IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/policy/v47y2014i2p121-139.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Scientific opinion in policymaking: the case of climate change adaptation

Author

Listed:
  • Debra Javeline
  • Gregory Shufeldt

Abstract

The urgent need for policy decisions often outpaces scientific discovery. At such times, policymakers must rely on scientific opinion. This is the case with many aspects of current climate policy, especially those involving untested but potentially necessary adaptations to reduce vulnerability to climate change. Unfortunately, scientific opinion is not currently defined, measured, or used in a standardized way, which often allows for the accidental or intentional dissemination of misinformation and the marginalization of science where science could be most beneficial. In this article, we argue that scientific opinion can be usefully measured by systematic surveys of scientists that employ standards similar to those that govern public opinion surveys, including systematic decisions about target populations, sampling frames, and sampling techniques. We demonstrate this approach with the methodology for a study of scientific opinion on a potential adaptation to climate change, the managed relocation of species. We show that survey results may be used to corroborate other types of information, refine or contradict other information, and offer novel insights into emerging issues, such as adaptations to climate change, that are currently not addressed with any other type of available information. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Debra Javeline & Gregory Shufeldt, 2014. "Scientific opinion in policymaking: the case of climate change adaptation," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 47(2), pages 121-139, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:policy:v:47:y:2014:i:2:p:121-139
    DOI: 10.1007/s11077-013-9187-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11077-013-9187-9
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11077-013-9187-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Iain McLean & André Blais & James C. Garand & Micheal Giles, 2009. "Comparative Journal Ratings: A Survey Report," Political Studies Review, Political Studies Association, vol. 7(1), pages 18-38, January.
    2. John Harte & Annette Ostling & Jessica L. Green & Ann Kinzig, 2004. "Climate change and extinction risk," Nature, Nature, vol. 430(6995), pages 34-34, July.
    3. Chris D. Thomas & Alison Cameron & Rhys E. Green & Michel Bakkenes & Linda J. Beaumont & Yvonne C. Collingham & Barend F. N. Erasmus & Marinez Ferreira de Siqueira & Alan Grainger & Lee Hannah & Lesle, 2004. "Extinction risk from climate change," Nature, Nature, vol. 427(6970), pages 145-148, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ana Čehić Marić & Tajana Čop & Milan Oplanić & Smiljana Goreta Ban & Mario Njavro, 2023. "Adaptation to Climate Change in Adriatic Croatia—The View of Policymakers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-11, April.
    2. Hannah Schmid-Petri, 2017. "Politicization of science: how climate change skeptics use experts and scientific evidence in their online communication," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 145(3), pages 523-537, December.
    3. Drews, Stefan & Savin, Ivan & van den Bergh, Jeroen, 2024. "A Global Survey of Scientific Consensus and Controversy on Instruments of Climate Policy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Václavík, Tomáš & Meentemeyer, Ross K., 2009. "Invasive species distribution modeling (iSDM): Are absence data and dispersal constraints needed to predict actual distributions?," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 220(23), pages 3248-3258.
    2. Pearce, Joshua M. & Johnson, Sara J. & Grant, Gabriel B., 2007. "3D-mapping optimization of embodied energy of transportation," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 435-453.
    3. Henzler, Julia & Weise, Hanna & Enright, Neal J. & Zander, Susanne & Tietjen, Britta, 2018. "A squeeze in the suitable fire interval: Simulating the persistence of fire-killed plants in a Mediterranean-type ecosystem under drier conditions," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 389(C), pages 41-49.
    4. Andrew John & Avril Horne & Rory Nathan & Michael Stewardson & J. Angus Webb & Jun Wang & N. LeRoy Poff, 2021. "Climate change and freshwater ecology: Hydrological and ecological methods of comparable complexity are needed to predict risk," Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(2), March.
