Misinformation 101: Climate Change Denial and How to Fight Back | Dr. John Cook, PhD

Introduction

Today I am joined by Dr. John Cook. Dr. Cook is a Senior Research Fellow with the Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change at the University of Melbourne. He obtained his PhD at the University of Western Australia, studying the cognitive psychology of climate science denial. His research focus is understanding and countering misinformation about climate change.

In 2007, he founded Skeptical Science, a website which won the 2011 Australian Museum Eureka Prize for the Advancement of Climate Change Knowledge and the 2016 Friend of the Planet Award from the National Center for Science Education.

John authored the book Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change, which combines climate science, critical thinking, and cartoons to explain and counter climate misinformation. He also co-authored the college textbooks Climate Change: Examining the Facts and Climate Change Science: A Modern Synthesis, as well as the book Climate Change Denial: Heads in the Sand.

In 2013, he published a paper finding a 97% scientific consensus on human-caused global warming, a finding that has been highlighted by President Obama and UK Prime Minister David Cameron.

Links

John Cook: https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/profile/1028119-john-cook

Cranky Uncle: https://crankyuncle.com/

Skeptical Science: https://skepticalscience.com/

Timestamps

0:00 - Introduction
1:32 - Why can’t we ignore misinformation?
2:50 - What is the difference between misinformation and disinformation?
7:20 - How has climate change denial changed over the past 20 years?
8:46 - Who are the sources of misinformation?
9:41 - Science denial is not a unique challenge
12:55 - Cognitive psychology and its importance in tackling climate change
17:55 - What are the drivers of belief in climate change misinformation?
21:23 - What are the types of climate change misinformation?
28:51 - The persuasiveness of purveyors of misinformation
31:51 - How can we counter misinformation?
42:48 - F.L.I.C.C. - The climate change misinformation taxonomy
43:40 - F - Fake experts
44:41 - L - Logical fallacies
49:37 - I - Impossible expectations
54:50 - C - Cherry-picking
59:55 - C - Conspiracy theories
1:02:28 - Misinformation breakdown - Example 1
1:08:07 - Misinformation breakdown - Example 2
1:11:19 - Misinformation breakdown - Example 3
1:17:22 - Final takeaways