 Welcome to Denial 101x making sense of climate science denial. I'm John Cook, Research Fellow in Climate Communication at the Global Change Institute in the University of Queensland. This course is produced by the University of Queensland and hosted on the edX platform. Our team is made up of scientists, researchers and professors from Australia, the UK, the US and Canada who are passionate about communicating climate science. Members of our team also contribute to the Skeptical Science website at SkepticalScience.com. I run Skeptical Science which I founded in 2007 with the simple goal of debunking climate misinformation with peer-reviewed science. Over time I came to realize that it's crucial that scientists take an evidence-based approach to science communication. The importance of letting the scientific evidence guide how we do science communication has become a driving principle behind everything I do, leading me to pursue a PhD in cognitive psychology. Relying on the science is especially important with the issue of science denial. Why do we need an online course about climate science denial? At the most fundamental level this course is needed because a well-functioning democracy depends on a well-informed public. People have a right to be accurately informed but if the public are being misinformed by people who deny climate science that has social and environmental consequences. The issue of science denial is controversial and inspires a lot of emotions. That's why it's imperative that we take a scientific approach in our response to science denial. We need to draw upon the empirical research into understanding what drives science denial as well as the empirical research in how to respond to science denial. Denial 101x will examine decades of research into these issues. For the next seven weeks we'll examine the science of science denial. At the end of this course you'll understand what's driving climate science denial and how to respond to it. But before I go any further let's talk definitions. What do I mean by denial? It's important to state from the outset that in this course denial is not used as a label. Denial is a process. Specifically we'll be looking at the scientific research into the psychology of science denial. Why do people reject scientific evidence? What are the drivers of denial? Psychologically how does denial work? Are there any telltale characteristics of denial? And if so what are they? And the all important final question how do we respond to science denial? We'll distinguish denial from skepticism. Genuine scientific skepticism is a good thing. In fact it's the heart of the scientific method. A genuine skeptic doesn't come to a conclusion until they've considered the evidence. In contrast someone who really denies well-established science comes to a conclusion first and then discounts any evidence that conflicts with their beliefs. That means that denial and skepticism are polar opposites. So in denial 101x we embrace skepticism. We even seek to reclaim the words so that skepticism once again becomes associated with evidence-based critical thinking rather than the rejection of scientific evidence. Science denial results in confirmation bias, in receiving evidence in a biased way. It's not necessarily an intentional thing. In fact in our lecture five characteristics of science denial we examine how the trait of denial can come about from unconscious processes. Confirmation bias can cut both ways. Ignoring the full body of evidence can result in alarmist statements that aren't consistent with all the data. So we'll look at alarmist myths as well. What this course is not about is climate solutions. While solutions are a crucial piece of the climate change puzzle we've deliberately restricted ourselves to climate science and the denial of climate science. Climate solutions is a topic deserving of its own MOOC. Denial 101x includes six weeks of lectures. The first week looks at the psychology of denial. What drives people to reject the scientific consensus? Understanding the psychology is crucial because we lay out a framework for science denial that will be used throughout the rest of the course. From weeks two to five we debunk myths about climate science. Some of them may be familiar to you and some might be brand new. Week two looks at myths that cast out on the reality of global warming. Week three looks at myths related to what's causing global warming. We'll look at the many human fingerprints being observed through our climate that not only confirm our role in recent global warming but also rule out other possible causes. Week four looks at the past and the future. Paleo climate research into the Earth's past and climate model projections into the future. Week five looks at climate impacts. Specifically we look at myths that try to play down the impacts of climate change. Finally in week six we answer the question how do we respond to climate science denial? We look at psychological research into how to respond to denial and give practical advice on debunking misinformation. Throughout this course we'll include interviews with some of the world's leading climate scientists. We have a few treats for you. I was lucky enough to interview Sir David Attenborough at Heron Island. You'll see that interview in week five. But giving Sir David a run for his money is another star of this course, Pistachio the koala. And we mustn't forget Christine Hosking, the University of Queensland scientist who researched the impacts of climate change on koalas. Another highlight of the MOOC that I'm particularly excited about is the climate of Middle Earth featuring a climate scientist from the University of Bristol, Dan Lunt. We captured so much exciting footage of Dan simulating the climate of Middle Earth that we divided his interview into a trilogy starting in week four. Assessment is a key component of the course. Each week there'll be activities that further your knowledge about the week's topics. But there are also assessments that contribute to your completion of the course and help you get a certificate in the course. You'll need at least 75% to pass this course and receive a certificate. So what will contribute to your final mark in the course? At the end of each week you'll have a quiz that will ask you to apply what you've learned during the week. Each weekly quiz makes up 10% of your assessment. So the weekly quizzes will add up to 60% of your assessment. 10% of your assessment is for participation. That includes a survey at the very start of the course which you can do right now. Look for the link at the top of this web page. It should be up there somewhere. You'll also get marks for participating in forum discussions each week. These are a great way to interact with your fellow students and extend your learning beyond the lectures. The final 30% of your assessment will come from the end of course assignment. In weeks six and seven you'll be given an assignment to debunk some misinformation from the web. You'll need to understand the science relevant to the misinformation and you'll also need to structure your debunking consistent with the psychological research. Your assignment will be graded by peer assessment. The way this works is when you submit your assignment you'll need to read and grade three other submissions written by your peers and three fellow students will be grading your submission. Don't worry we'll provide lots of guidance and even a practice assignment to help you. Denial 101X is also on social media. You can subscribe to us on YouTube, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. This is another way to engage with our content and with your fellow students. We've put a huge amount of work into assembling all these lectures, interviews and interactive features. We hope you find our course informative, thought-provoking and practical. We look forward to hearing your feedback, thoughts and questions in the discussion forums. So once again, welcome to Denial 101X. We hope you enjoy the next seven weeks.