Food has become a flashpoint in American culture and politics. In the past generation, Americans have witnessed the introduction of genetically modified crops, the rise of the organic food industry, increasing concerns about obesity, growing awareness to food allergies and other health concerns linked with what people eat, an expanding […] Read more »
Overcoming ‘End-Point Bias’: Liberals, Fox News and Arctic Sea Ice Trends
“End-point bias” is a well-known psychological tendency to interpret a recent short-term fluctuation as a reversal of a long-term trend. When scientists reported a significant increase in the extent of Arctic sea ice in 2013, a FoxNews.com story evoked end-point bias by contrasting the historically low previous year with the […] Read more »
Science: Public interest high, literacy stable
While public interest in science continues to grow, the level of U.S. scientific literacy remains largely unchanged, according to a survey by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research. Funded by NASA, the study found that 51 percent of Americans are interested in science, but only 28 percent have […] Read more »
Pope’s Encyclical Did Not Raise Broad Public Concern Over Climate Change
Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical on the environment, “Laudato si’,” did not raise broad public concern about climate change among Catholics and non-Catholics, according to a new study from researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center. The study “Cross-pressuring conservative Catholics? Effects of Pope Francis’ encyclical on the U.S. public opinion […] Read more »
The Politics of Climate
Political fissures on climate issues extend far beyond beliefs about whether climate change is occurring and whether humans are playing a role, according to a new, in-depth survey by Pew Research Center. These divisions reach across every dimension of the climate debate, down to people’s basic trust in the motivations […] Read more »
Why Facts Don’t Unify Us
According to the Pew Research Center, the nation is more polarized than at any time in recent history. While some of the issues dividing us boil down to ideology and preference, there is at least one on which hard science should have a strong say — climate change. But do […] Read more »