A new study has found that using art to convey environmental data dampens political perceptions about climate change. As wildfires rage across Canada and New York recovers from a week of smokethe study’s findings could help scientists communicate their research more effectively at a pivotal time in the planet’s future.
Nan Li, Isabel I. Villanueva, Thomas Jilk and Dominique Brossard of the University of Wisconsin and Brianna Rae Van Matre of the nonprofit organization EcoAgriculture Partners conducted the research, published May 31 in the journal Earth & Environment Communications. Li conceptualized the project two years ago when she heard from the artist Diane Burco speak at a webinar; the artist, whose practice centers on climate change, reflected on the real impact of his work.
Burko describes the consequences of the warming of the Earth’s atmosphere, such as the melting of glaciers and the disappearance of coral reefs, and often accompanies them with scientific maps and graphics. Li and his colleague Dominique Brossard developed a study to answer Burko’s question – how does the artist’s work affect his viewers? The team chose Burko’s 2020 multimedia work “SUMMER HEAT, I and II”. The graph at the bottom left represents Keel curvea visualization of the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since 1958. The blue represents melting glaciers and the red number represents Europe, which suffered an intense heat wave in 2020 when Burko created the artwork.
In Li’s study, which surveyed a total of 671 people, participants were asked to look at both the Keeling curve alone and Burko’s works. The scientists also showed viewers the works as Instagram posts. In a striking finding, researchers found that participants perceived Burko’s artwork to be just as believable as the standalone graphic. People also felt more positive emotions when they saw “SUMMER HEAT, I and II” than when they saw the Keeling Curve alone.
The study notes that there is some evidence to suggest that emotion changes the way people think about climate change, which led the scientists to the final part of their research: would people be less politically polarized about climate change when they looked and thought about Burko’s work than when they looked at the Keeling Curve?
The results verified the team’s hypothesis: people at both ends of the political spectrum moved to the middle. This effect, however, was only observed when the scientists asked participants to reflect on how Burko’s works made them feel – simply watching “SUMMER HEAT, I and II” did not change the Viewers’ ideas about climate change.
Nevertheless, the findings of the recent study present art as a promising alternative to graphs and raw data. Previous search found that data visuals on their own can actually create skepticism and amplify bias. (A study even found that liberals and conservatives even moved their eyes differently along climate graphs.) Mona Chalabi, a artist known for her cartoons and graphics that humanize datawon the Pulitzer Prize this year for his drawings illustrating the incomprehensible wealth of Jeff Bezos. His works translate bewildering numbers into familiar analogies.
Speaking about his team’s discovery, Li said Hyperallergic that the findings highlight “the need to move beyond using art to simply adorn science”, encouraging “deeper introspection” into the role of art in the field.
“This study could pave the way for transformative change in climate communications and science communications in general,” Li continued. “Highlighting the power of art to provoke emotions and foster self-reflection.”
