, in February 2021, when most countries had experienced their first wave of the pandemic. However, the association was significantly weaker among the segment of hardcore sceptics who were both climate sceptics and antivaxxers. We demonstrate that these individuals tended to possess many of the typical sceptic characteristics such as high distrust in social institutions and rightward political orientation, which are (collectively) suggestive of an underlying sceptic mindset rather than a specific distrust of scientists. Our results suggest that different types of sceptics necessitate different strategies to dispel scepticism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post‐tropical cyclone Fiona made landfall in Nova Scotia, Canada, in September 2022 with the force of a Category 2 hurricane. Using 'risk society' as an analytical framework, and Thomas A. Birkland's 'focusing event' concept, this paper seeks to understand how publics construct risk in the context of climate change and how institutions engage with those narratives. A qualitative content analysis of 439 newspaper articles from across Canada reveals that most media provide a superficial description of hazard impacts. When media are critical, they connect Fiona to climate change, other extreme events, social vulnerability, and systemic inequality. In response to Fiona and industry trends, insurance representatives indicate a withdraw from covering low‐probability, high‐consequence events owing to ambiguity in risk analysis and financial interests, complicating hazard relief. Political actors' rhetoric is strong—delivering relief in unprecedented ways and offering new adaptive policy. However, a history of unfulfilled political promises to act on climate change elicits scepticism from media sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production and dissemination of disinformation is a global phenomenon in relation to sensitive issues such as climate change. This article analyses the activity (n = 419) of nine independent platforms debunking disinformation in North America, Europe and Latin America. Findings show that most fact-checking results were false or misleading (86.4%). Four main conclusions are drawn. Firstly, regardless of language, geographical or cultural differences, there is a consistent presence of manipulated content across countries, confirming the worrying levels of disinformation on climate change. Secondly, three central narratives for spreading disinformation have been identified: denial of scientific evidence, distortion of science and attribution of ulterior motives to action on climate change, often linked to conspiracy theories. Although there are differences in terms of representation, these narratives are prevalent in the three regions. Thirdly, these narratives revolve around topics such as meteorology, natural phenomena and temperature or the distortion of evidence about the effects of climate change. Finally, social media (52.5%) and websites and pseudo-media (25.8%) are the main sources of climate change disinformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This viewpoint analyses the relationship between the climate crisis and democratic quality, considering the various reports and studies that have been published on the role of disinformation in identifying the main global risks. To define the lines of action, a cross-cutting perspective is required to distinguish between obstructionist, denialist and sceptical narratives, but at the same time, another perspective, from the consequences for citizens in terms of apathy, disconnection or information anxiety. To this end, we define the main challenges in research on climate disinformation in the coming years and the types of social and academic response that have the greatest potential, including media literacy, specialized training for journalism and communication professionals, as well as the creation of institutional collaboration networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The online harassment of female politicians who focus on climate change and environmental policy has become a major problem in Canada and other democratic nations. Despite growing awareness of the problem, there is little agreement among scholars on how to measure these nuanced forms of harassment. This study develops an original seven-point scale to measure the severity of harassment three Canadian female politicians receive when Tweeting about climate change and a six-point schema to categorize the types of accounts behind the replies. My results reveal that 86% of replies contained some form of harassment, most often name-calling or questioning the authority of the female politicians, and come from users with spam or anonymous accounts. Further results from my Bayesian hierarchical model suggest that despite differences in status and political affiliation across the three politicians, they are almost equally impacted by harassment when Tweeting about climate change. These findings contribute to understanding the intersection between climate change denialism and the gendered nature of online harassment. This article contains language and themes that some readers may find offensive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite growing scientific alarm about anthropogenic climate change, the world is not on track to solve the crisis. Inaction may be partially explained by skepticism about climate change and resistance to proenvironmental policies from people who are motivated to maintain the status quo (i.e., conservative-rightists). Therefore, practical interventions are needed. In the present research program, we tested an experimental manipulation derived from system justification theory in which proenvironmental initiatives were framed as patriotic and necessary to maintain the American "way of life." In a large, nationally representative U.S. sample, we found that the system-sanctioned change intervention successfully increased liberal-leftists' as well as conservative-rightists' belief in climate change; support for proenvironmental policies; and willingness to share climate information on social media. Similar