Spence Elspeth, Cox Emily, Pidgeon Nick
Understanding Risk Research Group and Leverhulme Centre for Climate Change Mitigation, School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
Clim Change. 2021;165(1):23. doi: 10.1007/s10584-021-03050-y. Epub 2021 Mar 19.
This study explores how public attitudes across three countries influence support towards terrestrial enhanced weathering, whereby silicate minerals are applied to agricultural land to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. An online survey was administered in Australia ( = 1000), the UK ( = 1000), and the USA ( = 1026) where there are ongoing field trials of this technique. Findings are similar across all three countries with many participants unfamiliar with enhanced weathering and unsure about supporting the use of enhanced weathering. Results show that positive affect is the main predictor for support of this technique, along with perceived benefits and level of concern about climate change. Open-ended questions asking why respondents would or would not support the use of enhanced weathering elicit mainly affective concepts, with enhanced weathering seen by individual respondents as either something mainly positive or mainly negative, with others saying it sounds risky and/or would have impacts on the environment. The way in which enhanced weathering is communicated is likely to influence support of the use of this strategy so must be undertaken carefully. Overall, our findings show that it is imperative to continue to engage the public, thereby allowing their views to be incorporated as enhanced weathering technology develops over time.
本研究探讨了三个国家的公众态度如何影响对陆地强化风化的支持，即通过将硅酸盐矿物施用于农田来去除大气中的二氧化碳。在澳大利亚（n = 1000）、英国（n = 1000）和美国（n = 1026）进行了一项在线调查，这些国家正在对该技术进行实地试验。所有三个国家的调查结果相似，许多参与者不熟悉强化风化，也不确定是否支持使用强化风化。结果表明，积极情感是支持这项技术的主要预测因素，同时还有感知到的益处和对气候变化的关注程度。询问受访者支持或不支持使用强化风化原因的开放式问题主要引出情感概念，个别受访者认为强化风化要么主要是积极的，要么主要是消极的，还有一些人表示这听起来有风险和/或会对环境产生影响。强化风化的宣传方式可能会影响对该策略使用的支持，因此必须谨慎进行。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，随着强化风化技术的不断发展，继续让公众参与进来，从而将他们的观点纳入其中，这是势在必行的。
