Tools- of Changes

Highlight Clear, Concrete, Significant Climate Shifts Instead of Slow-Moving Climate Trends

A series of three experiments suggests that if we want to increase public urgency around climate change, we should highlight clear, concrete, significant shifts instead of slow-moving trends.

• For much of the global population, climate change appears as a slow, gradual shift in daily weather. This leads many to perceive its impacts as minor and results in apathy (the ‘boiling frog’ effect – where small changes are not noticed even as they gradually build up into large changes.)
• The authors conducted three experiments (n=766, n=235, n=292) that involved presenting data as either gradual changes or as 'sudden' changes (binary changes between 'this' and 'that'.)
• In all three studies, the 'sudden' changes were seen as stronger changes and had a higher perceived impact, compared with similar amounts of change that happened gradually.
• Binary visuals (showing sudden changes from ‘this to that’) could be used to convey the urgency of addressing climate change, although this may mean losing some message complexity and richness.

• Note: One way to do this is to use the Climate Shift Index® to show how much temperatures have changed locally, and then relate that to local impacts of significance