messages were effective in an aggregated analysis involving 63 countries, although the overall effect sizes were small. More granular exploratory analyses at the country level revealed that while the intervention was moderately successful in some countries (e.g., Brazil, France, Israel), it backfired in others (Germany, Belgium, Russia). Across the three outcome variables, the effects of the intervention were consistent and pronounced in the United States, in support of the hypothesis that system justification motivation can be harnessed on behalf of social change. Potential explanations for divergent country-level effects are discussed. The system-sanctioned change intervention holds considerable promise for policymakers and communicators seeking to increase climate awareness and action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effectiveness of strategic psychology‐based marketing techniques for increasing public support for conservation is poorly understood. We assessed how such techniques affect support for tropical rainforest restoration with a controlled online experiment with 1166 nationally representative residents of the United Kingdom. We tested whether support increased when adding ecosystem service (ES) framings to typical nongovernmental organizations’ (NGOs) biodiversity‐focused messages that emphasize benefits to UK residents or people living near the tropical restoration site and a dynamic social norm nudge that emphasized increasing popularity of environmental restoration. We considered how respondents’ psychological traits (nature connection, self‐efficacy, psychological benefits of supporting charities, awareness of environmental degradation in the Global South, and climate change skepticism) influenced responses. Outcomes included respondents’ reported advertisement sufficiency, sympathetic attitudes, behavioral support, and financial support. The study population typically found advertisements sufficient and exhibited sympathetic attitudes and financial, but not behavioral, support. Younger people exhibited greater conservation support than older respondents. Messages framed solely on biodiversity conservation were as effective as those highlighting additional ES benefits received by UK residents and people near the tropical restoration site. This suggests that framing around ESs, rather than nature's intrinsic value, may not strengthen public support for conservation. The dynamic social norm nudge had perverse effects. It reduced perceived social norms and most outcome variables. Alternative dynamic norm nudges warrant testing, but our results support research suggesting dynamic norm nudges can be ineffective when associated with activism, challenging their use by conservation NGOs. Psychological benefits of supporting charities and perceived self‐efficacy increased support for advertisements, highlighting the benefits of including impact statements relating respondents’ support to specific outcomes. Climate change skepticism decreased support, whereas nature connection and perceived static social norms increased it, highlighting the need to increase nature connection and pro‐environmental social norms to elevate public support for conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial focuses on rethinking the role of scientific knowledge in climate communication, exploring how knowledge is used and its effectiveness in influencing behavioral changes. It critiques traditional models that emphasize knowledge as a direct precursor to action, arguing instead for a more nuanced understanding that incorporates diverse forms of knowledge and emphasizes dialogue-oriented communication.

Given the urgency of climate change action and the significant climate impact of household emissions, understanding the drivers of individuals' sustainable behavior patterns is more important than ever. Consequently, we investigate whether different clusters of individual users can be distinguished regarding sustainability-related values, attitudes, and intentions. If these diverse clusters exist, we can explore tailored approaches to promote sustainable behavior patterns among them based on their unique needs and targets. For this purpose, we employ a mixed-method approach combining qualitative interviews with a quantitative survey. The obtained insights help us identify core factors that drive sustainable behavior, develop representations of different user groups, and suggest individualized interventions for supporting sustainable behavior patterns. The qualitative part comprised interviews with ten participants, resulting in the development of qualitative personas. Emerging differences could subsequently be used to select validated psychological scales for the quantitative part to confirm the differences. Applying data-driven clustering, we identify five intention-based clusters that vary regarding factors such as belief in climate change, collaboration, or skepticism concerning sustainability. Building on both qualitative and quantitative insights, five validated personas are created for research and practical use. These personas include Socially Sustainable, Responsible Savers, Unconcerned Spenders, Comfort-Oriented, and Skeptical Consumers. Individuals corresponding to the selected persona may, for example, respond positively to sustainability benefits, while others may be more receptive to hedonistic benefits. Addressing related varying motivational factors raises the demand for individualized interventions. These could be achieved by incorporating the personas' needs with more individualized products and services to promote sustainable behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildfires, weather extremes, and other conditions induced partially by climate change add urgency to the project of accelerating the clean energy transition from fossil fuels to zero-carbon energy infrastructure. Yet the hurdles to accomplishing such a massive industrial-scale transition are daunting. Indeed, large renewable energy generation projects regularly face denials or project-killing delays across the United States. This Article proposes a national policy