scholarly journals Academic Air Travel Cultures: A Framework for Reducing Academic Flying

2022 ◽  
pp. 327-353
Author(s):  
Sherry H. Y. Tseng ◽  
James Higham ◽  
Craig Lee
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Cognitive Dissonance ◽  
Academic Career ◽  
Air Travel ◽  
Great Emphasis ◽  
Primary Producers ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Climate Research ◽  
International Standing

AbstractAs primary producers of knowledge, academics are required to create and disseminate research. The advent of internationalisation has given great emphasis to the importance of travel as it pertains to the success of an academic career and the international standing of an institution. However, academics who are highly aeromobile—particularly researchers working in the field of climate change—are now facing allegations of hypocrisy that in some cases may compromise the efficacy of their (climate) research. The novelty of this chapter arises from the application of the cultures framework to the study of academic air travel. It highlights three key elements—cognitive norms, practices and material culture. In this chapter, the cultures framework is adopted to provide a structure within which to consider individual and institutional pathways to achieve a reduction in academic flying. By exploring the interplay of cognitive norms, practices, material culture, support and barriers, the gap between academic theory and institutional realities and practices can be systematically explored and fully elaborated. Furthermore, in doing so, academics may be encouraged to engage in critical self-reflection of the cognitive dissonance between personal intentions to reduce air miles and behaviours to the contrary.

scholarly journals There is a silver lining: carbon footprint reduction by holding Preventive Cardiology conference 2020 virtually

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
T Batool ◽  
A Neven ◽  
Y Vanrompay ◽  
M Adnan ◽  
P Dendale
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Carbon Emission ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Air Travel ◽  
Co2 Production ◽  
Scientific Conference ◽  
Preventive Cardiology ◽  
Transport Modes

Abstract Funding Acknowledgements Type of funding sources: Other. Main funding source(s): Special Research Fund (BOF), Hasselt University Introduction The transportation sector is one of the major sectors influencing climate change, contributing around 16% of total Greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions. Aviation contributes to 12% of the transport related emissions. Among other climate change impacts, elevated heat exposure is associated with increased cardiac events and exposure to air pollution caused by GHG emissions has also well-known association with increased cardiovascular related morbidity and mortality. The global temperature rise should be restricted to less than 2 °C which requires keeping carbon emission (CO2) less than 2900 billion tonnes by the end of the 21st century. Assuming air travel a major contributing source to GHG, this study aims to raise the awareness about potential carbon emissions reduction due to air travel of international events like a scientific conference. Purpose Due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, the Preventive cardiology conference 2020 which was planned to be held at Malaga Spain, instead was held in virtual online way. This study aims to calculate the contribution of reduced CO2  emissions in tons due to ESC preventive cardiology conference 2020, which was then held online and air travel of the registered participants was avoided. Methods Anonymized participant registration information was used to determine the country and city of the 949 registered participants of the Preventive Cardiology conference 2020. It is assumed that participants would have travelled from the closest airports from their reported city locations to Malaga airport, Spain. At first, the closest city airports were determined using Google maps and flights information, then the flight emissions (direct and indirect CO2-equivalent emissions) per passenger for the given flight distances were calculated. The CO2 emissions (tons) were calculated for round trips in economy class from the participants of 68 nationalities (excluding 60 participants from Spain as they are assumed to take other modes of transport than airplane). Results In total, 1156.51 tons of CO2  emissions were saved by turning the physical conference into a virtual event. This emission amount is equivalent to the annual CO2 production of 108 people living in high-income countries. Conclusion The pandemic situation has forced us to rethink the necessity of trips by air and has shown us the feasibility of digitally organized events. The information from this study can add to the awareness about reduced amount of carbon emission due to air travel by organizing events in a virtual way when possible. Apart from only digitally organized events there are others options to reduce the carbon footprint of conferences such as limiting the number of physical attendees, encouraging the use of relatively sustainable transport modes for participants from nearby countries (e.g. international trains and use of active transport modes at conference venue etc.) and including CO2 emission offsetting costs.

scholarly journals Zooplankton grazing of microplastic can accelerate global loss of ocean oxygen

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Kvale ◽  
A. E. F. Prowe ◽  
C.-T. Chien ◽  
A. Landolfi ◽  
A. Oschlies
Keyword(s):  
North Pacific ◽  
Grazing Pressure ◽  
System Model ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Primary Producers ◽  
Climate Research ◽  
The North ◽  
Zooplankton Consumption ◽  
The North Pacific ◽  
Organic Particle

