Teaching Climate Change at the Community College
Climate misinformation, denial and skepticism
Climate change denial is a fading challenge. The heatwaves, wildfires, hurricanes and floods of recent years have provided evidence of anthropogenic climate change that is all but impossible to deny. There remain some deep pockets of deniers and skeptics, and policies to address climate change continue to spark controversy. But the PCC instructors interviewed for this project indicated that they have rarely encountered climate deniers or skeptics in class in recent years, although they did in years past.
Students coming from Portland-area schools have been learning the science of climate change since middle school. One instructor compared teaching climate change to teaching evolution - you can't rule out the possibility of pushback, but you can present the science as established.
This page has resources on climate misinformation and denial, including its roots and tools to respond to specific claims, should they arise.
Climate change misinformation, denial and skepticism
- Climate change misinformationResource page on climate change denial on the library Climate Change research guide. Includes links to recommended videos and books on the orchestrated campaign to spread doubt about the causes of global warming.
- How to Spot—and Help Stop—Climate MisinformationFrom the Natural Resources Defense Council
- Pro-Environmental Views of Climate SkepticsResearch article based on interviews with skeptics in Idaho, published in the journal Contexts, 2020. "[T]he current public perception regarding the nature of U.S. climate change skepticism may, in fact, lack the sophistication needed to truly understand the perspectives of skeptics. Popular knowledge, including the larger media discourse, suggests that skeptics are conspiracy-minded conservatives with little regard for the environment. Our research demonstrates that this notion fails to capture the complexities of views among those who are skeptical of climate change or its human causes."
- Controversy in the Classroom: Strategies for managing climate change discourseFrom CLEAN (Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network). Designed for high school but with broader usefulness.
- Miseducation : how climate change is taught in America (book)Online and print book about how American children are being misinformed about climate change.
Answers to climate deniers claims
- NASA Global Climate Change - Frequently Asked QuestionsClear answers to frequent questions, including from skeptics
- Reality Drop, from The Climate Realty ProjectResponses to 110 myths, broken into categories "It's not happening": "It's not us"; "It's not bad": and "It's too hard."
- 10 common myths about climate change — and what science really saysArticle from CBS News, 2020
- Debunking Handbook 2020From the Center for Climate Communication at George Mason University, summarizes the current state of the science of misinformation and its debunking.