Sleuthing the Flow of Science, Research Paper Example

Introduction

The manner in which scientific information is disseminated to the general public is complex and intricate, yet simplistic with a basic focus. This information flow requires further examination because it has a significant impact on how organizations respond to different events and the steps that are required to enable the general public to obtain this information in a timely manner. This is a challenging yet interesting series of events that is instrumental in determining how individuals receive information regarding science and whether or not it is able to be understood effectively by the masses. Today, much of the information regarding science news is shared online in one form or another, whether it is through Google news or a social media website such as Twitter or Facebook. The flow of information provides an interesting perspective because it captures the differences in knowledge and opinion regarding the challenges related to science and how the general public perceives its importance to their lives, if there is any significance to be considered. The following discussion will evaluate three resources that are associated with the same topic in regards to warming temperatures throughout the world and how there is a significant focus on the temperatures experienced on the planet and how this is perceived from different knowledge bases, including scientific experts, NASA, and the news media and general public.

Analysis

In October 2014, NASA issued an announcement regarding the month of September 2014, which was recorded as the warmest September on record and is the warmest year on record to date (NASA.gov). The data that was released this week provides further evidence of the challenges associated with global warming and the different issues that must be addressed with respect to the continuous warming trend, all of which do not bode well for the environment over the long term. It is believed that this data released by NASA will continue to break records for the remainder of the year and will provide a basis for examining other principles that must be addressed in the context of developing new perspectives regarding global warming and temperature increases that impact human, plant, and animal existence throughout the world. Although the release primarily consists of statistical data, it is nonetheless significant because it captures a number of elements of the modern environment and how they have had a significant impact on life in the 21^st Century.

To coincide with this data as released by NASA, it is important to identify some of the scientific principles that support this theory, including the risks associated with extreme temperature changes and warming, which is different than climate warming as generally identified in the news. According to Vasseur et.al (2014), “Although recent work suggests that changes in temperature variation will have disproportionately greater effects on species than changes to the mean, much of climate change research in ecology has focused on the impacts of mean temperature change.” In this context, it is observed that there must be a greater focus on the shift in temperature to a higher level on a global scale, as this establishes the tone for the changes that occur at the climate level (Vasseur et.al, 2014). This research article uses scientific principles, such as “fine-grained climate projections” and “thermal performance data” to evaluate “38 ectothermic invertebrate species” (Vasseur et.al, 2014). This terminology is clearly difficult to decipher from the perspective of the average reader; therefore, this article is only likely to satisfy those who have an extensive background and scientific knowledge of this area of focus (Vasseur et.al, 2014). This is an important step towards the discovery of new ideas and approaches to improve outcomes and to understand the different dimensions of global temperature increases and how they impact human life, animal life, and vegetation in different ways. This article is not meant to provide any type of scare tactics, nor does it aim to provide any type of commercial knowledge that might be attractive to the average reader; on the contrary, this article aims to better understand how increases in temperature have a direct impact on the species of the Earth who are affected by these changes. For many readers, this information would be above their heads and would not provide any real and lasting impression in their daily living. Finally, the article by Holthaus (2014) from The Slate, a popular news outlet, begins with a large and visually descriptive picture of planet Earth and the temperatures that are observed, along with a caption that states “It seems all our efforts to bake the planet are finally paying off.” This appears to be a scare tactic of sorts to entice the reader to begin to think about the effects of increasing temperatures, and it appears to work brilliantly. This is a far cry from the scientific article regarding global temperatures and the simplistic and frankly difficult to read data provided by NASA. Therefore, this process requires an understanding of the different elements that capture the attention of the reader and how the article is successful in achieving its purpose. Even further down the page, a moving graphic depicts the temperature from one month to the next, from April 2014-September 2014, and this is highly effective in getting the author’s point across that temperature increases have a significant impact on the globe and may spark another El Nino this winter, thereby increasing the potential for future temperature increases (Holthaus, 2014). This information is intriguing because it offers the general public a greater sense of the problem at hand and using moving visuals will always provide benefits to readers so that they will perceive the point that is being made more effectively.  It has been recommended that scientists should embrace social media, including Twitter, more fully as a means of engaging the general public in the serious topics that involve scientific principles, that yet are not well understood (Yeo, 2013). This is an important step in the discovery of a balance between sensationalized stories regarding science and the truth behind the scientific research that is conducted by experts, and it might enable readers to better embrace science for its widespread reach and interesting topics that fuel many different types of discussion in different ways (Yeo, 2013).

Conclusion

In the age of 140 character or less through the Twitter platform, it is more important than ever to examine the different ways in which information is transmitted to the masses and how quickly it is received. For many readers, they embrace the shock factor of many tweets and Facebook posts, particularly as they aim to provide an attention-worthy headline that grabs the reader’s interest as quickly as possible before another outlet has the opportunity to try the same tactic. This is an accurate portrayal of many topics, including national and international news, entertainment, sports, money, and the sciences, the latter of which is sometimes difficult to convey to the general public. A publication that is too scientific in nature will lose the reader’s attention very quickly; therefore, it must be relatively simple in scope and provide the main idea in a simplified manner. This is an important reminder of the different tactics that are taken in the modern world of news and media that aim to have a quick impact on readers but that also demonstrate a lack of finesse and/or knowledge in some cases, particularly when there are difficulties associated with the subject matter and its content to begin with. The use of social media and other alternatives in a world of media saturation often distorts the originating message and intent; therefore, these topics must be considered as part of a larger set of arguments that will have a lasting impact on readers and viewers of the news across a variety of outlets, including but not limited to social media.

References

Holthaus, E. (2014). NASA: earth just experienced the warmest six-month stretch ever recorded. Slate.com, retrieved from http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2014/10/13/nasa_earth_just_experienced_the_warmest_six_month_stretch_ever.html

NASA.gov (2014). Global land-ocean temperature index in 0.01 degrees Celsius, base period:  1951-1980. Retrieved from http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/tabledata_v3/GLB.Ts+dSST.txt

Vasseur, D. A., DeLong, J. P., Gilbert, B., Greig, H. S., Harley, C. D., McCann, K. S., … & O’Connor, M. I. (2014). Increased temperature variation poses a greater risk to species than climate warming. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 281(1779), 20132612.

Yeo, S.K. (2013). Opinion: tweeting to the top. Pp. 1-2.