TSL Opinion on Climate Misinformation

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On February 23, 2023, professor and opponent of aggressive climate action Steven E. Koonin gave a talk at Claremont McKenna College’s Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum. It was a typical example of the modern form of climate “skepticism”: rather than completely denying the existence of climate change, Koonin sought to downplay its significance and argue that robust action against it would do more harm than good. Relying on cherry-picked data and bad faith arguments, Koonin rejected the modern scientific consensus on climate change and suggested listeners “cancel the climate crisis.”

Having taken a class called “Climate Science and Human Behavior,” joint-taught by a psychologist and a chemist, I was well acquainted with how the issue of climate change plays on cognitive biases to make it difficult to go from theory to action. Surprised at the positive audience reaction to Koonin’s talk and disappointed by the coverage in TSL, the college newspaper — which echoes bizarre factual claims and fails to mention the scientific consensus — I wanted to correct the record. I partnered up with TSL columnist Rowan Gray to write an opinion piece stating the facts and contextualizing Koonin’s presentation in the history of climate denialism. We implored readers to respond by educating themselves on the climate crisis, becoming more responsible participants in public discourse, and taking individual action against climate change to prompt a societal recognition of the climate crisis as the emergency that it is.

As a young scientist working on climate solutions, I think scientists have a responsibility to communicate their findings to the public. This doesn’t mean substituting political opinion for scientific rigor in conducting our work, but we must remember that that work does not exist in a vacuum — it exists under a thin shell of gas rapidly filling with a dangerous amount of carbon dioxide.