A New Dark Age? Truth, Trust, and Environmental Science

authored by: T.Y. Branch
Abstract: This review examines the alleged crisis of trust in environmental science and its impact on public opinion, policy decisions in the context of democratic governance, and the interaction between science and society. In an interdisciplinary manner, the review focuses on the following themes: the trustworthiness of environmental science, empirical studies of levels of trust and trust formation; social media, environmental science, and disinformation; trust in environmental governance and democracy; and co-production of knowledge and the production of trust in knowledge. The review explores both the normative issue of trustworthiness and empirical studies on how to build trust. The review does not provide any simple answers to whether trust in science is generally in decline or whether we are returning to a less enlightened era in public life with decreased appreciation of knowledge and truth. The findings are more nuanced, showing signs of both distrust and trust in environmental science. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Environment and Resources, Volume 47 is October 2022. Please see www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.
Organisation(s): Institute of Philosophy
Type: Review article
Journal: Annual Review of Environment and Resources
Volume: 47
Pages: 5-29
No. of pages: 25
ISSN: 1543-5938
Publication date: 18.07.2022
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: General Environmental Science
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 13 - Climate Action
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-120920-015909 (Access: Unknown)