AbstractGlobal warming has driven a loss of dissolved oxygen in the ocean in recent decades. We demonstrate the potential for an additional anthropogenic driver of deoxygenation, in which zooplankton consumption of microplastic reduces the grazing on primary producers. In regions where primary production is not limited by macronutrient availability, the reduction of grazing pressure on primary producers causes export production to increase. Consequently, organic particle remineralisation in these regions increases. Employing a comprehensive Earth system model of intermediate complexity, we estimate this additional remineralisation could decrease water column oxygen inventory by as much as 10% in the North Pacific and accelerate global oxygen inventory loss by an extra 0.2–0.5% relative to 1960 values by the year 2020. Although significant uncertainty accompanies these estimates, the potential for physical pollution to have a globally significant biogeochemical signal that exacerbates the consequences of climate warming is a novel feedback not yet considered in climate research.

Making behavioral science integral to climate science and action

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
BARUCH FISCHHOFF
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Behavioral Science ◽  
Climate Science ◽  
Behavioral Sciences ◽  
Quarter Century ◽  
Science And Policy ◽  
Climate Research ◽  
Quantitative Estimates

Abstract The behavioral sciences were there at the beginning of the systematic study of climate change. However, in the ensuing quarter century, they largely faded from view, during which time public discourse and policy evolved without them. That disengagement and the recent reengagement suggest lessons for the future role of the behavioral sciences in climate science and policy. Looking forward, the greatest promise lies in projects that make behavioral science integral to climate science by: (1) translating behavioral results into the quantitative estimates that climate analyses need; (2) making climate research more relevant to climate-related decisions; and (3) treating the analytical process as a behavioral enterprise, potentially subject to imperfection and improvement. Such collaborations could afford the behavioral sciences more central roles in setting climate-related policies, as well as implementing them. They require, and may motivate, changes in academic priorities.

scholarly journals Decreased Snow Cover Stimulates Under-Ice Primary Producers but Impairs Methanotrophic Capacity

mSphere ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarahi L. Garcia ◽  
Anna J. Szekely ◽  
Christoffer Bergvall ◽  
Martha Schattenhofer ◽  
Sari Peura
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Snow Cover ◽  
Water Column ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
Heterotrophic Bacteria ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Boreal Lakes ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Primary Producers ◽  
Microbial Composition

ABSTRACT Climate change scenarios anticipate decreased spring snow cover in boreal and subarctic regions. Forest lakes are abundant in these regions and substantial contributors of methane emissions. To investigate the effect of reduced snow cover, we experimentally removed snow from an anoxic frozen lake. We observed that the removal of snow increased light penetration through the ice, increasing water temperature and modifying microbial composition in the different depths. Chlorophyll a and b concentrations increased in the upper water column, suggesting activation of algal primary producers. At the same time, Chlorobiaceae, one of the key photosynthetic bacterial families in anoxic lakes, shifted to lower depths. Moreover, a decrease in the relative abundance of methanotrophs within the bacterial family Methylococcaceae was detected, concurrent with an increase in methane concentration in the water column. These results indicate that decreased snow cover impacts both primary production and methane production and/or consumption, which may ultimately lead to increased methane emissions after spring ice off. IMPORTANCE Small lakes are an important source of greenhouse gases in the boreal zone. These lakes are severely impacted by the winter season, when ice and snow cover obstruct gas exchange between the lake and the atmosphere and diminish light availability in the water column. Currently, climate change is resulting in reduced spring snow cover. A short-term removal of the snow from the ice stimulated algal primary producers and subsequently heterotrophic bacteria. Concurrently, the relative abundance of methanotrophic bacteria decreased and methane concentrations increased. Our results increase the general knowledge of microbial life under ice and, specifically, the understanding of the potential impact of climate change on boreal lakes.

Conclusion: Closing the Policy Circle

2019 ◽  
pp. 175-190
Author(s):  
Sarah Louise Nash
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Global State ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Weather Patterns ◽  
Policy Domain ◽  
Policy Ideas ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Policy Arenas

This concluding chapter summarizes the arguments discussed in the book before turning to the future, extrapolating what these arguments could mean for future work on the migration and climate change nexus. The moral, so to speak, of this story is that changing policy making on migration and climate change does not just imply coming up with new policy ideas, populating a new policy domain with mentions of migration and climate change, or being open to a sprinkling of new faces in policy arenas. Instead, it entails reconsidering how people understand and talk about migration and climate change and undertaking a process of self-reflection: what perspective do people have on the issue and why? This does not necessarily involve interrogating the reasons why people are moving, or the extent to which people connect changes in weather patterns to their decisions to move or their inability to do so. Rather, this involves a process of critical reflection of the motives, both explicit and implicit, of the policy juggernaut. This perspective is really important if the migration and climate change nexus is going to exist as anything but a dire warning of the realities of climate change, and if policy responses are going to be transformative rather than buttresses for the current global state of affairs.

