Exposure to climate change information predicts public support for solar geoengineering in Singapore and the United States
Solar geoengineering is a controversial climate policy measure that could lower global temperature by increasing the amount of light reflected by the Earth. As scientists and policymakers increasingly consider this idea, an understanding of the level and drivers of public support for its research an...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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2024
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/173040 |
| _version_ | 1811690377366732800 |
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| author | Rosenthal, Sonny Irvine, Peter J. Cummings, Christopher L. Ho, Shirley S. |
| author2 | Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information |
| author_facet | Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Rosenthal, Sonny Irvine, Peter J. Cummings, Christopher L. Ho, Shirley S. |
| author_sort | Rosenthal, Sonny |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Solar geoengineering is a controversial climate policy measure that could lower global temperature by increasing the amount of light reflected by the Earth. As scientists and policymakers increasingly consider this idea, an understanding of the level and drivers of public support for its research and potential deployment will be key. This study focuses on the role of climate change information in public support for research and deployment of stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) in Singapore (n = 503) and the United States (n = 505). Findings were consistent with the idea that exposure to information underlies support for research and deployment. That finding was stronger in the United States, where climate change is a more contentious issue, than in Singapore. Cost concern was negatively related to support for funding and perceived risk was negatively related to support for deployment. Perceived government efficacy was a more positive predictor of support for funding in Singapore than in the United States. Additionally, relatively low support for local deployment was consistent with a NIMBY mindset. This was the first study to quantify the role of climate change information in SAI policy support, which has practical implications for using the media and interpersonal channels to communicate about SAI policy measures. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T06:03:02Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/173040 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T06:03:02Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1730402024-06-26T08:23:53Z Exposure to climate change information predicts public support for solar geoengineering in Singapore and the United States Rosenthal, Sonny Irvine, Peter J. Cummings, Christopher L. Ho, Shirley S. Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Social Sciences Climate Change Solar Geoengineering Solar geoengineering is a controversial climate policy measure that could lower global temperature by increasing the amount of light reflected by the Earth. As scientists and policymakers increasingly consider this idea, an understanding of the level and drivers of public support for its research and potential deployment will be key. This study focuses on the role of climate change information in public support for research and deployment of stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) in Singapore (n = 503) and the United States (n = 505). Findings were consistent with the idea that exposure to information underlies support for research and deployment. That finding was stronger in the United States, where climate change is a more contentious issue, than in Singapore. Cost concern was negatively related to support for funding and perceived risk was negatively related to support for deployment. Perceived government efficacy was a more positive predictor of support for funding in Singapore than in the United States. Additionally, relatively low support for local deployment was consistent with a NIMBY mindset. This was the first study to quantify the role of climate change information in SAI policy support, which has practical implications for using the media and interpersonal channels to communicate about SAI policy measures. Ministry of Education (MOE) Published version This research received funding support from an AcRF Tier 1 grant by the Singapore Ministry of Education (RG121/20). 2024-01-10T02:25:22Z 2024-01-10T02:25:22Z 2023 Journal Article Rosenthal, S., Irvine, P. J., Cummings, C. L. & Ho, S. S. (2023). Exposure to climate change information predicts public support for solar geoengineering in Singapore and the United States. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 19874-. https://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-46952-w 2045-2322 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/173040 10.1038/s41598-023-46952-w 37963957 2-s2.0-85176389688 1 13 19874 en RG121/20 Scientific Reports doi:10.21979/N9/1RDZ7Z © 2023 The Author(s). Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Social Sciences Climate Change Solar Geoengineering Rosenthal, Sonny Irvine, Peter J. Cummings, Christopher L. Ho, Shirley S. Exposure to climate change information predicts public support for solar geoengineering in Singapore and the United States |
| title | Exposure to climate change information predicts public support for solar geoengineering in Singapore and the United States |
| title_full | Exposure to climate change information predicts public support for solar geoengineering in Singapore and the United States |
| title_fullStr | Exposure to climate change information predicts public support for solar geoengineering in Singapore and the United States |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exposure to climate change information predicts public support for solar geoengineering in Singapore and the United States |
| title_short | Exposure to climate change information predicts public support for solar geoengineering in Singapore and the United States |
| title_sort | exposure to climate change information predicts public support for solar geoengineering in singapore and the united states |
| topic | Social Sciences Climate Change Solar Geoengineering |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/173040 |
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