This Week on Earth: Feb 6-13

Source: Unsplash

Washington, D.C.

An international team of scientists has developed a tool to more effectively spread awareness and understanding of global climate change by using psychology to determine effective messaging.

The Climate Intervention Webapp considers factors like nationality, age, education and more to help policymakers and advocates choose the best messages for their audience. The product helps them understand what kind of messaging works best for different groups, so they can make a bigger impact with their climate-related efforts.

The tool, according to the Science Advances journal, resulted from a study involving nearly 250 researchers and over 59,000 participants from 63 countries.

An interesting insight from the same report found that while more dire and bleak messaging was effective in stimulating social media sharing, it decreased support for certain climate actions. This highlights the need for tailored messaging based on audience characteristics and can help activists effectively disseminate environmental messaging.

Ukraine

Reuters reports a group of international figures, including environmental activist Greta Thunberg, was established last year by Ukraine’s presidential administration to investigate the environmental impacts of the two-year invasion. 

As of February 9, 2024, this group suggests that Ukraine should seek reparations however possible from Russia, providing more than 50 recommendations to recover Ukraine environmentally and hold Russia accountable. 

The conflict has resulted in environmental damage exceeding $56.4 billion. Air, water and soil contamination with chemicals is widespread. The destruction of landscapes, shelling, wildfires, deforestation and pollution have adversely affected about 30% of Ukraine's protected areas.

Worldwide

The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals yielded a new report by scientists working with the U.N. Environment Programme that reveals troubling news about migratory species. Almost half of the 1,200 species listed under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) are seeing their populations shrink, which puts them at risk of extinction.

Human activities, particularly hunting, fishing and overexploitation, are the primary threats to wildlife, impacting 70% of the species listed by the U.N. Habitat loss is also a significant concern, affecting up to 75% of these species. This demonstrates the crucial need for better connectivity between fragmented ecosystems. 

The report emphasizes the importance of governments considering the preservation of habitats and migration routes when initiating infrastructure projects such as dams, pipelines or wind turbines. 

"We need to look at the top levels of government decision-making and what is being planned so that we can make sure that we can... address human needs while not sacrificing the nature we all need to survive,” said Amy Fraenkel, executive secretary of the U.N. Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.