The Amazon is Still Burning: Why Did We Forget It?

Image Credit: Vinícius Mendonça/Ibama, Image Cropped, CC BY-SA 2.0
Image Credit: Vinícius Mendonça/Ibama, Image Cropped, CC BY-SA 2.0
Image Credit: Emilian Robert Vicol, CC BY 2.0, Image Cropped
Now, plastics are certainly an irrefutable problem. We obviously have an unhealthy dependency on plastics that are found in our clothing, food, soaps, and homes. However, there is a question among conservationists and scientists over whether or not it is a good thing that the public conscious seems to become obsessed with a single issue, while others outside the limelight seem to fall away (similar to how in the USA people seem to have forgotten that Flint is STILL without clean water). I want to discuss how the new media landscape propels environmental fads, the good they can do, and the possible problems.
Image Credit: Smorazanm, CC0 1.0, Image Cropped
Whilst pseudoscience is nothing new, it seems a lot more prevalent these days. So what can the scientific community, and the public in general, do about it? (Image Credit: Becker 1999, CC BY 2.0, Image Cropped)
Recent reports of collapses in insect populations were eagerly devoured online. But were the reports exaggerations, and if so, how did they make it into the headlines? (Image Credit: Barta IV, CC BY 2.0, Image Cropped)
The city of Tromsø, in which the NØF 2019 Conference took place last week (Image Credit: The Municipality of Tromsø, Image Cropped, CC BY 2.0)
Image Credit: Mallee Catchment Management Authority, CC BY 2.0, Image Cropped
At the Australian Society of Fish Biology’s Annual Conference last week, Jarod Lyon, who manages the Applied Aquatic Ecology Section at Australia’s Arthur Rylah Institute, gave a talk about applied science in the ‘fake news’ era. I took the opportunity to sit down and quiz Jarod as to how we need to approach public communication in the era of social media.