scholarly journals Tipping to Staying on the Ground: Internalized Knowledge of Climate Change Crucial for Transformed Air Travel Behavior

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1994 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Jacobson ◽  
Jonas Åkerman ◽  
Matteo Giusti ◽  
Avit K. Bhowmik
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Travel Behavior ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Climate Impact ◽  
Air Travel ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Media ◽  
Effective Policy ◽  
The Impact

Air travel accounts for a major share of individual greenhouse gas emissions, particularly for people in high-income countries. Until recently, few have reduced flying because of climate concerns, but currently, a movement for staying on the ground is rising. Sweden has been a focal point for this movement, particularly during 2018–2019, when a flight tax was introduced, and air travel reduction was intensely discussed in the media. We performed semi-structured interviews with Swedish residents, focusing primarily on individuals who have reduced flying because of its climate impact. We explore how such individual transformation of air travel behavior comes about, and the phases and components of this process. Applying a framework of sustainability transformation, we identify incentives and barriers in personal and political spheres. We show that internalized knowledge about climate change and the impact of air travel is crucial for instigating behavioral change. Awareness evokes negative emotions leading to a personal tipping point where a decision to reduce or quit flying is made. However, the process is often counteracted by both personal values and political structures promoting air travel. Even individuals with a strong drive to reduce flying feel trapped in social practices, norms and infrastructures. Hence, we argue that personal and political spheres interact complexly and to reduce flying at larger scales, interventions are needed across spheres, e.g., change of norms, effective policy instruments and better alternatives to air travel.

scholarly journals Bearing Witness: A Pacific Climate Crisis Documentary and Journalism Development Project

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Robie ◽  
Jim Marbrook
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Bearing Witness ◽  
Delta Area ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Climate Research ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Main Component ◽  
Climate Crisis ◽  
The Impact

A three-year Pacific climate research and storytelling documentary and journalism project has contributed to a disruption and renewal theme in Pacific Island Countries development. Focused initially on Fiji, the project has involved three pairs of postgraduate students engaging with climate crisis challenges. Responding originally to the devastation and tragedy wrought in Fiji by Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston in 2016, the Pacific Media Centre embarked on the Bearing Witness journalism project by sending two postgraduate students to Viti Levu to document and report on the impact of climate change (Robie & Chand, 2017). Their main component was a multimedia report on Daku village in the Rewa River delta area. This was followed in 2017 with a series of reports leading to a multimedia package on the relocation of the remote inland village of Tukuraki (Robie, 2018). The third episode focused far more strongly on documentary with reports on waka navigation and climate change, the ‘ghost village’ of Vunidogoloa and a ‘homecoming’ short feature about the Banaban people of Rabi and the impact on them caused by climate change. The project explores Friere’s notions of ‘critical consciousness’ as they might relate to teaching documentary-making and also draw on the concept of talanoa journalism.

Welcome Frustrations with the Climate: Comment on Redclift

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Gross
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Environmental Sociology ◽  
The State ◽  
Sociological Analysis ◽  
Climate Research ◽  
Disciplinary Problems

Abstract: Redclift (2011) provided a timely and perhaps deliberately provocative overview of sociological writings on climate change and the disciplinary problems of a post carbon world for environmental sociology. This comment emphasizes that he never actually clarifies what exactly are those problems that sociology faces in its attempt to open up a space for itself in the field of climate research. This omission also leads to unnecessary claims regarding the state of social science research on climate change as well as unspecified calls for more interdisciplinarity in sociological analysis of contemporary societies’ carbon dependence.

Food and Cognition

2020 ◽  
pp. 71-89
Author(s):  
Bernard L. Herman
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Mussel Shell ◽  
Culture And Cognition ◽  
British America ◽  
Civil Discourse ◽  
Sensus Communis

Through the lens of Henry Norwood’s A Voyage to Virginia, a harrowing account of a royalist exile’s 1649–1650 journey from Oliver Cromwell’s England to British America, this chapter explores the interplay of material culture and cognition. The coevolution of things and people, however, is not just about “how” we know and evolve with and through things but also about aesthetics and affect in everyday life. Norwood punctuates the account of his journey with recitations of the foods he encountered, their preparations, and their consumption, and through that framing device reveals a deeper engagement with civil discourse. Recuperating Norwood’s natural, cultural, and culinary contexts reveals social ecologies that range from how individuals and communities addressed factors as diverse as climate change, ennobled governance, and global sensus communis through objects as plain as a mussel shell spoon, a well-ordered table, or a pot of oyster and turkey stew.

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