Morning concurrent track 2: Creation and correction of myths about global warming

MORNING CONCURRENT TRACK 2: CREATION AND CORRECTION OF MYTHS ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING Moderator Robert Futrell Student Union Room 211 Matthew Lachniet – Global Warming Misconceptions and Myths: Barriers and Opportunities for Communicating Climate Change Science to a Non-scientific Audience Abstract: Opinions on an anthropogenic influence in global warming abound. Within the non-scientific public, the strength of one’s opinion commonly seems to be in inverse proportion to their knowledge of climate science. One reason for this disconnect between reality and opinion is the persistence of many climate change myths in popular knowledge of global warming. These myths are regularly propagated in popular media and internet blogs, some of which appear to be driven more by ideology than a quest for truth about Nature. In the past, the desire to provide balance in media coverage of global warming at the expense of scientific accuracy has handed the soapbox to many with minority viewpoints that are not supported by all of the available scientific evidence. However, many of these myths contain an element of but have been misunderstood (at best) by the general public and misappropriated (at worst) by interest groups on all sides of ideological spectrum. This presentation will outline some of the common myths on global warming and how they can be used as opportunities in a teaching environment to enhance students’ understanding of global warming and climate science. Gale Sinatra, CarolAnne Kardash, Gita Taasoobshirazi, Doug Lombardi – College Students’ Understanding of and Reactions to Global Warming Abstract: The principles underlying global climate change involve a complex interconnection between many scientific concepts that are difficult for students to understand. This study examined whether persuasive texts would impact readers’ willingness to take mitigative action to reduce the impacts of human-induced climate change. College students participating in the study were randomly assigned to read a persuasive text about global ...