Climate Literacy: Misinformation and Debunking

A vital tool in the climate literacy toolbox is the ability to identify climate misinformation. In today’s media landscape, climate misinformation is widespread and although it is spread by a small group of people, it has a powerful impact on public opinion and climate actions at small and large scales. Fortunately, through the principles of inoculation theory, audiences can be “vaccinated” against the influence of misinformation through messages that explain the logical fallacies at work in misinformation claims. This presentation will describe how inoculation messages are helpful for debunking misinformation, and present the Cranky Uncle game as an engaging and effective logic-based inoculation tool that can be used in classrooms and beyond.