Messing with nature? Exploring public perceptions of geoengineering in the UK

Corner, Adam J., Parkhill, Karen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9655-7414, Pidgeon, Nicholas Frank ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8991-0398 and Vaughan, Naomi E. 2013. Messing with nature? Exploring public perceptions of geoengineering in the UK. Global Environmental Change 23 (5) , pp. 938-947. 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2013.06.002

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Abstract

Anthropogenic influence on the climate – and possible societal responses to it – offers a unique window through which to examine the way people think about and relate to the natural world. This paper reports data from four, one-day deliberative workshops conducted with members of the UK public during early 2012. The workshops focused on geoengineering – the deliberate, large-scale manipulation of the planetary environment – as one of three possible responses to climate change (alongside mitigation and adaptation). Here, we explore one of the most pervasive and wide-ranging themes to emerge from the workshops: whether geoengineering represented an unprecedented human intervention into ‘nature’, and what the moral consequences of this might be. Using the concept of ‘messing with nature’ as an analytical lens, we explore public perceptions of geoengineering. We also reflect on why ‘messing with nature’ was such a focal point for debate and disagreement, and whether the prospect of geoengineering may reveal new dimensions to the way that people think about the natural world, and their relationship to it.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Psychology
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Geoengineering; Public engagement; Climate change; Nature
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0959-3780
Funders:	NERC, EPSRC, USNSF
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	30 March 2016
Last Modified:	10 Jul 2024 19:13
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/48645

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