* Apple users running MacOSX 10.4 or later must install Microsoft's Silverlight software in order to view the streaming videos marked with *. Once installed, restart your browser before viewing. Silverlight 4.0 intel (14MB) | Silverlight 1.0 ppc (5MB) WATCH AND LISTEN under 10 minutes longer Denial 101x, Making Sense of Climate Science Denial John Cook and others, University of Queensland If you wish you could do a better job responding to the arguments of climate change deniers, this collection of interviews will give you lots of help. (It isn't easy to navigate to particular topics, as most are identified by person speaking.) Associated with an excellent MOOC ("Learn to make sense of the science and to respond to climate change denial") led by John Cook, creator of the essential SkepticalScience.com. (various lengths, 2015) Living in Denial Kari Norgaard Sometimes denial is not a matter of ignorance, politics, or even cognitive resistance, but instead a shared, socially-constructed matter of cultural identity and the emotional demands of ordinary life. This lucid talk introduces the work described in University of Oregon sociologist Norgaard's enlightening 2011 book Living in Denial: Climate Change, Emotions, and Everyday Life. (36 minutes, 2013) When Knowledge Isn't Power Naomi Oreskes How and why a few powerful people have confused the public and policy makers about climate change, and thus prevented effective national and international action. This lucid talk (given at Colorado State University) tells a simplified (and reordered) version of the excellent book she wrote with fellow historian Erik Conway, Merchants of Doubt. (60 minutes, 2013) Climate of Doubt Frontline A thorough and informative look at how deniers have worked to convince the public to doubt that climate change is real, despite the overwhelming scientific evidence and consensus. Lots of interviews are included in this video and transcriptions. (54 minutes, 2012) READ books The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines Michael Mann. Columbia University Press, 2012, 395pp. Highly readable and informative, Mann's book tells two interlocking stories: how his part of climate science works‒how he and his colleagues came to know what they know‒and how the political attacks on this science, and these scientists, unfolded. The second story is the more dramatic, and certainly important for any concerned citizen to know; but the first is also quite interesting, probably especially for nonscientist readers. articles & essays Knowledge, Ignorance and Climate Change N. Angel Pinillos, The Stone, New York Times, November 2018 Very interesting, and not the usual thing one reads about climate doubt: "As a philosopher . . . I can tell you how it's possible to get ourselves to sincerely doubt things, despite abundant evidence to the contrary. I also have suggestions about how to fix this." Climate-Denying Republicans are Dead Wrong about this Carbon Reality Mark Kaufman, Mashable, October 2018 How much of the global warming we are seeing is caused by humans? All of it. How do we know? Read this article. Pass it along to folks who genuinely doubt our influence and are curious about the reality. Denier Roundup, Daily Climate Hot News, Climate Nexus Among the things this group does is put out a (week)daily compilation of headlines and links for climate news, and one of the things the newsletter includes is a well-informed, pun-filled, and often amusingly snarky response to "events" in the denier-sphere. Sign up at the link above to receive these notes. The Disinformation Playbook: How Business Interests Deceive, Misinform, and Buy Influence at the Expense of Public Health and Safety The Union of Concerned Scientists, October 2017 This lively compilation of tactics for spreading dangerous disinformation, while it is not limited to climate change, is very useful for this critical issue. The Fake, the Blitz, the Diversion, the Screen, and the Fix: how these tactics operate, examples of who has used them, and ideas for how to counter them. Exxon‒The Road Not Taken Neela Banerjee, Lisa Song and David Hasemyer, Inside Climate News, September 2015 Ever wonder what Exxon really knew about fossil fuels and global climate disruption‒and when they knew it? Turns out they knew a lot, a long time ago, and from their own scientists, well before they turned their considerable resources to deceiving the public. (For a response from ExxonMobil's Richard Keil, click here.) This thorough, multi-part series, based on eight months of investigation into primary sources, raises, for some, the question whether the fossil fuel industry is guilty‒like the tobacco industry‒of racketeering, as outlined here by reporter Dana Nuccitelli in The Guardian. For another deeply-researched story, this one about Exxon's relations with its shareholders on climate change resolutions, see Inside Climate News's Climate Accountability Project. Here Is What Happens When You Try to Replicate Climate Contrarian Papers Dana Nuccitelli, The Guardian, August 2015 What does one have to do to repeat the results of the very small number of papers at odds with the overwhelming consensus that current climate change is human caused? In one case: 6,000 years of data and keep only 4,000 years. A very useful article describing such a project. My 1975 'Cooling World' Story Doesn't Make Today's Climate Scientists Wrong Peter Gwynne, Inside Science Minds, May 2014 On the contrary, says the writer of the story that keeps being brought up by those who dispute today's overwhelming scientific consensus. This column should interest historians of science and public attitudes and science journalists