{"id":26748,"date":"2018-09-19T13:30:07","date_gmt":"2018-09-19T17:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/?p=26748"},"modified":"2022-03-16T10:23:49","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T14:23:49","slug":"a-game-crosses-political-cultural-lines-to-spur-climate-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tun.com\/blog\/a-game-crosses-political-cultural-lines-to-spur-climate-action\/","title":{"rendered":"A Game Crosses Political, Cultural Lines to Spur Climate Action"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new study shows that a simple role-playing game is all it takes<\/a> to motivate complete strangers to take action on climate change despite their political affiliation, cultural identity, age or gender.<\/p>\n

By the end of the game, participants leave knowing that they are a part of the solution.<\/p>\n

The paper is published in the journal PLOS ONE<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n

A game is all it takes <\/b><\/h2>\n

According to NASA<\/a>, in just about 70 years, humans have contributed to making earth hotter by 0.9 degree Celsius by burning oil, gas and coal.<\/p>\n

And if we reach 1.5 degree Celsius or more, scientists have repeatedly warned us of irrevocable natural disasters, like wildfires<\/a> and inundated coastal cities.<\/p>\n

And in just 2018, we\u2019ve seen too much of that.<\/p>\n

Record-high wildfires in California, Hurricanes Maria, Harvey and now Florence. While the list goes on, we still have three months more to go.<\/p>\n

Realizing lectures and powerpoints will not bring people to climate action, researchers from UMass Lowell, MIT and Climate Interactive<\/a>, a non-profit organization that runs climate simulation games, studied how World Climate<\/a>, a climate change negotiations game simulating the United Nations climate talks, can bring climate action.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike a lecture or film, World Climate teaches through experience. Learning through experience engages both our rational, analytic thinking and our emotions, which drive us to act,\u201d said Juliette Rooney-Varga<\/a>, an associate professor of environmental science and a director of Climate Change Initiative<\/a> at UMass Lowell and the study\u2019s co-lead researcher.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe desperately need climate-change communication that not only provides information, but actually moves people to act on that information.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Juliette
Juliette Rooney-Varga
Image: UMass Lowell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Let\u2019s play a game <\/b><\/h2>\n

In World Climate, participants are given roles of U.N. national delegates to come up with policies for greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate climate change.<\/p>\n

While the developed nations pledge contributions to the Green Climate Fund to help developing nations cut their emissions and adapt to change, the developing nations specify how much they need to do so.<\/p>\n

Their decisions are then entered into the climate policy computer model, C-ROADS, which has been used to support the real negotiations, giving participants immediate feedback on the expected climate impacts of their decisions.<\/p>\n

First-round results usually fall short, showing everyone the likely harm to their prosperity, health and welfare.<\/p>\n

Participants then negotiate again, using C-ROADS to explore the consequences of more ambitious emission cuts.<\/p>\n

\u201cGames like World Climate can create simulated experience that deliver the benefits of learning and engagement while avoiding the costs and risks of making mistakes in the real world,\u201d said Rooney-Varga.<\/p>\n