ESRI (UK) survey reveals the world's a small place after all

Public overestimating both size of planet and the extent of scientific knowledge

17th November 2009 - Research released today by ESRI (UK) to mark GIS Day and Geography Awareness Week has found that far from a perception of a shrinking world, the public overestimate the size of our planet ten-fold. The average guess for the 25,000 mile distance around the equator was more than 300,000 miles. On top of overstating the size of the planet, the public appear to overestimate the extent of current levels of scientific knowledge. One in five of the public feel that further scientific fieldwork is unnecessary, and half think exploration is more commonly linked to television documentaries than new discoveries.

Such attitudes appear to be affecting the support amongst younger audiences for research to understand and address crucial issues such as climate change. According to the ICM poll of 2,000 UK adults, those under the age of 35 are twice as likely to wish to see funding targeted at research into renewable energy rather than climate change, than those over the age of 35. With over 40 percent of greenhouse gases coming from sources other than energy generation such views risk affecting the availability of funding and talent for vital research into climate change processes.

Leading polar explorer, Pen Hadow, commented on the research:

'The traditional explorers discovered and mapped our planet's major surface features - the rivers, mountain ranges, and coastlines. The challenge for today's explorers is to provide the information from the world's most inaccessible environments to scientists so they can understand better how the natural processes within these mapped ecosystems work. This is essential work if we are serious about managing our relationship with our planet better, especially with respect to global climate change.
'Modern technology may have given us the gift of observing our planet from space, but it is the immense power offered by tools such as geographic information systems which have provided us with the ability to model, understand and demonstrate how our activity affects the environment.

'Scientific discoveries can depend on fieldwork and technology working together. For example, to predict how much longer we'll have year-round sea ice on the roof of the world, it is fieldwork integrating with satellite and GIS technology that will give us the answer.'

Success in changing attitudes to Geography amongst younger audiences appears to lie in championing a new breed of explorers, replacing images of pith helmets with climbing gear and satellite trackers. The research reveals that fewer and fewer of us are inspired as children by tales of classical explorers, falling from 55 percent of those aged over 65 to fewer than one in three (28%) of those aged 18-24. One in five (18%) of those under 35 believe Sir Walter Raleigh, to be most famous as the inventor of the bicycle. Similarly Dr David Livingstone, supposedly immortalised in the quote 'Dr Livingstone I presume', is confused with the first mayor of London by one in six of those under 35.

The research was commissioned by ESRI (UK), the UK's leading provider of geographic information systems (GIS) technology, to mark Geography Awareness Week. The week includes GIS Day on Wednesday which aims to promote geography, inspire future careers and encourage the learning of new geographical skills by both teachers and pupils. Worryingly, the research shows that an interest in pursuing an additional qualification in Geography dropped from last year down to a mere five percent, losing out to subjects such as computing, maths and languages.

Following the recent introduction of GIS to the school curriculum, ESRI (UK) has developed specially tailored software packages for UK schools and is currently working with explorer Pen Hadow to develop a schools teaching pack. The pack, based on the findings of his Catlin Arctic Survey, demonstrates how GIS can shed new light on the thinning of the arctic ice sheet.

Angela Baker, Community Programmes Manager, ESRI (UK) comments:

'A sense of our place in the world is essential to making informed decisions. Whether on the small scale of choosing locally sourced produce, or in bigger decisions such as choosing a career focused on better understanding our planet. Geographic information systems allow complex information to be analysed, manipulated and then visualised giving increased understanding of the world around us, We hope that engaging students with this powerful technology in the classroom will help bring to life the work of new geography heroes such as Pen Hadow.'

The new age of the explorer

According to the research findings, becoming an explorer is a popular dream job, easily beating career choices such as banker, journalist or artist with one in five of us selecting it. Such perceptions may be shaped by modern TV personalities such as Bear Grylls, revealed by the research to be the favourite explorer for 18-24 year olds. The nation's favourite explorer is globetrotting Michael Palin.

• The life of an explorer was appealing across the country but lost out to doctor for the top spot in the North East and to artist in East Anglia and London.
• The rugged life of an explorer proved most appealing to the Welsh and those from the East Midlands and North West, with almost of quarter selecting it as their top dream job.
• The role was least appealing to those from the East Anglia, North East and London with only one in six tempted by a life of discovery.
  A desire to explore appears to be linked to an interest in pursuing further study in Geography:
• The East Midlands and Wales were the regions most likely to opt for further study in Geography whilst East Anglia came bottom.
• The numbers opting to study Geography were dwarfed by those interested in top study choice Computing, with one in four opting to pursue an interest in technology in comparison to the one in twenty interested in further study in Geography.
  Regional success in estimating the size of the planet varied considerably:
• The South East was the most successful in getting within 5,000 miles of the correct answer with 26 percent answering in this bracket.
• In contrast those from the West Midlands did poorly, with only 15 percent managing to get within 5,000 miles of the correct answer.

About GIS Day

GIS Day on Wednesday 18th November provides an international forum for users of geographic information systems (GIS) technology to demonstrate real-world applications that are making a difference in our society. More than 80 countries will participate in holding local events such as corporate open houses, hands-on workshops, community expos, school assemblies, and more. For more information about supporters, resources and events, please visit www.gisday.com and www.esriuk/gisday

About ESRI (UK)

ESRI develops software which helps organisations make better decisions through the management and analysis of any type of geographic or location-based information - ESRI's powerful digital mapping brings spatial data to life. The company's software is running on more than one million desktop computers and thousands of web and enterprise servers, providing the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis needs.

The world's fourth largest privately-owned software company, ESRI was founded in 1969 and is the world's largest company dedicated to creating GIS (geographic information systems) software. Operating in 150 countries with over 4,000 staff, ESRI has more than 350,000 customers and revenues of $660m (2006 fig). ESRI (UK) is part of the global ESRI network and its customers include the Environment Agency, The AA, Ministry of Defence, Ordnance Survey, RSA Group, Manchester Airport, Scottish Power and the Met Police.

For more information please visit www.esriuk.com

The polling of 2,000 UK adults was carried out by ICM Research in November 2009