What can we do to address climate denial materials?
Recently the Heartland Institute and other climate denial organizations have been distributing their newest materials, and educators have been asking what can we do to sort out and help the learners we work with to sort out information and materials that reflect the science about climate change that’s supported by 97% of scientists? Here are some practical suggestions for you.
- Ask students some basic questions about the materials: a. Who collected this data? b. When was it collected? c. Does it represent what it’s supposed to? d. Who funded the research? (questions in the first lesson of Climate Generation’s curriculum: https://www.climategen.org/what-we-do/education/climate-change-and-energ... )
- Go to https://skepticalscience.com/argument.php
- Read The Madhouse Effect, the recent book by Michael Mann and Tom Toles. It covers the science and the false propaganda.
- Participate in an online MOOC “Making Sense of Climate Science Denial” - Climate change is real, so why the controversy and debate? Learn to make sense of the science and to respond to climate change denial. Commit 2 hrs/week for 7 weeks and Register for FREE at https://www.edx.org/course/making-sense-climate-science-denial-uqx-denia...
- Check out these infographics
- How to Spot Fake News is an infographic from the International Federation of Library Associations. It is also available in many different languages. https://www.ifla.org/publications/node/11174
- This infographic draws from an article also titled, How to Spot Fake News from FactCheck.org: http://www.factcheck.org/2016/11/how-to-spot-fake-news/