Overcoming Anthropocentric Biases: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Climate Science
Introduction
Climate change is a pressing concern that has garnered considerable attention from scientists, policymakers, and the general public. The scientific community’s predominant focus on anthropogenic factors, such as greenhouse gas emissions, has shaped our understanding of climate change dynamics. However, emerging evidence suggests that geological processes like volcanism may play a more significant role than previously thought. This paper examines the limitations and gaps in current research addressing anthropocentric biases in climate studies, drawing on interdisciplinary insights from geology, psychology, and philosophy to propose a reevaluation of priorities in climate science.
Background
The consensus on anthropogenic global warming has long focused on human activities as the primary driver of observed changes in global temperatures and atmospheric greenhouse gas levels. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has played a significant role in establishing this narrative, with its assessment reports providing policymakers with guidelines for addressing climate change. Nonetheless, recent studies have challenged the assumption that anthropogenic factors are solely responsible for these changes.
Geological Processes and Climate Dynamics
One key area of focus is geological processes like volcanism. Volcanoes release large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere through eruptions and passive degassing, potentially outgassing centuries’ worth of human emissions in mere days. Yet, despite their significance, volcanic CO2 emissions have been historically underestimated due to sparse sampling and limited data availability.
The Deep Earth Carbon Degassing (DECADE) research project has made significant strides in addressing this issue by utilizing improved monitoring techniques and sensor deployments across a range of volcanic sources. Results from DECADE indicate that global volcanic CO2 outputs may have been substantially underestimated, with widespread diffuse sources contributing far more than previously thought.
Furthermore, case studies such as the 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines and the 2018 Kilauea eruption in Hawaii provide striking evidence of the magnitude of CO2 outgassing from individual volcanic events. These examples suggest that geological processes like volcanism may have been systematically overlooked due to anthropocentric biases embedded in scientific framings.
Psychological Underpinnings of Anthropocentric Bias
The dominance of the anthropogenic global warming narrative can be partially attributed to inherent psychological tendencies toward egocentrism - the innate human tendency to view phenomena primarily through an individualistic or human-centric lens. This bias may obstruct recognition within the climate science community of geological forces as primary drivers behind global climate dynamics.
Egocentric biases manifest in various aspects of decision-making, judgments of risk, and interpretations of ambiguous information. When applied to climate science, these psychological principles offer insight into why human impacts like greenhouse gas emissions have been so resolutely centered. Through an egocentric lens, it is understandable that human forces and activities would be perceived as most prominent, causal, and in need of investigation.
Ontological Foundations of Human/Nature Separations
The ontological divide between Western scientific traditions and indigenous relational worldviews further contributes to anthropocentric biases in climate science. The entrenched dualistic naturalism of modern sciences positions humanity as the sole source of symbolic interiority while objectifying and taxonomizing the natural world.
In contrast, animistic ontologies extend subjectivities across an innately interrelated continuum between humans and environmental forces/entities. Recognizing this philosophical dimension highlights the need for a fundamental reevaluation of the human/nature dichotomy that underlies current climate research paradigms.
Reframing Priorities Around Earth System Drivers
The interdisciplinary synthesis presented here underscores the importance of transcending anthropocentric biases to gain a more comprehensive understanding of climate dynamics. A reframing of priorities in climate science is required, shifting focus from quantifying human greenhouse contributions to elucidating the Earth’s internal dynamical processes as likely primary control mechanisms.
This re-centering entails dedicating extensive resources to mapping and monitoring volcanic CO2 sources comprehensively; investigating tectonic systems dynamics governing geochemical cycling and mass transport of greenhouse gases; establishing integrated measurement frameworks for planetary heat engine quantification; and exploring potential exogenous contributions from dust, meteorites, solar winds, stellar radiation fluctuations, or transient gravitational wave phenomena.
Conclusion
In conclusion, overcoming anthropocentric biases in climate science necessitates a multidisciplinary approach that integrates geological evidence, psychological research on egocentric tendencies, and philosophical discourses on anthropocentrism. By refocusing priorities on geological drivers and adopting holistic eco-centric worldviews, we can foster more accurate understandings of the complex interactions between human activities and natural processes shaping our planet’s climate. This reevaluation will enable us to develop sustainable long-term coexistence strategies as responsible stewards of our planetary home.
References
- Fischer, T.P., Arellano, S., Carn, S. et al. Global volcanic carbon dioxide degassing during 2005-2017. Sci Rep 9, 8465 (2019). link
- Jia, X., Lynch, A., Huang, Y. et al. Revisiting the anthropogenic origins of misperceptions in exploratory inorganic synthesis. Nat Rev Mater 4, 71–73 (2019). link
Keywords
Anthropocentric bias, Climate science, Geological processes, Volcanism, Egocentrism, Ontology