to channel the bulk of new clean energy projects to targeted categories of both rural lands and urban, post-industrial lands that we define collectively as "repurposed energy" sites. Such lands will consist of marginal farmland, abandoned coal mines, retired or retiring coal plants, closed landfills, and other underutilized or abandoned properties known as "brownfields." Repurposed energy addresses two core problems in the communities slated to host new clean energy generation projects like utility-scale (large) wind farms and solar plants. Developers predominantly pursue clean energy projects in rural and, to a lesser extent, post-industrial communities, where available land is more plentiful, but climate change denial or opposition to clean energy projects can be significant. Yet many of these communities also have flagging economies, underutilized infrastructure, and abandoned lands previously used for energy resource extraction or industrial activities. Prioritizing such lands for clean energy projects addresses the dual problems of clean energy opposition and economic decline, and it comes at a perfect moment. The massive infusion of federal money from the recent federal infrastructure and climate bills can make repurposed energy a reality. In this Article we build on existing legislative and regulatory efforts that prioritize clean energy development on already-disturbed lands to construct a more complete legal and policy framework for implementing repurposed energy. In doing so, we explore the existing laws that can support this approach as well as new policies and cultural narratives needed to ensure that the energy transition comprehensively addresses the governance issues, political economic barriers, procedural hurdles, and environmental and energy justice challenges associated with the massive buildout of U.S. energy infrastructure. This build-out is a critical step toward combating climate change. As with all challenges in the energy realm, repurposed energy is far from a complete solution, but it is an achievable one and, we argue, a central enabling pillar of a successful energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding and accepting climate change is crucial for individuals to adopt environmentally responsible behaviors and support political actions aimed at mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. In this cross-national comparative study, we explore factors associated with both climate change denial and awareness. We analyze data from the European Social Survey (Wave 8) and additional country-level data to identify factors associated with each of these outcomes. We measure awareness as a composite index that aggregates multiple indicators, including beliefs about the existence of climate change, concern, causes, impact, and responsibility. Our findings indicate that climate change denial and awareness do not exist on a single scale. Climate change awareness is strongly influenced by individuals' socio-demographic characteristics, values, and political orientation. Higher levels of awareness are found among those who are more receptive to educational efforts that promote scientific knowledge. In contrast, climate change denial is weakly related to socio-demographic and political factors and is more influenced by individuals' worldviews and detachment from mainstream society. European post-socialist countries demonstrate distinct attitudes towards environmental issues, with lower average climate change awareness and a higher proportion of individuals denying climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Democratic innovations scholars note that deliberation has the potential to counteract populism. However, so far, we do not know what the theoretical foundation would be to expect such an effect, nor do we know to what extent the supposed effect actually materialises empirically. This study adds to the literature by offering a theoretical framework and by testing this framework empirically. Specifically, we examine to what extent citizens with a high degree of populist attitudes became less populist after participating in a deliberative event. We study an actual citizens' assembly on climate mitigation policy in the Netherlands via pre- and post-surveys and carry out an SEM analysis (N = 105). We find that citizens with a higher degree of populist attitudes do become less populist, but find no evidence that this is due to the (perceived quality of the) deliberation. At the same time, the climate skeptics who participated became more populist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For many emerging into the realisation that the climate crisis is here and present and that we will all be affected, there is a feeling of being overwhelmed and the sense that we are standing on the edge of a precipice. In these times of uncertainty and fear, artist interventions have a capacity to engage with these embodied experiences and bring a sense of hope to the conversation through creative reflective engagement. The act of making can reduce anxiety and is a way for people to express themselves as they enter this phase of climate adaptation. As UK activist group, Culture Declares Emergency, puts it, 'creativity is the antidote of despair' (2019). Through the Insp-AIR-ation ArtScience community project, artist facilitators focused on perceptions of air quality. The ways in which we organise our collective lives are very influential on weather cycles and climate rhythms. Through the kaupapa (guiding process) in this emergent project, we sought to give voice to the concerns of community groups, their hopes, and aspirations. This arts project provided people with a space and platform to shape their feelings and express values. While science has been pivotal in highlighting the precariousness of our current way of living, the arts have never been more important than now in expressing who we are and shaping a positive response towards a liveable and just future for all. Commenting on the Climate Crisis, former US advisor, Gus Speth has called for a social response and culture as a necessary agent for bringing about transformational