Scientists can be climate advocates without tarring reputations, CU Boulder researchers contend

当谈到气候变化的科学传播时, 有谁比气候科学家更适合充当公众的信使呢?

There is broad consensus by scientists that the earth’s climate is growing warmer out of proportion to expected historical cycles, 这在很大程度上是由增加碳排放的人类技术造成的. 然而,, 许多具有相关专业知识的研究人员和学者不愿直言不讳, for fear that they will be tarred as “advocates” rather than objective scientists, 以他们的名誉或他们的学科的名誉为代价.

“科学家们在倡导这个话题上存在矛盾. 一方面，一方面, 他们觉得帮助社会处理重要问题是一种道义上的义务, but are simultaneously cautioned that tainting science with bias will undermine the credibility of science,简·卢布琴科说, 时任美国科学促进会主席, 二十年前. 

这, 博彩平台推荐的两名研究人员说, may be negatively influencing public awareness and knowledge of the scientific foundations of climate change science.

“When those recoiling from spaces of advocacy for evidence-based climate research are the relevant experts who hold insights for useful and informed commentary, these results show that they perhaps should be viewed as missed opportunities for further public engagement,Max Boykoff和David Oonk在12月的《博彩app推荐》杂志上写道.

同时, 他们指出, some scientists who do speak out may blur the lines between evidence-based science and specific policy outcomes, 在怀疑者中煽动怀疑. 

“The relationship between science and policy advocacy is incredibly sticky and fraught,博伊科夫写道, 环境研究副教授, 和Oonk, 一名研究生和研究员 环境科学合作研究所. “而不是把宣传作为一种工具来满足人们的需求, some erroneously concoct visions of advocacy as an inappropriate exercise of telling others where this should be.”

Their research is part of a growing community of scholars examining climate communications—that which comes from scientists or from the mass media and is about climate science.

调查你.S.美国的气候研究人员和学者, and analyzing interviews conducted through a joint effort of “Inside the Greenhouse” (a CU-based initiative to promote multimedia climate change storytelling) and “More Than Scientists” (a community of researchers), Boykoff 和Oonk reach several conclusions about scientists’ attitude toward “the unresolved subject” of climate advocacy.

他们的发现包括:

• 人们普遍认为气候变化是一个紧迫的问题.
• 女性更有可能将其视为一个紧迫的问题.
• Those in the natural sciences are more likely than those in social-science fields to look askance at advocacy.
• Those who are more sympathetic to advocacy are more likely to be influenced by the advocacy of someone with a small personal carbon “footprint” than someone with a larger footprint.
• Younger researchers are more likely to change their own behavior in response to advocacy by a person who boasts a smaller carbon footprint than older scientists.

“你会听到(对气候变化研究人员)人身攻击。, “博彩平台推荐不会听你的，因为你的碳足迹很大,’或者‘你飞到这里来参加这个会议,’”奥克说. 

“但在与年轻科学家的交谈中, 有一种社会责任或道德责任, 这就是博彩平台推荐将要生活的世界, 20, 30年后的未来. 博彩平台推荐扮演着非常重要的角色. 这是博彩平台推荐工作的一部分.’”

Some climate scientists concerned about their academic and public reputations simply go silent. They are hardly alone in their reticence to speak about this complex, politically sensitive topic. A survey by Yale and George Mason universities found that only 13 percent of Americans regularly talk about climate change issues in their lives. 

Reticent climate scientists “are unclear about where they could make useful interventions, 以及他们在哪些方面超出了自己的专业范围,Boykoff说, whose book “Creative (Climate) Communications” is forthcoming from Cambridge University Press. “The resulting lack of engagement … comes at a time when engagement on the part of those relevant experts are most needed.”

Boykoff 和Oonk say it’s important to make clear that scientists can advocate for the evidence without addressing specific policy prescriptions, 比如碳税.

“We have distinguished between advocacy for evidence-based climate science and advocacy for particular policy outcomes, 由于这些倡导方法的合并导致了混乱, 个人主义, 不关心政治的理智主义, 和克制,他们写道。.

“Part of what we are trying to do is give people little more solid ground to be an advocate for science, 信息和证据, 而不会被贴上支持特定政策措施的标签,博伊科夫说.

They also say scientists must be cognizant of their audiences and how they may be perceived. Oonk cites an example related by climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe during a recent talk at CU Boulder, in which a scientist told her he wanted to go out and talk to “faith communities” about climate change.

“She answered, ‘Start with your own faith community and go from there,’Oonk说. “科学家说，‘哦，不，不，我是无神论者.’ She told him maybe the faith community is not your place to be advocating and talking.”

和, 研究人员承认, 不是每个人都应该成为倡导者, regardless of their knowledge or passion: “These engagements are not for everyone,他们写道。. “Some see these endeavors as new and extra burdens on an already demanding job as a climate scientist. 此外，一些气候科学家可能就是不善沟通.”

“We are pretty good as a society in the United States at training scientists to be scientists,Oonk说. “博彩平台推荐不擅长训练他们成为沟通者和倡导者.”