Climate science can’t be trumped: a look at how to translate empirical data into political action

Abstract

Although over 97 % of scientists are in agreement regarding the occurrence, cause and consequences of climate change, studies have found that less than 50 % of Americans believe that climate change is caused by human activities and that Americans remain greatly divided regarding the causes, urgency and solutions to the climate crisis. The gravity of the situation only appears to be growing as recent reports have shown that climate change denial is not limited to the United States and that other global citizens also appear to be confused regarding the legitimacy of climate change science data. The prevalence of confusion highlights the dire need for better educational programs and grassroots actions by the scientific and academic communities. However, the path from ‘data’ to citizen action is hardly a direct one, and thus the engagement of the climate science community (ENGOs and other boundary organizations, academia, governments) in education will not be simply one of ‘getting the word out’. That community will need to grapple with the complex socio-epstemic space that lies between scientific knowledge production and citizens’ participatory engagement with climate change policies. This paper outlines some aspects of that complexity and suggests ways how certain types of knowledge dissemination as such, which lead to increased scientific literacy, can contribute to increased citizen action.