change. Basarab Nicolescu, in La transdisciplinarité: Manifeste (1996), talks about building bridges between science and our ways of being through symbolic language which is enriched by the originating values of the community. This project is one such response in building bridges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Ecological Communication and Ecoliteracy: Discourses of Awareness and Action for the Lifescape" edited by Maria Bortoluzzi and Elisabetta Zurru explores how communication can influence our relationship with the environment. The book covers diverse case studies on language, imagery, and other forms of expression that can shape environmental awareness and actions. Grounded in ecolinguistics and critical discourse analysis, the contributors examine how communication can address ecological challenges and promote positive change. The volume offers insights into the transformative power of communication in fostering eco-awareness and sustainable actions, making it a valuable resource for those interested in ecological communication and education. [Extracted from the article]

A growing body of literature studies how expert practices constitute issues such as climate change, migration, or public health as international objects of expertise. The article contributes to this research agenda by highlighting the role of digital visual technologies and infrastructures in the constitution and governance of these international objects. It develops the concept of visual objects and uses it to trace and explain the emergence of a new technological initiative conducted by the European Space Agency (ESA) and the EU: the vision of a 'digital twin Earth' (DTE). The idea behind the DTE is to combine various technologies, including satellite Earth observation, advanced computer models, and AI, to build a digital replica of our planet and thereby govern risks emanating from environmental changes and other global challenges. The article provides a first analysis of the international politics of the DTE. It shows how the visual object of the DTE functions as an attractor of heterogeneous actors and practices involved in the European space policy field thereby temporarily stabilizing this complex assemblage. Finally, it traces how the DTE and its machinic ways of seeing enact the Earth not only as an object of knowledge but also as one of experimentation and intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the European Union's 'Green Deal' from its inception in 2019 to its adoption in 2023-2024, focusing on the political context, legislative proposals, and challenges faced during this period. Despite energy and cost crises, the EU has remained committed to climate and energy transitions, with most Green Deal legislation being adopted. However, there has been a rise in opposition and protests against green policies, particularly from right-wing and far-right groups, leading to concerns about implementation challenges and potential shifts in climate policies. The article concludes that while the Green Deal has shown resilience, its framing and focus may evolve in response to domestic politicization and global competition. [Extracted from the article]

An effective educational response to the climate emergency requires disrupting existing ideas about universities' roles, curriculum design and the relationship between educators, students and communities. This study examines an approach to curriculum development taken by academics at The Open University, UK whilst developing the postgraduate short course ‘Teacher development: Addressing the climate emergency’. We sought to challenge hierarchical models of knowledge transfer by working in collaboration with disciplinary experts, grassroots leaders, and young climate activists and foregrounding online and local grassroots practices, students' civic participation, citizen science and intergenerational dialogues. We report on our collaborative autoethnographic study, which we conducted with respect to the course development. This collaborative ethnographic approach has allowed us to externalise and acknowledge the ways in which approaches of collaboration and care have underpinned our course production process, as well as being essential to the ways in which we enable our students to support their own learners. This paper aims to raise awareness of the significance of embracing uncertainty and adopting pedagogies of care and adds to the literature that employs Noddings' Framework of Moral Education to critically examine pedagogical practice. The insights gained will be useful for educators seeking to develop climate‐related curricula and the collaborative approach taken will be of interest to those developing new curricula in teacher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the middle of the Chesapeake Bay sits small and shrinking Tangier Island, Virginia. Home to 1,200 residents a century ago, the island now has fewer than 400 residents, a population decreasing as the land subsides into the bay. Scientists predict the island will be uninhabitable by the 2040s, while residents themselves profess to be climate change deniers and science skeptics. I examine the politics and social order of engineering interventions and their afterlives on Tangier, endlessly studied and sometimes implemented by the federal government, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A northern channel bisecting the island, first dredged in 1966, and a seawall on the western side of the island, constructed in 1990, were both obsolete before they were created, showing the ways in which infrastructure, especially dredging of waterways, and its afterlives are channeled as processes controlled by state experts, justified by and justifying endless cascades of interventions, naturalizing the landscape, and ultimately placing Tangiermen as willing victims and imminent refugees in an uncertain crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Populist radical right parties are often considered to be the most extreme opponents of climate protection in Western Europe. Others predict a 'climate nationalism' among populist radical right