Transcript public perception of climate change

CLIMATE CHANGE:
AN EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR
CONNECTING THE PUBLIC
WITH GEOLOGY & THE
GEOLOGIC RECORD
Ellen Morris Bishop
OREGON PALEOLANDS INSTITUTE
Fossil, Oregon
www.paleolands.org
OREGON PALEO LANDS
INSTITUTE
A new, educational non-profit in Oregon,
dedicated to connecting the public
with Oregon’s natural and geologic history.
One strategy for making geology compelling:
Connect an issue of great concern to the public
with geologic process and geologic history.
In the John Day Basin, that subject is
climate change.
PROBLEM:
PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF GEOLOGY:
 “It’s just about rocks”
 “I don’t have to worry about __
(volcanoes,
 “It happened a LONG time ago.”
 “It’s not relevant to my life.”
earthquakes, landslides…)
”
PROBLEM:
PUBLIC PERCEPTION OF CLIMATE
CHANGE:
 “It’s just about melting glaciers.”
 “I don’t have to worry about ___ (polar bears, sea level, forest fires…)”
“It’s never happened before/Scientist’s can’t agree.
 “It’s not relevant to my life”
THE REALITY:
WHAT THE PUBLIC NEEDS TO UNDERSTAND:
 It’s about extinctions, resources, and water.
 Yes, we DO have to worry about it.
 Yes, it happened a LONG time ago, too.
 Yes, it IS relevant to your life.
 The past is a guide to the present--and future.
THE GEOLOGIC RECORD PROVIDES
VALUABLE INSIGHT TO
 Past Climates
 Greenhouse gas--climate linkages
 Oceanic-climate linkages
 Climate change--extinction coupling
 How bad it can really get.
The public is hungry
for information
to validate
climate change predictions.
The geologic record provides
exceptional insight
and verifies
 the reality of climate change
 the history of today’s climate change processes.
CLIMATE CHANGE GIVES THE GEOLOGIC
RECORD
 CONTEXT
 RELEVANCE
LO CAL
LANDSCAPES
ARE OFTEN
THE MOST
MEANINGFUL!
By emphasizing the geologic record
of past global warming and global cooling,
we can demonstrate that:
 It’s about rocks: Geologic information provides lessons for today.
 IT is VERY relevant to your life today.
 It happened a LONG time ago--AND it’s happening today.
 Few sciences are MORE relevant to your life.
AND, FINALLY:
 Geologic history
--and time periods more than just “Jurassic”--should be part of your working knowledge and vocabulary.
SOME EXAMPLES:
CONNECTING THE PUBLIC
WITH GEOLOGY & GEOLOGIC HISTORY
THRU CLIMATE CHANGE:
 Snowball earth--Late Proterozoic
cold-warm cycles: carbon
sequestration/greenhouse gases.
End-Permian Event: extreme CO2,
temperatures, extinctions.
 PETM: Global warming spike due to
greenhouse gas.
 Eocene-Oligocene boundary:
Changes due to oceanic circulation.
After Leeman, 1999
,
An example from the John Day Fossil Beds:
The Eocene-Oligocene climate transition
 Locally accessible for field trips.
 Familiar ground.
 Visually stunning record of tropical laterite to
humid-temperate soils.
 Multiple lines of evidence:
documented fossil record,
paleo-botany
paleosols
isotopes/geochronology
Some Lessons Learned:
Eocene, Oligocene, Antarctic snows,
oceanic circulation, ecological effects of
climate change……..
A BOTTOM LINE:
To ascend to higher public awareness,
geology and geologic history
must be perceived as relevant to public interests.
The CLIMATE
CHANGE
RECORD
 provides a
framework of
pragmatic outcomes
 supports social
discourse as well as
positive, economically
and environmentally
beneficial actions.
Providing insight to ongoing climate change
 Empowers geology’s role in public affairs.
 Increases public acceptance of geology as a
meaningful and useful knowledge base.
Past climate changes demonstrate
the relevance of the geologic record to
public concerns.
THANKS
SO VERY MUCH
FOR YOUR ATTENTION !!!