Reindeer to go extinct due to climate change!

Just thought I'd leave a post to say Merry Christmas! I was looking for someway to think this post back to climate change, but to be honest I think we all need a break from the doom and gloom. So take my advice and make this the last post you click on about how we will never see a white Christmas again, or how reindeer are going extinct (at least until the boxing day that is!)

Solution Aversion : motivated disbelief

So I just came across this new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (I'm starting to think I did the wrong undergraduate degree...) :

Solution aversion: On the relation between ideology and motivated disbelief. Campbell, Troy H.; Kay, Aaron C

The goal of the study was to examine whether the attractiveness of the solution offered alters the willingness to believe in the problem itself (focusing on environmental problems) (Campbell et al., 2014)

It makes sense if you think about it. Say you were diagnosed with serious illness. If on one hand you were advised to go through an intensive recovery program over a long period, odds are you would get a second opinion and question the diagnosis. On the other hand, if all you were advised to do was take a single pill you'd probably accept both the diagnosis and the solution without question (OK if you are a hypochondriac this analogy doesn't really work, sorry).

Well this study formally tested this behavioral trait in the context of climate change denial and found evidence of its existence. One of the questions they wanted to answer was why statistically more Republicans deny climate change than Democrats in the USA.


Here is how the Study worked:

• Two groups of Republicans and Democrats were formed (between 120-188 participants in each)

• Each Participant was shown this statement

• "The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported that there would be an increase of 3.2 degrees Fahrenheit in worldwide temperatures in the 21st century and that humans are responsible for global climate change patterns." Campbell et al., 2014

• They were next asked to evaluate one of two policy solutions:

• A tax on Carbon emissions and government regulation

• Innovation into green technology

In reality the participants were actually being examined on their willingness to accept the IPCC statement.
And here is what the study found:

• When the solution offered was based upon regulation, only 17% of Republicans stated their belief that temperatures would reach the projections of the IPCC statement

• And guess what; when the solution involved profiting from being green technology market leaders, this figure rose to 64% (this strategy fits with a republican free market ideology)

What is interesting is that for Democrats the solutions solution made no real difference to belief in the statement. Neither strategy was designed to oppose their ideology in that case.

So what can we take from this: 

Well the way I see it, this really emphasizes the need to have a solution based approach to climate change mitigation. It is important to realise that targets, no matter how robust they are, are often only as believable as the solutions being offered to meet them. To combat mitigative inertia it is important to place a greater emphasis on developing solutions and examining why those those available at the present are not motivating change. 

Anyway, let me know what you think. Can you think of any examples of solution aversion in your life?

Praise the sun

Take a look at this video:


That is one seriously large solar farm. In fact, when completed it will cover 4,700 acres and provide enough energy to power 180,000 households.

It is really promising that something of this scale is being built,  but there is still so much work to be done to improve the efficiency of these devices. Solar power isn't going to win the land use per megawatt battle any time soon.

And now for something completely different

On a complete side note, I came across this today on a YouTube binge.

Perhaps I'm just a biased Peep Show fan, but I think a David Mitchell and Leonardo DiCaprio climate change tag team would definitely convert a few more people to the cause.