parties combining nativism with a pro-climate agenda. Based on a new data set on party positions on climate change, including 485 party manifestos – 76 from populist radical right parties – from the 1990s to 2022 in 10 Western European countries, we find that populist radical right parties are divided but generally less likely to speak out for climate protection than other parties, which rather contradicts the climate nationalism argument. We find that populist radical right parties only became more aware of the issue since 2019 in the face of the mass mobilizations of Fridays for Future and, to a lesser extent, when it became a visible issue within the party system. Thus, we argue that populist radical right parties are forced to talk about the climate when the issue is emphasized by organized actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fossil fuel companies hold enormous political, economic, and knowledge production power. Recently, industry operators have pivoted from pushing climate denialism to campaigns aimed at individualizing responsibility for climate crisis. In this paper, we focus on one related outcome of such efforts – people's experiences of complicity – here in the context of unconventional oil and gas (UOG) production. We ask: How do mobilized activists experience fossil fuel scapegoating, and what does it mean for their goals as they organize against UOG production? We show that even activists fighting UOG production feel complicit in fossil fuel production, and these feelings of complicity diminish their demands for UOG accountability. We argue that these outcomes have been especially pernicious in cultural contexts like that of the United States, where neoliberal ideologies are normalized, centering personal responsibility, individualization, and identification as consumers rather than citizens. We marshal an extensive qualitative dataset and advance a theory of complicity as a way to understand: a) how social movements intersect with neoliberalized patterns of life; b) how experiences of complicity affect activism; and c) how this may contribute to fossil fuel firms' goals of undercutting organizing. We end by examining how a sub-set of activists works to dismantle this complicity narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we claim that recent developments in climate science and renewable energy should prompt a reframing of debates surrounding climate change mitigation. Taken together, we argue that these developments suggest (1) global climate collapse in this century is a non-negligible risk, (2) mitigation offers substantial benefits to current generations, and (3) mitigation by some can generate social tipping dynamics that could ultimately make renewables cheaper than fossil fuels. We explain how these claims undermine familiar framings of climate change, wherein mitigation is understood as self-sacrifice that individuals and governments must be morally persuaded or incentivized to undertake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's elementary classrooms, students face an uncertain future, standing to inherit a world characterized by environmental unsustainability. Therefore, elementary teachers must educate their students on anthropogenic climate change to increase the likelihood that future generations will mitigate its risks. This article documents the perspectives on children's literature depicting climate change held by 27 Teacher Candidates in a conservative, oil-producing region of a U.S. state. The results show a low likelihood of participants self-censoring the topic of climate change compared with other frequently censored topics (i.e., gender, sexuality, and race). However, they report accepting others' views on climate change even when those views contradict settled climate science. This implies a need for more directed preparation for elementary teachers to actively negotiate with their students to ensure they develop research-aligned perspectives on climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a sample selection model with spatial correlation in the selection and outcome variables and studies the maximum likelihood method of estimation. Consistency and asymptotic normality of the maximum likelihood estimator are established by the spatial near‐epoch dependent properties of the variables. Monte Carlo simulations show its good finite‐sample performance. This model is used to examine the impact of climate change on cereal yields in Southeast Asia and projects that climate change may cause a reduction in cereal yields by 7%$$ 7\% $$ (31%$$ 31\% $$) in the minimum‐change (maximum‐change) scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research in the Western world shows that men are in general more likely than women to deny human-induced climate change or certain aspects of it. We hypothesize that threatened masculinity contributes to such gender differences in Sweden. Threatened masculinity refers to the perception that a man’s masculinity is being challenged, undermined, or devalued, often due to societal changes that advance women’s rights. Given that environmental care and concern are typically associated with femininity, men who perceive that masculinity is threatened may be more likely to deny climate change to restore a sense of masculinity. Across three cross-sectional online surveys with representative samples of Swedish adults (total N = 2,476), men were more likely to deny climate change than women. Threatened masculinity—measured by belief in a shift in sexism and belongingness with men’s rights activists—predicted climate change denial. In line with our hypothesis, belief in a sexism shift and, to a lesser extent, belongingness with men’s rights activists mediated from gender to climate change denial. Hence threatened masculinity contributes to a higher tendency among men compared to women to deny climate change in these samples. This research adds to the understanding of gender gaps in environmental attitudes found in many Western countries and highlights climate change denial as a potential correlate of the growing gender-related polarization observed in these contexts.