as well as those who seek to correct misinformation. As Gwynne notes, "the issue raises questions about the relationship between science writers and scientists as well as the attitudes toward science of individuals with political agendas." How Newsweek's "Global Cooling" Story Got its Legs Doug Struck, The Daily Climate, January 2014 That 1975 story about global cooling? Here it is, along with its context. Institutionalizing Delay: Foundation Funding and the Creation of U.S. Climate Change Counter-Movement Organizations Robert J. Brulle, Climatic Change, December 2013 Start with the news release link above for a readable summary of a study of how a lot of climate-denial funding has recently gone "dark"‒that is, untraceable. The full academic article is here. Who Created the Global Warming "Pause"? How Climate Skeptics and the Media‒With a Little Inadvertent Help from Scientists Themselves‒Forged a Misleading Narrative Chris Mooney, Mother Jones, October 2013 An excellent story about how this misleading story developed, with lots of links. Read it if you're interested in the complications in communicating science in a tough, politicized environment‒or if you're confused about the scientific story itself. Debunking the Renewables "Disinformation Campaign" Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute, July 2013 This excellent piece about the pervasive pattern of inaccurate and misleading news coverage of the economic benefits (and other aspects) of renewable energy should serve as a heads-up for news readers everywhere. The Debunking Handbook John Cook and Stephan Lewandowsky This short, clear piece offers excellent research-supported advice for debunking misinformation and incorrect "myths" about climate change (and other topics), including tips for avoiding the surprising but real backfire effects that tend to reinforce myths even when the intent is to replace them with facts. Cook is a climate change communication specialist; Lewandowsky is a cognitive scientist; both well-qualified authors are Australian. The Koch Club Charles Lewis, Eric Holmberg, Alexia Campbell, Lydia Beyoud, Investigative Reporting Workshop, July 2013 An eye-opening investigative report about the large and mostly hidden influence of Charles and David Koch (and their corporation, Koch Industries), including their efforts to block Congressional action on climate change involving a "no climate tax pledge." For a good description of the report (which is itself not long), see this blog by New Yorker writer Jane Mayer. Secret Funding Helped Build Vast Network of Climate Denial Thinktanks Suzanne Goldenberg, The Guardian, February 2013 How "anonymous billionaires donated $120m to more than 100 anti-climate groups working to discredit climate change science." Why the Global Warming Skeptics Are Wrong William D. Nordhaus, New York Review of Books, March 22, 2012 Straightforward refutation of the six main points made by skeptics in an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, written by an economist from Yale whose work they misunderstand and distort. websites Climate Feedback "Is this article consistent with the latest thinking and knowledge in science?" "Would experts in this field endorse the main message of this article?" If such questions interest you, this site may have answers for you from scientists in relevant fields, who rate the credibility of articles published for the general public. While credibility ratings are most often low for pieces that downplay climate change, the site also lists articles that have been called out by scientists as too alarmist. Reality Drop With the motto "Spread truth. Destroy Denial," this arm of the Climate Reality Project aims to make it easier to respond intelligently to both accurate and inaccurate climate stories in the comment streams of online media. Skeptical Science Probably the best single source on this topic. Along with terrific information, resources, and graphics, they offer a phone app for those who want on-the-go corrections to bits of dis- and misinformation. How to Talk to a Climate Skeptic: Responses to the Most Common Skeptical Arguments on Global Warming Coby Beck, Grist.org Ever find yourself wanting to respond with solid information to somebody who doesn't "believe in" climate change? Want help replying to letters in your local newspaper that strike you as misinformed? The series of responses by Coby Beck, posted on Grist.org, is the place to look. Indexed in several useful ways: by "stages of denial" ("climate change is natural"), by "scientific topic" ("scientific process"), by "types of argument" ("cherry picking"), and by "levels of sophistication" ("naive"). Well-informed, crystal-clear, and fun to read. DESMOGBLOG "Clearing the pollution that clouds climate science." Includes a database of individuals involved in the denial industry; a media center; and videos. Chris Mooney's good blog on the subject is here, too. TEACH classes resources Misinformation and Its Correction: Continued Influence and Successful Debiasing Stephan Lewandowsky, Ullrich K. H. Ecker, Colleen M. Seifert, Norbert Schwarz, and John Cook. Psychological Science and the Public Interest, 2012. This is an excellent scholarly overview of an important topic: lucid, informative, and packed with references to relevant studies. Symposium on Climate Change Skepticism & Denial American Behavioral Scientist (June 2013, vol. 57:6); Riley E. Dunlap, Special Editor Seven scholarly articles on this subject, available through major universities, their databases, or for a fee. Edited and introduced by Riley Dunlap, a sociologist and leading scholar on the sources and nature of climate denial.