This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: The loss of Earth's animal and plant species is a crisis. Just don't call it an "extinction crisis" if you aim to mobilize public concern.
Published in npj Biodiversity, a new study finds that using unfamiliar terms results in less public concern and less willingness to support policies that could tackle the crisis. The study focused on how to effectively communicate urgency about the loss of plant and animal species, otherwise termed "biodiversity loss." Most people have heard of the "extinction of plants and animals." But most have not heard of the "extinction crisis." The scientific term "biodiversity loss" is also not widely known. Using effective language to raise the alarm about the extinction of plants and animals is an urgent matter.
At least 1 million plant and animal species are at risk of extinction, according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). "Almost everyone has heard of extinction and wants to support policies to save plants and animals. But if you use unfamiliar terms to describe it, then people are not as concerned or willing to act," said Wändi Bruine de Bruin, the study's lead author.
"Environmental experts need to recognize that much of their terminology is jargon to average people." Bruine de Bruin is provost professor of public policy, psychology and behavioral science at the USC Price School of Public Policy and the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and a senior scholar at the USC Schaeffer Institute for Public Policy and Government Service. The study involved a representative sample of 7,338 U.S. adults, each of whom was randomly assigned to one of six terms commonly used in public communication about the loss of biodiversity. The six terms were "biodiversity loss," "biodiversity crisis," "nature loss," "nature crisis," "extinction of plants and animals" and "extinction crisis." Each term was presented either alone or accompanied by an explanation and photos of plants and animals.
"Biodiversity loss" and "biodiversity crisis" were the least familiar and concerning, even when presented in the context of an explanation and photos of plants and animals. "Extinction of plants and animals" was the most familiar term and raised the most public concern, regardless of whether context was presented. "Nature loss" performed just as well but only when context was provided.
The results held across political and demographic groups. The release of the study comes near the outset of the biennial U.N. Biodiversity Conference, in Yerevan, Armenia, where representatives of 195 countries are focusing on the first global review of collective progress toward implementing the world's nature targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
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