Semi‐arid alpine ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau are experiencing rapid climate change and extensive anthropogenic activity, concomitant with the encroachment of shrubs. Shrub encroachment will lead to changes in both the ecosystem structure and functioning of the semi‐arid alpine steppes. Yet, the encroaching impacts of shrubs on the above‐ and belowground ecosystem functioning of the semi‐arid alpine steppes remain uncertain. To quantify shrub encroachment impacts on ecosystem functioning of the semi‐arid alpine steppes, two alpine steppe sites encroached by shrub species are investigated, with one site encroached by leguminous shrub species (Caragana spinifera) and another site encroached by non‐leguminous shrub species (Dasiphora fruticosa). Results shows that the individual ecosystem functions and the ecosystem multifunctionality (EMF) of alpine steppes are significantly enhanced following both leguminous and non‐leguminous shrubs encroachment. We conclude that shrub encroachment tends to facilitate the belowground EMF (BEMF) but has neutral effects on the aboveground EMF (AEMF) in alpine steppes. Our findings also highlight that soil nutrients play critical roles in driving ecosystem functioning responses to shrubs encroachment. These findings further our understanding of shrub encroachment impacts on the ecosystem functioning of the semi‐arid alpine steppes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) spacecraft drifts about the Lagrangian point ≈ 1.4 − 1.6 × 106 km from Earth, where its Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) observes the entire sunlit face of Earth every 1–2 h. In an attempt to detect “signals,” i.e., longer-term changes and semi-permanent features such as the ever-present ocean glitter, while suppressing geographic “noise,” in this study, we introduce temporally and conditionally averaged reflectance images, performed on a fixed grid of pixels and uniquely suited to the DSCOVR/EPIC observational circumstances. The resulting images (maps), averaged in time over months and conditioned on surface/cover type such as land, ocean, or clouds, show seasonal dependence literally at a glance, e.g., by an apparent extent of polar caps. Clear ocean-only aggregate maps feature central patches of ocean glitter, linking directly to surface roughness and, thereby, global winds. When combined with clouds, these blue planet “moving average” maps also serve as diagnostic tools for cloud retrieval algorithms. Land-only images convey the prominence of Earth’s deserts and the variable opacity of the atmosphere at different wavelengths. Insights into climate science and diagnostic and educational tools are likely to emerge from such average reflectance maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Recent minimum population estimates are critical for effective marine mammal conservation, yet such estimates are often lacking at the stock or management level. Throughout the Main Hawaiian Islands, pantropical spotted dolphins (PSD; Stenella attenuata attenuata) are comprised of a pelagic and three island-associated stocks (O‘ahu, 4-Islands, and Hawai‘i Island). The insular stocks, in particular, face multiple anthropogenic and natural threats such as vessel impacts, fisheries interactions, marine debris, climate change, and disease. Prior to this study, no abundance estimates of the 4-Islands (i.e., the Maui Nui region) PSD stock existed that were suitable for management use and inclusion in stock assessment report calculations. Methods: We generated annual mark-recapture abundance estimates of naturally marked adults in a POPAN-framework using photo-identification data collected from small-boat surveys during 2014–2022 in the Maui Nui region. We extrapolated these estimates to the wider population using dorsal fin mark rates. Results and discussion: We collected data on 62 groups of PSD, throughout all months of the year, and with an average group size of 55.70 (SD = 17.31). We analyzed encounter histories of 174 distinct individuals. Annual recapture rate averaged 1.84 (SD = 1.32) with a maximum of 7. Individuals detected per year averaged 35.67 (SD = 21.16) with a maximum of 77 in 2017. Overall mark rate was 0.495 (SE = 0.010), resulting in total annual abundance estimates that averaged 154.87 (SE = 14.25) and ranged from 105 (SE = 13) in 2014 to 232 (SE = 31) in 2017. Although abundance estimates fluctuated, generally 250 animals or less used the study area each year and we found no overall evidence of a trend. Our benchmark results revealed a small population in need of monitoring given the numerous threats facing this stock, the uncertainty of their impacts, and the decreased resiliency and recovery potential of small populations to negative demographic and environmental stochastic events. Our findings, including documenting long-term site fidelity and year-round presence of PSD in Maui Nui, further signify this area as one of future research and conservation importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This editorial titled "Enhancing the right to science: the triple planetary crisis and the need for comprehensive approaches" emphasizes the importance of the right to science in addressing global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss. It discusses the role of the right to science in promoting access to scientific knowledge, protecting against harm, and ensuring academic freedom. The editorial also highlights the need to address global inequalities in scientific practice, decolonize scholarship, and address gender inequalities in the field. It calls for international cooperation and the protection of scientific integrity in the face of disinformation and anti-science sentiment. The article acknowledges the efforts of organizations like UNESCO and the UN Human Rights Council in promoting the right to science but recognizes the obstacles and inequalities that need to be addressed for effective implementation. [Extracted from the article]

