Youth currently in secondary school will spend most of their adult life in a hotter climate associated with climate change (CC). This study investigated attitudes of youth living in an Australian Biosphere Reserve to identify their understanding of CC causes, impact, and mitigation measures, as well as their feelings of self-efficacy and hope. An online survey of 425 youth found that although participants reported a high level of understanding of impacts, they had significant knowledge gaps regarding the most effective measures to mitigate CC. In addition, youth expressed little hope that society will take action, and a lowered sense of self-efficacy. Significant gender and age differences were found for knowledge, experience, and concern about CC impacts, as well as perceptions of how well school had prepared them for navigating the impacts of CC. These findings inform communication and education interventions to mobilise youth to respond to the global climate crisis.

The possible influence of Harmonia axyridis (the Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle) on the sensory properties of wine was investigated. Harmonia axyridis were added to white and red grape musts at a rate of 0, 1, or 10/L, and a trained panel evaluated the finished wines using flavor-profiling techniques. Significant modification of both wine aroma and flavor characteristics were observed in the 10 beetle/L treatments, with smaller effects noted at the 1 beetle/L rate. Vinification in the presence of H. axyridis gave higher intensity scores for peanut, bell pepper, and asparagus aromas and flavors in the white wines and for peanut, asparagus/bell pepper, and earthy/herbaceous aromas and flavors in the red wines. In addition, sweet, acid and bitter tastes were affected in red wines, and a general trend of decreasing fruit and floral intensities with increasing beetle rate was observed in both white and red wines.

Red meat production has a range of negative environmental impacts. We sought to characterize the motivations, environmental attitudes and demographics of red meat-eaters, and examine the effect of message framing in reducing future meat consumption. Canadian adult meat-eaters (593) completed a survey and were randomly assigned to one of six message treatments that presented information on the environmental impacts of meat production using frames representing social norms and/or place identity constructs. Taste and quality were the most important motivators for eating meat, while moral/ethical factors were the least. Forty-nine percent of respondents indicated they would reduce red meat intake after exposure to an information only message, while the social norms frame was more effective than others (χ2). Awareness of the environmental effects increased significantly after messaging for all 13 impacts. These findings should assist communicators with designing more effective messaging aimed at encouraging pro-environmental behaviours associated with meat consumption.