Something for the weekend #258
Welcome to my ‘round-up’ newsletter, surveying recent causes for optimism as found in the media. I also find it among the think-tanks and sometimes on podcasts. There are also occasional links here to a debunking of alarmism, or to opinion articles on the curious gaps that exist between optimists and pessimists.
* Matt Ridley (The Rational Optimist) in the latest edition of Spiked!, on “Why humanity is good for the natural world” on the whole.
“Whenever I write an article about environmental good news, editors insist I put in a sentence, beginning ‘However…’, to point out that the environment is still deteriorating in other respects. They don’t make the same request to those who write pessimistic articles.”
* In the Maritime Executive, “The World’s Coral Reefs are 25 Percent Bigger Than We Thought”. Researchers focused on the world’s “shallow reefs”, rather than deep-water reefs. They used high-res satellite imagery (rather than questionable fly-overs by light-aircraft pilots), and tested this data against actual site reports from experienced scuba divers. The divers were drawn from… “400 individuals and organisations in countries with coral reefs”.
* “Dystopias are so 2020”… “Murdoch could not find a single YA [i.e. ‘young adult’ TV] show or book that portrayed a positive vision of the future, at least not a plausible one that didn’t involve superheroes or dragons.” So she…
“co-founded Futurific Studios, which is focused on telling these [more optimistic pro-future] stories. Its first production is [the six-part series A Brief History of the Future], hosted by the company’s co-founder, futurist Ari Wallach. [The new series] travels the world to meet people finding solutions [while the presentation maintains] the show’s measured, evidence-based message” […]. “What’s next for Futurific, Murdoch says, is a series of graphic novels, a famously dystopian medium.”
(Note: this new TV series is not to be confused with several earlier books of the same name).
* A new study by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology suggests that alarmist or over-claiming messaging can “backfire entirely” in raising awareness of environmental harms. 59,000 participants, across 63 countries (including Kenya, seemingly representing Africa), were tested to see how they reacted to climate claims relating to four areas of action: “belief in climate change; support for climate policies; willingness to share climate information; and contributions to tree-planting efforts.” In all cases “overall effectiveness was limited” with most messaging “having small to negligible effects on the targeted outcomes”… and only then because the messaging played on “participants pre-existing beliefs”. The only success was in raising the already-high level of hysteria on social media…
“Willingness to share climate change information on social media was increased most by inducing negative emotions through ‘doom and gloom’–styled messaging about the consequences of climate change.”
* In New Zealand, the alarmist use of RCP 8.5 in local government decision-making appears to still be the norm. For instance the debunked RCP 8.5 future-scenario has led to local speculative maps of ocean… “inundation in the district extending more than 2 kilometres inland along most of the coast, impacting 2,000 properties with a possible value of a billion dollars”. Since these are official maps, insurance companies raise prices and realtors discount valuable ocean-front homes.
* And finally, it’s good news that clean used clothing is now free to sell on eBay UK, with the aim of reducing illegal dumping and landfill. Nicely timed for the annual springtime wardrobe renewal, and eBay’s imminent launch of an AI ‘clothes matcher’. Note that the UK also offers many ways to dispose of old clean clothes for recycling, if the clothes are unlikely to be worn again. Some retail stores have big cardboard hopper-bins next to their payment counters, for instance, for drop-off.
Enjoyed this post? There’s more over at the ‘Something for the Weekend’ newsletter archive.