This research explores the subject of public awareness of the issues of climate changes. In particular, the research focuses on the issues of the impact that global warming and big concentration of carbon have on human health and what possible decisions of these problems are. The research also considers questions of the importance of media and public interaction to address global climate change.
This research can argue that “lexical creativity and lexical framing” (Nerlich and Koteyko 206) can influence greatly on the propagation of terms related to environmental issues and explanation of them. For example, it can promote public interaction and “conduct public discourses on global climate change” (Inglis 500) and raise peoples’ interests to such issues as the influence of a greenhouse effect and carbon in the air on human health.
This study aims at drawing attention to the importance of media in evolving questions of global warming and its consequences (greenhouse effect). A sustainable work should be led to “put the issue of carbon mitigation into the public spotlight” (Nerlich and Koteyko 208).
Certain steps had already been done in this direction as “most scientists now accept that climate change is a reality” (Brook 253). However, this questions still deserves great attention because according to the work by Gautier, Deutsch and Rebich, a majority of people, students in particular, have some “misconceptions about climate” (387).
Consequently, there is a “knowledge gap” as, “public health officials are aware of the growing human risk associated with climate change” (Akerlof et. al. 2561). Thus, media should pay bigger attention to inform and explain issues related to global climate change. One more important solution to the problem of peoples’ awareness of the global issues and comprehensive social changes is a “public interaction” (Inglis 501).
Having analyzed the works mentioned above, we can come up to a conclusion that: one of the reasons of global warming is a big concentration of carbon in the air. As a result, we can observe a greenhouse effect that has a negative influence on peoples’ health. A major task of media and scientists is to join their forces and promote people’s awareness of these issues through different sources of information and public interaction. It can elevate peoples’ consciousness and encourage finding common solutions to the problems.
Some steps have been taken to solve the problem. First, many the subjects concerning global climate change have been introduced to the curriculum of many educational establishments to raise students’ awareness of the climate change.
Second, the Kyoto Protocol that aims at preventing climate changes was signed. Third, the production of newsletters concerning a greenhouse effect sent to e-mails was developed. Finally, media was involved in the process of fighting against global warming while producing specialized articles and educational TV programs.
Our research reveals the problem of public awareness of the influence of global climate change and its effect on human health. Thus, further work in this direction presupposes creating specialized classes and student conferences that would promote peoples’ interaction discussing problems of climate change. The production of more articles in scientific and non-scientific journals that would explain the issues in an appropriate language can also bring positive results and attract peoples’ attention to the problem.
Bibliography
Akerlof, Karen et. al. “Public Perceptions of Climate Change as a Human Health Risk: Surveys of the United States, Canada and Malta.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 7 (2010): 2559-2606. Web.
Akerlof and others discusses the problem of influence of the global environmental changes on peoples’ health. Several surveys were conducted in the United States, Malta and Canada order to define how people perceive the global climate changes. It was defined that concerns about the climate changes grow.
Moreover, people thing that the main reason of the majority of diseases related to heart, respiratory problems, cancer and infectious diseases is a global warming. During the research, it was discovered that global warming influences greatly on elderly people and children. People in America sure that environmental changes are more dangerous in developing countries. The authors offer to mount public health communication initiative and inform people about consequences of diseases related to climate change.
Brook, Ryan K. “Ignoring the Elephant in the Room: The Carbon Footprint of Climate Change Research.” InfoNorth. 62. 1 (2009): 253–255.
The author of the article attracts attention to the question that global climate changes are the results of the human activity. He present the results of a Global Pole that only 41 % of people believe that global warming is the result of human activity and carbon emission. The author provides the opinion that people are aware of a danger of carbon emission, but nobody still does anything and that data gathering can have significant positive impact and solve the problem.
Thus, Ryan Brook suggests making first steps to reduce the carbon omission. For this purpose, he offers calculating individual research footprints and do something about it. He assumes that only uniting their forces, people can do significant contribution to reducing the carbon emission. Finally, Brook provides the idea that scientists who preoccupied with the global climate changes should share their knowledge and data about carbon emission and how to reduce it providing leadership on issues of tourism and business actions.
Gautier, Catherine, Katie Deutsch and Stacy Rebich. “Misconceptions About the Greenhouse Effect.” Journal of Geoscience Education. 54. 3 (2006): 386.
Catherine Gautier, Katie Deutsch and Stacy Rebich in their article present the research directed on defining the misconceptions about climate changes among students. Students were suggested to pass several tests in order to define the level of understanding of such issues as global warming and greenhouse effect The study was conducted in mock summit class on global changes.
Having analyzed the results, the scientists understood what methods should be used to overcome misconceptions. The study showed that the majority of misconceptions were maintained through the class and many students had built their own mental models about the greenhouse effect. The authors emphasize that as future citizens of the world, student should be well aware of greenhouse effect and lead a research work in order to prevent its destructive influence on environment.
The authors suggest a “potential role of students in decision making related to global climate change”. Moreover, the task of such students will be to prevent further misconceptions in environmental science. The authors also suggest basic information that students should know. This information is about the gases that constitute greenhouse effect, their qualities (how gas absorb and reemit radiation), etc.