21.12.2017 change 21.12.2017

Climate science - there is no place for muck-ups in the fight against pseudoscience

Photo: Fotolia Photo: Fotolia

A database of over 100 myths about the climate, climate nonsense of the year poll, substantive fight against pseudoscience - the team of the website Nauka o klimacie ("Climate science") has been patiently promoting knowledge about climate change for several years. "We cannot afford a muck-up" - team members say.

The creators of the website Nauka o klimacie - Prof. Szymon Malinowski, Dr. Aleksandra Kardaś, Marcin Popkiewicz and Anna Sierpińska - are the finalists in the Team category in the 13th edition of the Science Populariser competition organized by PAP - Science in Poland and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

"The website Nauka o klimacie was created because we were disgusted with the level of public debate, the level of knowledge about climate change, also in a certain part of the scientific community, not to mention decision makers and the media" - said atmospheric physicist Prof. Szymon Malinowski from the Faculty of Physics of the University of Warsaw. Marcin Popkiewicz added: "We believe that climate change is a very serious civilization challenge. The situation that requires commitment. And in Poland there were no reliable sources of information on this subject".

REVIEWED POPULAR SCIENCE WEBSITE

Team members pay a lot of attention to providing reliable knowledge. Before an article appears on the website www.naukaoklimacie.pl - it undergoes the verification process. First, the text is corrected and reviewed by the editors. "And if the subject goes beyond our scientific competence, we present the text to the scientific council so that its members can check what we have written" - said Prof. Malinowski. The scientific council members are Polish scholars - professors who specialize in climatology, meteorology, hydrology, oceanography. Before the text appears on the website, it sometimes returns to the author even 5-6 times. "It is certainly not that someone sits down in the evening, writes an article and publishes it in the morning without telling anyone" - emphasised Prof. Malinowski. Marcin Popkiewicz added: "We can not afford any muck-ups".

PATIENTLY FIGHTING PSEUDOSCIENCE

The website contains a valuable database of over 100 myths and explanations related to climate myths. For example, the authors explain why it is not true that "people are too insignificant to affect the climate". Team members also patiently clarify that carbon dioxide is not just a meaningless "trace gas" and explain that information about the rapid increase in temperatures on Earth is not due to calculation errors.

"We have also prepared Polish translations of approximately 20 videos that explain why people deny the facts. Because the reason for this is not only ignorance, but sometimes also worldview or psychological mechanisms" - said Anna Sierpińska.

Dr. Aleksandra Kardaś, advised how to argue with incorrect, pseudoscientific beliefs in a discussion. "It pays to identify the most frequently repeated myths, nonsense, prepare good, relatively concise answers and repeat, repeat, repeat them... We get a lot of information every day, we are not able to process it all. That is why only after we hear something many times, we have the chance to identify and assimilate it" -she said.

NONSENSE HUNTERS

For members of the Nauka o klimacie team, it does not matter who the person is. If you make a mistake about the climate - you should be corrected. That\'s why the website points out mistakes made by celebrities, politicians, scientists and even Nobel Prize winners.

The creators of the website encourage Internet users to track inaccuracies. Nauka o klimacie has already organized three editions of the vote "Climate nonsense of the year", in which internet users chose the most absurd statement about the climate that appeared in the media in a given year. In 2016, Janusz Korwin-Mikke turned out to be an infamous winner. Among the "winners" are journalists, ministers and professors. Those taking part in the cote not only can get acquainted with false statements, but also learn why such an argument is not based on scientific facts. "We have already started to collect entries for the next edition of the poll" - said Prof. Szymon Malinowski.

"Now, when a major politician or magazine writes something stupid about the climate, they can be certain that we will have a field day with them. Of course in white gloves. Substantially" - laughed Popkiewicz.

EXPERTS IN SHORT SUPPLY

Professor Malinowski drew attention to the serious problem related to climate education. "If you take into account the requirements of the World Meteorological Organization, climatologists and meteorologists have not been educated anywhere in Poland for a quarter of a century. This area of knowledge has already fallen some time ago. In the media, there is no shortage of people who consider themselves climate experts, and yet they cannot name any title of a scientific journal in this field" - he said.

The team is now preparing a book on climate science. It will be something between a textbook and a popular science book. The book is expected to be published in spring.

Facebook page of Nauka o klimacie already has almost 13,000 fans. Articles posted on the site have from several thousand to several dozen thousand views.

In addition, hundreds of people participate in quizzes of Nauka o klimacie at science festivals and picnics. Team members are also regularly invited to participate in radio and television shows, meetings and lectures.

PAP - Science in Poland, Author: Ludwika Tomala

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