Internet Blogs, Polar Bears, and Climate-Change Denial by Proxy
Increasing surface temperatures, Arctic sea-ice loss, and other evidence of anthropogenic global warming (AGW) are acknowledged by every major scientific organization in the world. However, there is a wide gap between this broad scientific consensus and public opinion. Internet blogs have strongly c...
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ftcdlib:oai:escholarship.org:ark:/13030/qt2bk0883x 2023-11-05T03:38:50+01:00 Internet Blogs, Polar Bears, and Climate-Change Denial by Proxy Harvey, Jeffrey A van den Berg, Daphne Ellers, Jacintha Kampen, Remko Crowther, Thomas W Roessingh, Peter Verheggen, Bart Nuijten, Rascha JM Post, Eric Lewandowsky, Stephan Stirling, Ian Balgopal, Meena Amstrup, Steven C Mann, Michael E 281 - 287 2018-04-01 application/pdf https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2bk0883x unknown eScholarship, University of California qt2bk0883x https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2bk0883x public BioScience, vol 68, iss 4 Biological Sciences Environmental Sciences Climate Action advocacy communication contrarian global warming skeptic social media Ecology article 2018 ftcdlib 2023-10-09T18:08:18Z Increasing surface temperatures, Arctic sea-ice loss, and other evidence of anthropogenic global warming (AGW) are acknowledged by every major scientific organization in the world. However, there is a wide gap between this broad scientific consensus and public opinion. Internet blogs have strongly contributed to this consensus gap by fomenting misunderstandings of AGW causes and consequences. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) have become a "poster species" for AGW, making them a target of those denying AGW evidence. Here, focusing on Arctic sea ice and polar bears, we show that blogs that deny or downplay AGW disregard the overwhelming scientific evidence of Arctic sea-ice loss and polar bear vulnerability. By denying the impacts of AGW on polar bears, bloggers aim to cast doubt on other established ecological consequences of AGW, aggravating the consensus gap. To counter misinformation and reduce this gap, scientists should directly engage the public in the media and blogosphere. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Climate change Global warming Sea ice Ursus maritimus University of California: eScholarship |
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Open Polar |
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University of California: eScholarship |
op_collection_id |
ftcdlib |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Biological Sciences Environmental Sciences Climate Action advocacy communication contrarian global warming skeptic social media Ecology |
spellingShingle |
Biological Sciences Environmental Sciences Climate Action advocacy communication contrarian global warming skeptic social media Ecology Harvey, Jeffrey A van den Berg, Daphne Ellers, Jacintha Kampen, Remko Crowther, Thomas W Roessingh, Peter Verheggen, Bart Nuijten, Rascha JM Post, Eric Lewandowsky, Stephan Stirling, Ian Balgopal, Meena Amstrup, Steven C Mann, Michael E Internet Blogs, Polar Bears, and Climate-Change Denial by Proxy |
topic_facet |
Biological Sciences Environmental Sciences Climate Action advocacy communication contrarian global warming skeptic social media Ecology |
description |
Increasing surface temperatures, Arctic sea-ice loss, and other evidence of anthropogenic global warming (AGW) are acknowledged by every major scientific organization in the world. However, there is a wide gap between this broad scientific consensus and public opinion. Internet blogs have strongly contributed to this consensus gap by fomenting misunderstandings of AGW causes and consequences. Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) have become a "poster species" for AGW, making them a target of those denying AGW evidence. Here, focusing on Arctic sea ice and polar bears, we show that blogs that deny or downplay AGW disregard the overwhelming scientific evidence of Arctic sea-ice loss and polar bear vulnerability. By denying the impacts of AGW on polar bears, bloggers aim to cast doubt on other established ecological consequences of AGW, aggravating the consensus gap. To counter misinformation and reduce this gap, scientists should directly engage the public in the media and blogosphere. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Harvey, Jeffrey A van den Berg, Daphne Ellers, Jacintha Kampen, Remko Crowther, Thomas W Roessingh, Peter Verheggen, Bart Nuijten, Rascha JM Post, Eric Lewandowsky, Stephan Stirling, Ian Balgopal, Meena Amstrup, Steven C Mann, Michael E |
author_facet |
Harvey, Jeffrey A van den Berg, Daphne Ellers, Jacintha Kampen, Remko Crowther, Thomas W Roessingh, Peter Verheggen, Bart Nuijten, Rascha JM Post, Eric Lewandowsky, Stephan Stirling, Ian Balgopal, Meena Amstrup, Steven C Mann, Michael E |
author_sort |
Harvey, Jeffrey A |
title |
Internet Blogs, Polar Bears, and Climate-Change Denial by Proxy |
title_short |
Internet Blogs, Polar Bears, and Climate-Change Denial by Proxy |
title_full |
Internet Blogs, Polar Bears, and Climate-Change Denial by Proxy |
title_fullStr |
Internet Blogs, Polar Bears, and Climate-Change Denial by Proxy |
title_full_unstemmed |
Internet Blogs, Polar Bears, and Climate-Change Denial by Proxy |
title_sort |
internet blogs, polar bears, and climate-change denial by proxy |
publisher |
eScholarship, University of California |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2bk0883x |
op_coverage |
281 - 287 |
genre |
Arctic Climate change Global warming Sea ice Ursus maritimus |
genre_facet |
Arctic Climate change Global warming Sea ice Ursus maritimus |
op_source |
BioScience, vol 68, iss 4 |
op_relation |
qt2bk0883x https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2bk0883x |
op_rights |
public |
_version_ |
1781694587734065152 |