Dupont Léonard, Jacob Staffan, Philippe Hervé
Station d'Ecologie Théorique et Expérimentale, UAR2029, CNRS, Moulis, France.
Nat Ecol Evol. 2025 Jan;9(1):23-33. doi: 10.1038/s41559-024-02535-0. Epub 2024 Sep 20.
The combined gravity of biodiversity loss and climate change keeps increasing. As the approaching catastrophe has never looked so alarming, the amount of scientific knowledge about the bioclimatic crisis is still rising exponentially. Here we reflect on how researchers in ecology or climate science behave amid this crisis. In face of the disproportionality between how much scientists know and how little they engage, we discuss four barriers that may underlie the decoupling of scientific awareness from concrete action. We then reflect on the potency of rational thinking to trigger engagement on its own, and question whether more scientific knowledge can be the tipping point towards radical changes within society. Our observations challenge the tenet that a better understanding of what surrounds us is necessary to protect it efficiently. With the environmental cost of scientific research itself as an additional factor that must be considered, we suggest there is an urgent need for researchers to collectively reflect on their situation and decide how to redirect their actions.
生物多样性丧失和气候变化的综合影响不断加剧。随着这场迫在眉睫的灾难从未如此令人担忧，关于生物气候危机的科学知识数量仍在呈指数级增长。在此，我们思考生态或气候科学领域的研究人员在这场危机中的表现。面对科学家所知甚多与实际参与甚少之间的失衡，我们讨论了可能导致科学认知与具体行动脱钩的四个障碍。然后，我们思考理性思维自身引发参与的效力，并质疑更多的科学知识是否能成为社会发生根本性变革的临界点。我们的观察结果挑战了这样一个信条，即要有效保护我们周围的环境，就必须更好地了解它。鉴于科学研究本身的环境成本是另一个必须考虑的因素，我们认为研究人员迫切需要集体反思自身处境，并决定如何调整行动方向。
