scholarly journals The science of spin: targeted strategies to manufacture doubt with detrimental effects on environmental and public health

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca F. Goldberg ◽  
Laura N. Vandenberg
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Tobacco Industry ◽  
Intended Audience ◽  
Climate Change Research ◽  
Legal Evidence ◽  
Monetary Benefit ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Logical Fallacies

Abstract Background Numerous groups, such as the tobacco industry, have deliberately altered and misrepresented knowable facts and empirical evidence to promote an agenda, often for monetary benefit, with consequences for environmental and public health. Previous research has explored cases individually, but none have conducted an in-depth comparison between cases. The purpose of this study was to compile a comprehensive list of tactics used by disparate groups and provide a framework for identifying further instances of manufactured doubt. Methods We examined scholarly books, peer-reviewed articles, well-researched journalism pieces, and legal evidence related to five disparate industries and organizations selected for their destructive impacts on environmental and public health (tobacco, coal, and sugar industries, manufacturers of the pesticide Atrazine, and the Marshall Institute, an institute focused on climate change research, and other scientists from the era that associated with those in the Institute). These documents provided evidence for a list of tactics used to generate pro-industry spin and manufacture doubt about conferred harm. We then identified trends among sets of strategies that could explain their differential use or efficacy. Results We recognized 28 unique tactics used to manufacture doubt. Five of these tactics were used by all five organizations, suggesting that they are key features of manufactured doubt. The intended audience influences the strategy used to misinform, and logical fallacies contribute to their efficacy. Conclusions This list of tactics can be used by others to build a case that an industry or group is deliberately manipulating information associated with their actions or products. Improved scientific and rhetorical literacy could be used to render them less effective, depending on the audience targeted, and ultimately allow for the protection of both environmental health and public health more generally.

scholarly journals Moral Cosmopolitans in Eight Countries Bestow Equitable Benefit and Security on Outsiders

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuechunzi Bai ◽  
Susan Fiske ◽  
Varun Gauri
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Real World ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Degrees Of Belief ◽  
National Organizations ◽  
Relevant Group ◽  
Global Welfare

Moral cosmopolitanism prioritizes global welfare over national interest. Cosmopolitans, in contrast to moral patriots, bestow equitable benefit and security across borders. Participants from four continents (N = 5,772) endorsed degrees of belief in equitable benefit and security, which respectively predicted (a) making monetary donations to global rather than national organizations and (b) protecting an immigrant rather than citizens. Correlated with their decision making, cosmopolitans’ accessible concepts included the relevant group, impartiality, and concrete need construal. Manipulating the accessibility of these cosmopolitan thoughts increased global donations by 12%. We situate theories of morality without borders in diverse, real-world contexts, and provide large-scale empirical evidence regarding cognitive conditions for cosmopolitan thinking. Increasing moral cosmopolitanism through reasoning could be valuable for global decision-making in domains such as climate change, migration, poverty, trade, and public health.

Empirical Evidence About Legal Evidence

1982 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 535-536
Author(s):  
Lawrence S. Wrightsman
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Legal Evidence

The impact of climate change on the labor allocation: Empirical evidence from China

2020 ◽  
Vol 104 ◽  
pp. 102376
Author(s):  
Kaixing Huang ◽  
Hong Zhao ◽  
Jikun Huang ◽  
Jinxia Wang ◽  
Christopher Findlay
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Labor Allocation ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Public perceptions of Lyme disease and climate change in southern Manitoba, Canada: making a case for strategic decoupling of climate and health messages

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Cameron ◽  
Rhéa Rocque ◽  
Kailey Penner ◽  
Ian Mauro
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Lyme Disease ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Health Messages ◽  
Urban Rural ◽  
Climate And Health