This paper evaluates how the contribution of scientific publications on climate change from the University of São Paulo (USP) evolved between 1989 and 2022. The study conducted a bibliometric analysis of 2874 research articles collected from the Web of Science and Scopus databases to explore main trend topics and reveal influential journals and collaboration networks using the Bibliometrix software. The study shows an increasing and more significant temporal publication distribution from 2010 onwards. Based on the author's affiliations, results indicate that the most important partnerships are national (67%), while the international co-authorships are predominantly with research collaborators of the Global North (North America and Europe). Several papers published in the period are in high-impact factor journals, evidence on climate change from USP. Environmental services, Atlantic Forest, Tropical Forest, Amazon, biodiversity, and Land use are the hotspot research topics to which USP researchers contribute. The evolution of three thematic groups was identified: (i) physical science, (ii) causes and effects, and (iii) strategies, discussed in themes such as organic matter, deforestation, and mitigation, respectively. This research is helpful to get insights into the current research development trends, to show the broadness of the scientific production, and the importance of the USP role in the climate change theme. Ultimately, it provides valuable information for further studies and suggests the possibility of advancing the research agenda on climate change with the Global South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction As environmental and climate issues permeate all areas of human activity, it is increasingly likely that discussions about these problems and solutions will arise daily in teaching across disciplines. The knowledge of sustainability and climate change among teachers of different education levels is not very systematic, which can hinder the growth of climate awareness in society. The problem Misunderstood or oversimplified concepts about the nature of the problem can lead to erroneous conclusions and practices. In order to design more effective teacher training and better learning materials for both teachers and students, it is important to understand the nature of the misconceptions, what content of scientific explanations is missed or failed to be integrated into one's knowledge system, and which knowledge might be distorted to fit the lay understanding. The study's first aim was to describe the knowledge of the teachers who participated in specially organised interdisciplinary training on the nature of, and adaptation to, climate change. Specifically, teachers' pseudo-, synthetic, and misconceptions about climate change were the focus of the analysis. The study's second aim was to assess the impact of climate awareness training to take the first steps in examining the effectiveness of this increasingly common way of spending resources, which can problematically generate an illusion of knowledge acquisition. Thus, the study assessed how climate-related training impacted the change in knowledge among the trainees. The method The three research questions guiding the study were: 1) How science-based is teachers' understanding of the nature of, and the adaptation to, climate change? 2) How much and what kind of misconceptions characterise teachers' understanding regarding the nature of climate change? 3) Do climate-related misconceptions (their type and frequency) change as a result of the short interdisciplinary course delivered by top experts in the field? The questions posed to the teachers were as follows: • Why does the addition of greenhouse gases warm the global climate? • Please describe the most important actions that you think would help adaptation to climate change. For assessing the understanding of the nature of climate change, five expert knowledge components were distinguished in the science-based answers to this question: • Greenhouse gases absorb heat radiation • Energy is added to the climate system • The extra energy warms the climate • Warming continues until a new energy balance is reached • Greenhouse gases throw the original system out of energetic balance. The results Only some of these components are represented in the teachers' answers. While almost half of the teachers mentioned that the energy added to the system warms the climate, none noted that the warming lasts until a new energy balance is reached. The ontological category or cognitive schema for the emergence of a new energy balance due to the addition of greenhouse gases was missing in the teachers' answers, with only six of them mentioning disturbed energy balance. A lack of understanding of the energy balance process is likely to mean that the dangers of climate change to human society will probably remain unclear to the respondent. This may be why climate topics are undervalued in schools and curricula. An in-depth understanding may make it possible to better assess the current situation and the future. Our second research question revealed reasoning that does not really describe the nature of climate change. The misconceptions included, firstly, the concepts from the wrong ontological category - for example, there were suggestions that climate warming is related to the hole in the ozone layer. Secondly, there were synthetic or pseudo-concepts that demonstrated a simplified understanding of the scientific content - for example, that greenhouse gases create a "film" in the upper layers of the atmosphere. These distorted concepts could result from the oversimplified explanations or metaphorical terms used in science communication, which for the scientist may have scientific content but become common-sensical in the listener's thinking as they focus on some aspect of the metaphor that the scientist did not, in fact, want to emphasise. In the case of the term "adaptation", the clearest gap was understanding the difference between climate change adaptation and climate change mitigation. However, as we do not know whether the respondents might have understood "adaptation" correctly but chose to answer concentrating on how to prevent the need to adapt, we have not labelled this a misconceptualisation. Nevertheless, some of the answers to the open questions indicate that for