how to talk to climate change deniers

As hard as it can be to hear denial when it comes from someone close to you, your relationship means you can play a key role in opening their mind in ways that scientists, media voices, or others cant. Lance Lawson. All I hear is preaching, moralizing and shaming. So, here are some tips on how to break the ice and talk to the climate deniers in your family. In September 2021, the Italian Minister of the Ecological Transition called climate activists "radical chic" and said that the "extremist and ideological ones" are "worse than the climate catastrophe.". Its a hoax.. Hayhoe insists that only about 8% of people completely deny the reality of climate change. And when you can bring the impacts to their lives, it's a much more compelling case to be made.". Climate change is a hoax--and so is coronavirus. She is also a Metropolitan College MLA candidate in gastronomy, and can be reached at dferr@bu.edu. Washington, DC 20004. We greatly appreciate your support. To get them to care about the issue, she said, you need to "figure out a way to connect it to their own experience and their own lives ." i. Exxon Advertisement from 1980: Whats being done to find more oil in America? Not by rehashing the same data and facts we've been discussing for years, says climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe. "We need to tackle our teachers, our neighbours All of us have to become vessels for communication.". Try to gauge: how strong their attitudes are, how motivated they are by climate change, what kinds, and to what extent, have they accepted climate change misinformation. "There'll be no progress that way," she insists. Its a difficult conversation to have, even overwhelming at times it is the future of the planet, after all. in the summer of 2015, noaa scientists published a paper that ran counter to one narrative on global warming: while some data seemed to show the rate of warming had slowed or paused after 1998 and into the beginning of the 21st century, they wrote, an update to noaa's influential temperature data set confirmed that warming had actually continued There is clear evidence that over the past seventeen years, the global temperature has risen by 0.09F. "But there are a lot of people out there who are just naturally sceptical as part of their personality," he says. Yes, thats true.. Its clear we dont have a moment to waste when it comes to taking climate action. These days, many of our fellow citizens reject scientific expertise and prefer ideology to facts. Just the words climate change can create arguments with some climate deniers but for many, their beliefs come from a place of concern or misinformation. This air rises too, and before you know. "The trick is honesty," says Rothstein. They may demonstrate tentative indications of having accepted some misinformation, but havent really yet developed extreme attitudes about the issue. CLAIM 1: Anthropogenic carbon dioxide can't be changing climate, because CO2 is only a trace gas in the atmosphere and the amount produced by humans is dwarfed by the amount from volcanoes and . Why was the human papillomavirus vaccine anathematized when given to teenage girls, even though weve been giving another vaccine for a sexually transmitted diseasehepatitis Bto infants for years? Finding this common ground gives you the chance to connect on a human level and can help your family member see the conversation as a discussion between two people on the same team, instead of an argument between opposing sides. And do we really think the U.S. by itself can truly affect global climate change? The job offsets can be made mostly equivalent: whats the downside? Beginning by asking questions and truly listening to the answers tells your family member that you respect them as an individual, even if you disagree with their position. "The dominant way of communicating about climate change is to keep pounding away with the same arguments and asking people 'Why don't you accept this?' and 'What's wrong with you?'," he explains. She graduated with a BS in journalism from Emerson College in 2016, with focuses on environmental studies and publishing. First, how strong are their attitudes about climate change? So, thats when you have to weigh the trade-off between you spending all of your resourcesyou know, time, effort, money, blood pressureon trying to convince this person, when theyre really unlikely to accept your viewpoint. Vaccines are bad for you. Those in the camp accepting of the overwhelming scientific consensus that the Earth is warming and human activity significantly . I think even deniers could be persuaded if people avoided moralizing and preaching and shame tactics and focused on solutions whatever form they come in. But we have a unique opportunity this year to make a real change starting with the White House and Congress. In this episode, Krishna explains how climate misinformation spreads, who believes it, and how to engage with people who deny climate change. How Do I Talk to a Climate Change Denier? 1) Make it personal "Most people do not give a shit about climate change," said HuffPost environmental reporter Kate Sheppard in 2013. Its another fear tactic like how Covid was used. 1. "You can't convince someone if they perceive that there's a power differential," says Prof van der Linden. Chronicling Russia's Invasion of Ukraine. Answer: The U.S. puts out more CO2 than any other nation on earth, including China and India, by a large margin. POST. is a web content producer for BU Today, The Brink, and Bostonia, as well as a BU alum with a degree in advertising. Krishna: Based on my research, I can tell you that one of the things that you have to do before you try to engage, or you try to convince somebody that climate change is real, is to understand their perspective first. So there are three things that I suggest that you understand before you try to engage them in a conversation about climate change. The pandemic has taken many lives and upended much of our world. So, here are some tips on how to break the ice and talk to the climate deniers in your family. But how exactly do you go about starting the conversation? Risk assessment by groupthink is reasonable, if not rational, because, at the personal level, it costs nothing. And let me clarify this last point, because there are a variety of different topics of misinformation related to climate change that are abundant out there. Some even suggest that CO is such a small part of the atmosphere it cannot have . You may not be able to change their mind in the moment