Abstract Background Despite scientific evidence that climate change has profound and far reaching implications for public health, translating this knowledge in a manner that supports citizen engagement, applied decision-making, and behavioural change can be challenging. This is especially true for complex vector-borne zoonotic diseases such as Lyme disease, a tick-borne disease which is increasing in range and impact across Canada and internationally in large part due to climate change. This exploratory research aims to better understand public risk perceptions of climate change and Lyme disease in order to increase engagement and motivate behavioural change. Methods A focus group study involving 61 participants was conducted in three communities in the Canadian Prairie province of Manitoba in 2019. Focus groups were segmented by urban, rural, and urban-rural geographies, and between participants with high and low levels of self-reported concern regarding climate change. Results Findings indicate a broad range of knowledge and risk perceptions on both climate change and Lyme disease, which seem to reflect the controversy and complexity of both issues in the larger public discourse. Participants in high climate concern groups were found to have greater climate change knowledge, higher perception of risk, and less skepticism than those in low concern groups. Participants outside of the urban centre were found to have more familiarity with ticks, Lyme disease, and preventative behaviours, identifying differential sources of resilience and vulnerability. Risk perceptions of climate change and Lyme disease were found to vary independently rather than correlate, meaning that high climate change risk perception did not necessarily indicate high Lyme disease risk perception and vice versa. Conclusions This research contributes to the growing literature framing climate change as a public health issue, and suggests that in certain cases climate and health messages might be framed in a way that strategically decouples the issue when addressing climate skeptical audiences. A model showing the potential relationship between Lyme disease and climate change perceptions is proposed, and implications for engagement on climate change health impacts are discussed.

scholarly journals Contrasting Evolution Patterns of Endorheic and Exorheic Lakes on the Central Tibetan Plateau and Climate Cause Analysis during 1988–2017

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 1962
Author(s):  
Zhilong Zhao ◽  
Yue Zhang ◽  
Zengzeng Hu ◽  
Xuanhua Nie
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Annual Precipitation ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Lake Area ◽  
Climate Change Research ◽  
Mean Temperature

The alpine lakes on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) are indicators of climate change. The assessment of lake dynamics on the TP is an important component of global climate change research. With a focus on lakes in the 33° N zone of the central TP, this study investigates the temporal evolution patterns of the lake areas of different types of lakes, i.e., non-glacier-fed endorheic lakes and non-glacier-fed exorheic lakes, during 1988–2017, and examines their relationship with changes in climatic factors. From 1988 to 2017, two endorheic lakes (Lake Yagenco and Lake Zhamcomaqiong) in the study area expanded significantly, i.e., by more than 50%. Over the same period, two exorheic lakes within the study area also exhibited spatio-temporal variability: Lake Gaeencuonama increased by 5.48%, and the change in Lake Zhamuco was not significant. The 2000s was a period of rapid expansion of both the closed lakes (endorheic lakes) and open lakes (exorheic lakes) in the study area. However, the endorheic lakes maintained the increase in lake area after the period of rapid expansion, while the exorheic lakes decreased after significant expansion. During 1988–2017, the annual mean temperature significantly increased at a rate of 0.04 °C/a, while the annual precipitation slightly increased at a rate of 2.23 mm/a. Furthermore, the annual precipitation significantly increased at a rate of 14.28 mm/a during 1995–2008. The results of this study demonstrate that the change in precipitation was responsible for the observed changes in the lake areas of the two exorheic lakes within the study area, while the changes in the lake areas of the two endorheic lakes were more sensitive to the annual mean temperature between 1988 and 2017. Given the importance of lakes to the TP, these are not trivial issues, and we now need accelerated research based on long-term and continuous remote sensing data.

scholarly journals Green Deal as a Climate Changes Dam on the Road to Health

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Jevtic ◽  
C Bouland
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Clinical Medicine ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Road ◽  
National Public Health ◽  
On The Road ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Public health professionals (PHP) have a dual task in climate change. They should persuade their colleagues in clinical medicine of the importance of all the issues covered by the GD. The fact that the health sector contributes to the overall emissions of 4.4% speaks to the lack of awareness within the health sector itself. The issue of providing adequate infrastructure for the health sector is essential. Strengthening the opportunities and development of the circular economy within healthcare is more than just a current issue. The second task of PHP is targeting the broader population. The public health mission is being implemented, inter alia, through numerous activities related to environmental monitoring and assessment of the impact on health. GD should be a roadmap for priorities and actions in public health, bearing in mind: an ambitious goal of climate neutrality, an insistence on clean, affordable and safe energy, a strategy for a clean and circular economy. GD provides a framework for the development of sustainable and smart transport, the development of green agriculture and policies from field to table. It also insists on biodiversity conservation and protection actions. The pursuit of zero pollution and an environment free of toxic chemicals, as well as incorporating sustainability into all policies, is also an indispensable part of GD. GD represents a leadership step in the global framework towards a healthier future and comprises all the non-EU members as well. The public health sector should consider the GD as an argument for achieving goals at national levels, and align national public health policies with the goals of this document. There is a need for stronger advocacy of health and public-health interests along with incorporating sustainability into all policies. Achieving goals requires the education process for healthcare professionals covering all of topics of climate change, energy and air pollution to a much greater extent than before.

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