the respondents, "adaptation" was a new term yet to be filled with content. In conclusion, we found that some core aspects of the relevant knowledge are missing from the teachers' understanding of climate change, and, at the same time, some synthetic and pseudo-conceptual approaches confuse the information on the climate system and climate change. In further teacher training, we need to consider these conclusions in order to enable teachers to discuss, in particular, the missing or misunderstood concepts. Thirdly, we examined the change in knowledge related to the climate change process after a one-day training session on climate change. There was no change in the understanding of the nature of climate change. Several reasons might be contributing to this result. Firstly, before this study, it was not very clear which aspects of climate change knowledge might need the most support, and the training focused equally on all the relevant knowledge. Secondly, especially when learning complex topics, offering learning methods that help the construction of new knowledge is needed. This would enable noticing and becoming aware of one's own misconceptions. However, the premise of such learning is enabling meaningful discussion and construction of knowledge (for example, problem-before-theory-after design). Thirdly, the more complex the topic to be studied and the more numerous the prior misconceptions, the more times should the learner (re)construct new knowledge in their mind before properly grasping the correct approach. The question on adaptation to climate change indicated that the concept of adaptation was generally unfamiliar to many. Thus, the responses addressed climate mitigation instead of adaptation. The focus remained mostly the same both before and after the training. Nevertheless, the training had a statistically significant effect on referring to the concept of adaptation and the adoption of related topics in the answers after the training (e.g., topics of heat, preparedness for climate-related disasters, etc.). Another significant change is that after the training day, the following elements were referred to more frequently: on the individual level - changes to be made in individual life; need for individual awareness and self-education; individual adaptation measures; on the level of systemic changes, there was an increase in mentioning the state and institutional reorganisation in the context of climate change. These changes were statistically significant. It is unclear why the changes in social science knowledge were more significant compared to natural science knowledge. However, based on the theories of concept development, it could be assumed that facts and knowledge related to social life are more directly related to people's everyday practices and as such, are easier to learn. As a rule, this knowledge is also less in conflict with prior knowledge and intuitive conclusions. At the same time, there can be no intuitively correct - if any - understanding of many processes and laws arrived at by natural sciences. Thus, the more effective transferability of social science knowledge compared to natural science knowledge is probably related to experientiality: during the training, heat waves and other changes influencing peoples' lives directly and demonstrating the effects of climate warming were repeatedly discussed. The emergence and further development of this connection may be the reason why, in this case, there has been a statistically significant shift in the answers related to adaptation. Teachers' increased knowledge of climate change leads to greater concern about climate change and, thus, to a greater willingness to act to protect the climate (Seroussi et al., 2019). More accurate and scientifically correct knowledge enables discussions in classrooms on the inevitably complex topic of climate change. As better knowledge is established, more resources and more time can be dedicated to discussions on what can actually be changed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientists, policy-makers, entrepreneurs, and citizens are strongly concerned about the harmful consequences of climate change. Individual beliefs about social norms and economic and political orientations regarding trust and social relationships call into question values such as care for the environment, autonomy, freedom of choice, and risk. Given the influence of the media on public perceptions, it is essential to consider how, with what means, and towards which issues citizens orient themselves to address this epochal phenomenon. Using quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis, the present study investigates the characteristics and reasons of the individuals who are skeptical of the evidence of global warming in Italy and how the Italians inform themselves about this issue. Quantitative analysis was performed on two representative samples of 1011 and 1030 individuals from Observa Science in Society in 2022 and 2023 through a structural equation model (SEM) to study the dimensions associated with climate change skepticism. Qualitative research on a panel of 93 Italians selected by gender, cultural level, and area of residence further highlighted the information channels, methods of use, and the main dimensions of interest in climate change. This robust mixed-mode methodology, which ensures the credibility and reliability of the study's findings, is a key strength of this research. Our results confirm that less trust in science and older age are associated with skepticism. Furthermore, traditional media are the primary means of information despite the growing importance of social relations - including social networks - in shaping opinions on the environment and climate change. The conclusions also reveal that experts influence the public, even if personal experience often mediates this effect. These findings have practical implications for understanding and addressing climate change skepticism in Italy, equipping researchers, policymakers, and individuals interested in this issue with the knowledge to make informed decisions and take effective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]