Monty Hempel is a professor of environmental sciences at Redlands University in California. He studies ecological literacy--or ecoliteracy, for short. Ecoliteracy is the ability to think about and understand the natural processes that make life possible. Monty Hempel says ecoliteracy gives people knowledge about environmental problems. But he says it does not always work to get them to change their behavior. Mr. Hempel wrote part of the Worldwatch Institute's latest State of the World report. He says in his article, "Some people think that ecoliteracy is just a green form of science literacy. And what I have tried to ask is whether that's enough. In other words, what an ecologically-literate person needs to know might include things like the cycles and the flows, the energy systems, all of those kind of things that we would call the science of ecology. " "That doesn't seem to lead to action to protect our environment--to protect our life-support system to the level that we need to. Just because we know a lot about the environment doesn't mean that we actually act to save it. After all, actions speak louder than knowledge. " He adds that people may not be very worried about environmental problems if they seem far away. "Some people call it psychological distance. A lot of climate issues are worse in the Arctic and most of us don't spend time in the Arctic. And so, there's a certain distance. But there's also a distance that's happening in the world as it urbanizes--people spending more time in front of screens and less time out in nature. We become, if you will, disconnected from the natural systems that used to be the key to success for a human being. " To help children discover the wonders of nature, he adds that children should learn about nature in school. But he also points out we have a high mountain for people to climb from knowledge to action. What is especially important for environment protection in Mr. Hempel's opinion?
Knowledge. Action. Green living. Psychological distance.