    5. John H Matthews & Bart AJ Wickel & Sarah Freeman, 2011. "Converging Currents in Climate-Relevant Conservation: Water, Infrastructure, and Institutions," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(9), pages 1-4, September.
    6. Brandt, Laura A. & Benscoter, Allison M. & Harvey, Rebecca & Speroterra, Carolina & Bucklin, David & Romañach, Stephanie S. & Watling, James I. & Mazzotti, Frank J., 2017. "Comparison of climate envelope models developed using expert-selected variables versus statistical selection," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 345(C), pages 10-20.
    7. Jorge Velásquez-Tibatá & María H Olaya-Rodríguez & Daniel López-Lozano & César Gutiérrez & Iván González & María C Londoño-Murcia, 2019. "BioModelos: A collaborative online system to map species distributions," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(3), pages 1-13, March.
    8. Tasmin L. Rymer & Neville Pillay & Carsten Schradin, 2013. "Extinction or Survival? Behavioral Flexibility in Response to Environmental Change in the African Striped Mouse Rhabdomys," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-24, January.
    9. Feng, Zhiying & Tang, Wenhu & Niu, Zhewen & Wu, Qinghua, 2018. "Bi-level allocation of carbon emission permits based on clustering analysis and weighted voting: A case study in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 1122-1135.
    10. Alexander S Anderson & Collin J Storlie & Luke P Shoo & Richard G Pearson & Stephen E Williams, 2013. "Current Analogues of Future Climate Indicate the Likely Response of a Sensitive Montane Tropical Avifauna to a Warming World," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(7), pages 1-12, July.
    11. Di Traglia, Mario & Attorre, Fabio & Francesconi, Fabio & Valenti, Roberto & Vitale, Marcello, 2011. "Is cellular automata algorithm able to predict the future dynamical shifts of tree species in Italy under climate change scenarios? A methodological approach," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 222(4), pages 925-934.
    12. Liu, Zhu & Feng, Kuishuang & Hubacek, Klaus & Liang, Sai & Anadon, Laura Diaz & Zhang, Chao & Guan, Dabo, 2015. "Four system boundaries for carbon accounts," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 318(C), pages 118-125.
    13. Rougier, Thibaud & Drouineau, Hilaire & Dumoulin, Nicolas & Faure, Thierry & Deffuant, Guillaume & Rochard, Eric & Lambert, Patrick, 2014. "The GR3D model, a tool to explore the Global Repositioning Dynamics of Diadromous fish Distribution," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 283(C), pages 31-44.
    14. Verboom, Jana & Alkemade, Rob & Klijn, Jan & Metzger, Marc J. & Reijnen, Rien, 2007. "Combining biodiversity modeling with political and economic development scenarios for 25 EU countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 267-276, April.
    15. Perez, Carlos & Roncoli, Carla & Neely, Constance & Steiner, Jean L., 2007. "Can carbon sequestration markets benefit low-income producers in semi-arid Africa? Potentials and challenges," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 2-12, April.
    16. Koo, Kyung Ah & Patten, Bernard C. & Teskey, Robert O. & Creed, Irena F., 2014. "Climate change effects on red spruce decline mitigated by reduction in air pollution within its shrinking habitat range," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 293(C), pages 81-90.
    17. Andressa Duran & Andreas L S Meyer & Marcio R Pie, 2013. "Climatic Niche Evolution in New World Monkeys (Platyrrhini)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(12), pages 1-6, December.
    18. James I Watling & David N Bucklin & Carolina Speroterra & Laura A Brandt & Frank J Mazzotti & Stephanie S Romañach, 2013. "Validating Predictions from Climate Envelope Models," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(5), pages 1-12, May.
    19. Kaushal, Kevin R. & Navrud, Ståle, 2018. "Global Biodiversity Costs of Climate Change. Improving the damage assessment of species loss in Integrated Assessment Models," Working Paper Series 4-2018, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, School of Economics and Business.
    20. Kim Meyer Hall & Heidi J. Albers & Majid Alkaee Taleghan & Thomas G. Dietterich, 2018. "Optimal Spatial-Dynamic Management of Stochastic Species Invasions," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 70(2), pages 403-427, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:policy:v:47:y:2014:i:2:p:121-139. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.