Page - 23 - in options, Volume summer 2020

Social media and the internet ushered in a new age of connectedness and access to information. What people did not anticipate, however, was that these platforms could easily be manipulated to willingly or unwillingly spread false information. Misinformation, rumors, and fake news can shift public opinion, create preconditions and prejudices, influence risk perceptions, and lead to social conflicts, especially around polarizing topics such as migration. The solution to this problem, then, must involve raising awareness about the prevalence of misinformation and promoting a culture of critical thinking. This is precisely the goal of Co-Inform, a joint project between IIASA and seven European countries, funded by the European Union. The project’s goal is to create tools like browser plugins and fact-checking dashboards to help promote critical thinking and digital literacy. This can however be an uphill battle. Misinformation targets the emotional part of our brains where it triggers strong reactions. Corrective information is based on logical thinking, which is far less passionate. This means that the spread of misinformation can be very quick, while the truth can take much longer to reach people. "Misinformation is not a new phenomenon,” explains Advanced Systems Analysis Program researcher Nadejda Komendantova. “However, nowadays, it is facilitated by new technologies and the global reach of the internet. It is essential to address this phenomenon and to provide major stakeholders, including policymakers, journalists, and citizens, with tools to address misinformation and the preconditions and prejudices that directly trigger social conflicts.” Most countries around the globe are looking for effective ways to reduce nitrogen and sulphur emissions. Over the last two decades, researchers have utilized the concept of critical loads to analyze air pollution inputs to model corrective protocols in Europe. More recently, researchers developed the concept of target loads, which is an extension of the critical loads concept that allows researchers to define depositions of nitrogen and sulphur, as well as the target year for when chemical limits will no longer be violated. In a study by IIASA Air Pollution and Greenhouse Gases researcher Maximilian Posch and colleagues, the authors used target loads to model acidic deposition in 848 lakes across Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the UK. They found that in the majority of these lakes, the critical limit would be achieved by 2050. However, current protocols would not ensure that nearly a quarter of these lakes recover from acidification over the next three decades. Additionally, the results show that target loads can be used effectively on a large, regional scale, and can inform effects-based emission reduction policies. “Much has been done over the last three decades to reduce sulphur and nitrogen emissions in Europe and North America,” explains Posch. “Nevertheless, sensitive ecosystems still suffer from the deposition of nitrogen and sulphur. To help targeting and timing of further emission reductions, appropriate indicators are needed to characterize the sensitivity of ecosystems.” Using dynamic modeling to reduce acidification E U R O P E Employing artificial intelligence to address misinformation about migration on social media Regional impacts Maximilian Posch: posch@iiasa.ac.at Nadejda Komendantova: komendan@iiasa.ac.at Further info: pure.iiasa.ac.at/15898 Further info: www.iiasa.ac.at/Co-Inform 23Optionswww.iiasa.ac.at Summer 2020