2012/06/01 by Dennis W. C. Liu · 34 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Climate Change Communication and Perception #Denial #Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Biomedical Research #Mathematics education #Psychoanalysis #Psychology #Science education
paper · pdf · doi:10.1187/cbe.12-03-0029
published in CBE—Life Sciences Education 11(2), 129-134 (American Society for Cell Biology)
openalex publication_date 2012/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/23
Biology teachers are accustomed to engaging individuals who do not accept biological evolution. Denial of evolution ranges from ignorance of the evidence to outright denial or distortion of data. The list of science denial topics has grown alarmingly over the years to include: HIV as the cause of AIDS, exaggeration of the health and environmental risks of genetically modified organisms, existence of holes in the ozone layer, the rise in antibiotic resistance, health risks caused by cigarette smoking, exaggeration and denial of harmful side effects of pesticides, water and environmental damage caused by hydraulic fracturing, the fear that vaccines do more harm than good, and, of course, global warming and climate change. Teaching climate science has become so perilous in some school districts that the National Center for Science Education, long known for activism in the arena of evolution education, has greatly expanded efforts in the arena of climate (http://ncse.com/climate).