Cabot Institute for the Environment blog

Shutterstock Many scientific findings continue to be disputed by politicians and parts of the public long after a scholarly consensus has been established. For example, nearly a third of Americans still do not accept that fossil fuel emissions cause climate change, even though the scientific community settled on a consensus that they do decades ago. Research into why people reject scientific facts has identified people’s political worldviews as the principal predictor variable . People with a libertarian or conservative worldview are more likely to reject climate change and evolution and are less likely to be vaccinated against COVID-19 . What explains this propensity for rejection of science by some of the political right? Are there intrinsic attributes of the scientific enterprise that are uniquely challenging to people with conservative or libertarian worldviews? Or is the association merely the result of conflicting imperatives betwe...

Do people realise the extent to which they rely upon farming? In many other professions, such as medicine, those who enjoy good health can have years between visits to healthcare professionals. In contrast, it is hard to imagine how we could live without UK farmers. For instance, UK farmers produce 60% of all food eaten in the UK (Contributions of UK Agriculture, 2017). Despite the importance of UK farmers for our national infrastructure, there is little understanding of the web of issues facing farmers today. Drawing from our recent experiences at Groundswell , we hope to highlight some of the surprises that we discovered during our conversations with farmers, agronomists, charities, and even film producers!   Our first surprise was appreciating the complexities between agronomists and farmers. We knew from our interviews that farmers are often cautious of the advice from agronomists because some receive commission for the chemical companies they represent. In one sense, the pol...

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have had a giant impact on international climate negotiations. As part of the Alliance of Small Island States and the High Ambition Coalition, SIDS have pushed for the 1.5°C Paris Agreement target through their tagline “1.5°C to stay alive” as well as their advocacy for loss and damage and climate adaptation finance. Without them, the Paris Agreement would not be nearly as ambitious [1], and there would not be the focus on the 1.5°C temperature goal to the extent there is today. SIDS are amongst the countries on the frontline of the climate emergency, whilst being some of the least responsible for greenhouse gases causing anthropogenic climate change. But SIDS have not sat back quietly whilst their future becomes more uncertain. They are fighting for the assurances of climate mitigation from the rest of the world to help ensure their habitable future. As part of this year’s United Nations Climate Conference COP26, four goals have been set to drive ...

Thousands of aircraft were grounded during the pandemic. Now research is showing people might fly less. JetKat/Shutterstock Tens of thousands of aircraft have been grounded for well over a year due to the pandemic. In April 2020 air travel around the world was cut by 94% from April 2019. By June 2021 it was still 60% down on June 2019 thanks to holidays being cancelled, work trips shelved, and long-planned journeys to see family and friends moved to another time. Never has any global industry collapsed with such speed. In climate terms, this has been a cause for celebration. It has represented a chance for reducing emissions that contribute significantly to climate change and pollute our air . Some people who live close to an airport may also have welcomed the drop in noise. But many others will be worrying about the effect the long-term reduction in air travel may have on their community’s economy. Will the industry bounce back? Industr...

This year the Cabot Institute team had the privelege of judging the Environment category of this year's Bristol Science Film Festival. We're pleased to be able to announce the winners of this year's Cabot Institute for the Environment Film Prize. A big congratulations to all film makers, the quality of the films this year was brilliant which made it so much harder to judge! Runner up — Beavers: Nature’s Ecosystem Engineers by Lauren Cook Beavers is a watercolour-illustrated stop-motion animation about beavers, their keystone impacts and role in restoring UK rivers.  Watch it here . Winner — Lucho Apa and the Soil by Clau Zavala Lucho Apa, the only ‘chulengo’ (a young guanaco) in his herd, must venture through the Choapa valleys in Chile to form his own. Along the way, he will get to know northern landscapes, form solid friendships and discover that soil is not just dirt! Watch the full miniseries here . Well done Clau! You can view all the winners of the Bristol Science Fil...