and in fact, really trying to change their mind will probably make them just shut down and harden their beliefs. . Did it turn out to be false? People in India were most likely to think that way, followed by those in Thailand and Spain. From extreme weather events to record-breaking heat, the evidence of how our climate is changing is right in front of us, but some people still wont see these signs for what they are. Making solid counterarguments against climate denial and misinformation starts with being informed. The Global Temperature Isn't Rising. And so, thats the real difference between amplifiers and those who are vulnerable: amplifiers are folks who may not be worth anybodys time, because theyre so far into their belief systems that youre not really going to change those belief systems at this point. He says it's important to "[expose] techniques of manipulation" by asking questions such as: "Have you considered that some of these theories might be created to take advantage of people?". Thanks for listening, and see you in two weeks. But Kahan and Skocpol arent as far apart as they seem. Uncle Frank says, "Climate change is natural and normal we've seen fluctuations throughout history.". Yes. The lone policeman who tried to stem the Seoul crush, Aboriginal boy's killing puts spotlight on racism, Billions being spent in metaverse land grab. Why Are This Years Midterm Elections Especially Important? https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skeptic, https://stephenschneider.stanford.edu/Publications/PDF_Papers/Crichton2003.pdf, Lee McIntyre: How to Talk to a Science Denier. "So I assumed that, if my father is telling me this, then it must be true.". He was just a teenager when that conversation happened, but it made a huge impression on him. Use this as an opportunity to get an understanding of what their concerns are and where theyre coming from. Complex concepts and ideas are scary so you need to ease them in, perhaps with cartoon mascots explaining it very, very slowly and multiple times. Count me in as a doubter There is much more to learn and understand about this subject before labeling people as this or that. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. It would force me to acquire new evidence, and that cycle helped expand my own understanding.". It can also help you avoid triggering what psychologists call the backfire effect, the phenomenon where people hearing evidence that disproves their closely held beliefs feel personally threatened and only cling on tighter than ever. Here are ten comments that you can expect to hear should you ever be so unlucky as to encounter a climate change denier on the Internet, in a classroom, or anywhere else. What can you do when the people closest to you believe climate change is a hoax? So theres that set of climate change misinformation. Below are a few statements you might encounter when talking to a climate change denier and how to respond with the science. What about converting as much oil and coal use to natural gas? The doubters range from the conspiracy theorist to the sceptical scientist, or from . Both consider group identity as important, politically, as individual acts of cognition, and both know that groups are not static. The issue with the term global warming is that adding energy into the atmosphere manifests in extreme weather, not just warmer weather. There are. It's cheaper - intellectually and socially - for them to stand their ground than it is to change their views. Do you have a story for us? Required fields are marked *, Pioneering Research from Boston University, BostonUniversity. The most recent reports on the current and forecasted impacts of climate change are clearwe are running out . And thats a problem that were confronting as disinformation and misinformation researchers. Video, Why we know so little about the battle for Kherson, How extreme weather is linked to climate change, Facebook drives sceptics towards climate denial, How high-profile scientists felt tricked by group denying climate change, Small army of volunteers keeping climate deniers off Wikipedia, 'Go back to Africa' remark halts French parliament, Trump drops strong hint about 2024 White House run, Kyrie Irving suspended over anti-Semitic posts, The Albanian gangs luring migrants to the UK, Imran Khan: Shock at attack on Pakistan ex-PM, Johnson had numbers to challenge Sunak - top Tory, Dutch wolves to be paintballed to scare them away. Donald Trump at a rally on Decemeber 30, 2015: So Obama is talking about all of this with global warming and that-thits a lot of, its a hoax, I mean its a money making industry, okay? Deniers also complain that funding for climate science has increased which makes sense given the need to understand how much-or-little we affect the climate. Why did we stop holding protests about nuclear power? CO2 doesvary naturally. But also, I always suggest as a last resort: ask, So what? So, first, we need to convince people it's real. He says years of research have shown him that confronting people with hard evidence is not the way to go. If you misconstrue the nature of a global threat, your mistake wont hurt you much, because you cant save yourself anyway. Many of us shared values with our family members as well as heritage. The audacious PR plot that spread climate change doubt, Don't let climate doom win, project tells worriers. As long as we are using labels how about we rename this article: How to Talk to a Climate Change Alarmist. "Whenever he drove me to school, I would give my own argument, and he would downplay the evidence. It was a rebuttal to those who have done nothing to mitigate the risks of climate change, because they refuse to admit its plain facts. [Laughs], Krishna: Hopefully thats one that works. Top 10 tips for combating climate change revealed, Russia attacks leave 4.5m Ukrainians without power, Why we know so little about the battle for Kherson. Colarossi: We can jump right into some of the big questions we have for you. "He basically told me something along the lines of 'It's nonsense'," Lance recalls. ", Lance's close bond with his dad is something he believes was key to persuading him, but he also says it's important to check your tone: "Ask yourself, 'Am I sounding sanctimonious?' With few in the party willing to directly push back on Trump over the issue for fear of alienating the base or angering the mercurial former President, the GOP's push to shake its image as the . Try to gauge: how strong their attitudes are, how motivated they are by climate change, what kinds, and to what extent, have they accepted climate change misinformation, In reality, climate change misinformation and disinformation amplifiers are a small minority of the population. And I am not an expert on algorithms, youll have to talk to my colleagues over in [the College of Engineering] about that. We really hope youve been enjoying this episode of Question of the Week and we want to thank you for tuning in. In the most respectful, loving way, of course: 1. He can be reached at wandrew@bu.edu. Bloomfield Knowing the "why" behind the denial can help those who are concerned about climate change communicate more effectively with those who question the science behind it. Colarossi: Whats next for you and your research on climate change misinformation? Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation. Wong-Parodi sees it as a success if a skeptic can recognize the need to adapt to the impacts of climate change, even if they are reluctant to accept the fact the humans are . You get rid of fossil fuels too soon, too fast without balancing, you push billions back into poverty. It looks like Chuck is at the forefront of an encouraging trend. This is the kindest interpretation of what youre saying. First and foremost, its important to remember youre talking to a family member, not a stranger or a coworker, and you have an existing bond with this person. While Democrats are three times more likely than Republicans to say that climate change should be one of the nation's top priorities . Chris Mooney Climate . The majority of respondents in the YouGov study of 30,000 people in 28 economies acknowledge climate change is happening and that humanity is at least partly responsible. Climate-Change Deniers Would Rather Talk About Cow Farts Than Fix the Planet. grist embed. And in the decades after, to mislead the public, fossil fuel companies have funded and carried out misinformation campaigns. But if they come back with specifics, thats when coming prepared with evidence and fact-checked news articles puts you in a good position to refute misinformation respectfully. 1. And then what I will focus on in this project is ways in which we can correct climate change misinformation among those different publics that we talked about earlier. If you read the non-enthralling 36-page summary of a report about to come out from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as I did last week, you may have been struck by something faintly odd. Introduce the topic casually - and ask lots of questions Instead of starting off strong, mention climate change in a casual conversation about an entirely different topic or by talking about current events, like extreme weather or an upcoming election. Krishna: Yeah, so in terms of just some strategies to counter the misinformation that people talk about. Thriving in the Post-Pandemic World. Climate change deniers defy research, logic, compassion for nature or the wellbeing of our species, mainly to argue a religious or economic ideal. Colarossi: Thanks to Arunima Krishna for joining us on this episode of Question of the Week. Second, how motivated are they about climate change as a topic? Stronger convection currents lead to higher highs and lower lows, and more importantly, higher and lower temperatures than seasonal norms so critical to wildlife migration patterns, pollinating insects coordinating with the plants that need them, while disrupting rainfall patterns so important to proper plant germination and growth. In a recent book, The Scientific Attitude: Defending Science From Denial, Fraud and Pseudoscience, I talk about how we can use a values-based conception of science to defend it from the threat of science deniers and pseudoscientists, who attack it using a mishmash of conspiracy theories, cherry-picked evidence and other reasoning flaws that are . Wake up to the day's most important news. We discuss the origins of climate misconceptions and how to effectively engage with people who deny climate change. Actually, your arguing may even reinforce their beliefs. One of the best ways to do this is by sharing your climate story, why do you care about the climate crisis, how does it impact you, what are your concerns? They may even listen for solutions. Climate change alarmists seem incapable of balancing the risks from climate change with the risks of completely and drastically banning all fossil fuel use as quickly as possible and replacing that with renewable energy. I also take issue with your suggestion COVID-19 pandemic was not a serious and ongoing event. She calls them "dismissives" and she does not waste time trying to change their minds. Part of HuffPost Science. This April, were hosting the Climate Reality Leadership Corps Virtual US Training, hosted by our founder and chairman, former Vice President Al Gore. Cultural theorists think that what people perceive as a threat is a function of their worldview. They cite cherry-picked evidence, rely on fake experts, and believe con. 97 percent or more of actively publishing climate scientists, What You Need To Know About The Paris Climate Summit, After Years Of Lukewarm Climate Talks, Paris Cranks Up The Heat, Watch How Rising Sea Levels Could Swallow Coastal Cities, Why Some Conservatives Still Won't Accept Climate Change Is Real, The Devastating Consequences Of A 'Small' Rise In Global Temperatures, Mayors Take On Crucial Roles Fighting Climate Change, Why This Goal To Curb Climate Change 'Is Not Ideal'. 2022 BBC. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. But Id guess that Harvard political scientist and sociologist Theda Skocpol, for one, wouldnt think Kahan could tell the environmentalists much. I would bet most people fall into the category where there are serious risks from climate change and there is an acknowledgement that fossil fuels is the engine and the life blood which underlies all economic prosperity for billions of poor and middle class people around the world. But only 57% believe humans cause it. Ted Cruz in an interview with CNN in 2016: And the problem with climate change is theres never been a day in the history of the world in which the climate is not changing., CNN interviewer: So you dont believe that theres any man-made reason for global warming or climate change?, Cruz: What I think is the data are not supporting what the advocates are arguing.. The key is not to use language or modes of communication that convey animosity, contempt, and hostility, he told me, because then the signal that will come through is that our group is under assault. 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