Here's some more helpful links:


How can we encourage scientific literacy in people who are past the typical schooling age?

I have the most trouble talking with fellow adults who may have forgotten all of what they learned in high school chemistry or think climate change will simply not affect them in their life time.


A: A crucial question! A Nature Climate Change paper (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2728) published in July gives data on awareness of climate change and risk perception in 119 countries around the world. The picture it paints about public understanding is troubling. Public awareness and concern vary greatly around the world. The paper concludes that understanding the anthropogenic causes of climate change is the strongest predictor of climate change risk perceptions, especially in Latin America and Europe. To attain that understanding we need targeted strategies to communicate the current state of our climate and the anthropogenic causes. The Paris COP21 meetings in December will bring this to the political agenda across the world. The profession of chemistry has an important role to play in addressing sustainability issues, including climate change, in formal education curriculum at all levels, and also in reaching out to various publics that are within our circle of influence. The explainingclimatechange.com resource is an initiative from the International Year of Chemistry - 2011 to reach an audience with a Grade 12 or 1st year university background, highlighting the many connections that some fundamental understanding of chemistry can play. The ACS climate science tool kit is at a higher level and helps professional chemists know how to communicate with their peers and neighbours. Peter Mahaffy


^^maybe you can learn something, Malabar.

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