Empirical testing of the visualizations of climate change mitigation scenarios with citizens
A comparison among Germany, Poland, and France
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12263438 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Georgios Xexakis (0000-0002-5459-2166, University of Geneva, corresponding author), Evelina Trutnevyte (0000-0002-1716-6192, University of Geneva) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 70 |
| Pages | 102324-102324 |
| Publication date | 2021-07-23 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Global Environmental Change (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0959-3780 • E-ISSN: 1872-9495 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102324 |
| OpenAlex | W3183661241 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 51 |
While scenarios are used extensively for communication about climate change mitigation, little is known about the interpretation of these scenarios by citizens. We conducted a cross-country empirical evaluation of scenario visualizations for global mitigation, using online surveys in Germany (N = 379), Poland (N = 223), and France (N = 225). Each respondent received visualizations of the required changes in global carbon dioxide emissions and composition of electricity supply (fossil fuels, nuclear, and renewable sources) for limiting global warming to 1.5 °C. We evaluated the effects of respondents’ demographics, prior beliefs, numeracy, and graph literacy on the reading accuracy and knowledge gains from the visualizations. We also included an experimental between-groups design on visualization format, where four groups received different graph formats (steep or gradual graphs with depictions of uncertainty ranges or scenario ensembles) and the fifth group received a table. Results showed that higher education level, numeracy, and graph literacy increased reading accuracy in all countries, while age reduced them. Respondents with prior beliefs about climate change mitigation that matched the information in the visualizations had also higher reading accuracy and knowledge gains. While the effects of different visualization formats were comparatively minor, customizing formats according to demographic and country differences was used to reduce adverse effects from these differences. These results emphasize the need to design visualizations that match characteristics of the intended audience and could inform better communication of climate change mitigation scenarios to non-expert audience
Climate change · Climate change mitigation · Economic growth · Economics · Empirical evidence · Empirical research · Environmental economics · Literacy · Numeracy · Statistics · Visualization · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Computer Science · Mathematics · Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance · Artificial Intelligence
Using large ensembles of climate change mitigation scenarios for robust insights
People can understand IPCC visuals and are not influenced by colors
The strengths and weaknesses of future visioning approaches for climate change adaptation
Advancing the potential impact of future scenarios by integrating psychological principles
Social identities and deadlocked debates on nuclear energy policy
The dominance analysis approach for comparing predictors in multiple regression.
Communicating scientific uncertainty
eHealth Literacy
Communicating climate change risks in a skeptical world
Visualizing Uncertainty About the Future
Effective communication of uncertainty in the IPCC reports
The Future is Now
The role of social and decision sciences in communicating uncertain climate risks
A review of Internet use among older adults
Targeting and tailoring climate change communications
Audience segmentation and climate change communication
A cautionary note about messages of hope
Public values for energy system change
Scenarios in Global Environmental Assessments
Communication and mental processes
| Citations per year | 1.25 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2023 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |