In surveys, more than 60 percent of Americans say they believe climate change is real. Yet the same surveys suggest that, if given a test of their knowledge about global warming, only 8 percent of Americans would receive an “A,” while more than half would fail the exam.
This lack of public understanding might not be surprising in a country where most citizens cannot name a living scientist. But it is especially concerning at a time when, on the one hand, the effects of a changing climate are already being felt around the country and, on the other, climate denialism has taken root at the top levels of government, with high-level officials calling climate scientists “hoaxters” and referring to climate research as “politically correct science.”
We are a group of graduate and undergraduate science and journalism students who want to increase the public’s understanding of global warming and its effects. This website was produced as part of “Multimedia Reporting on Climate Change,” our 2018 spring semester science communications class at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
Environmental Responses
Social Impact and Policies
