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"A paper published in Nature Climate Change earlier this year challenged a long-standing assumption in both science education and science communication: that increasing science literacy will increase public "acceptance" of the scientific consensus on the risks posed by climate change. The authors surveyed a representative sample of about 1,500 U.S. adults and found that people with an egalitarian-communitarian worldview (roughly liberal) were more likely to perceive climate change to be higher risk with higher levels of science literacy, while for people with a hierarchical-individualist worldview (roughly conservative), higher science literacy scores meant they were more likely to underestimate the risks associated with climate change. If the assumption that science literacy is the solution had held, both groups would have moved toward rating climate change as higher risk as they increased in science knowledge, to line up with current scientific consensus. Instead, increasing science knowledge correlated with increasingly polarized views."

"People never seem to question science when it underlies something easily valued - like iPhones and other handheld devices. We either take it for granted or celebrate science-based products like G.P.S., Global Positioning Systems, which guide drivers and pilots and allow heavy machinery or a farmer's tractor to be operated with a precision that approaches ballet. And people are always eager to take advantage of the latest advances in medicine."

The good news is that U.S. students will for the first time receive instruction on climate change following the adoption last Tuesday of new science education guidelines. The guidelines also take a firm stand that children must learn about evolution, the central organizing idea in the biological sciences for more than a century. (Even though some extreme right-wingers choose to deny that reality.)

"In October the world's leading authority on climate science released its latest report, finding that the science on climate change was now 'unequivocal'. In response, the LA times and now the Sydney Morning Herald have stated that they would no longer publish factually inaccurate letters denying climate science. We call on The Age, the Australian and the Herald Sun newspapers to follow the leadership of their peers and stop publishing factually incorrect letters from so-called climate sceptics. ADD YOUR SIGNATURE TO THE LETTER TO THE EDITORS OF THE AUSTRALIAN, THE AGE AND THE HERALD SUN"

"Earth Ed is an engaging specialist science and mathematics facility providing real world Earth Science educational experiences for Victorian students. Focusing on Renewable Energy, Climate Science, Sustainability and Geology, our programs provide access to specialist scientific equipment, innovative digital resources, and promote a scientific inquiry approach to learning."

"People use less energy when they know their use is being monitored, a new US study has found. Among other things the findings suggest ways to increase the success of energy efficiency programs. Behavioural scientist, Dr Daniel Schwartz, from the University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues, report their findings this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

"Last night's ABC Q&A program didn't spend much time discussing the issue of climate change, but it nonetheless represented an excellent microcosm of the broader political debate on the issue. On one side you had Bill McKibben, who has dedicated his life to the cause of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. He is trying to put the fear of God into investors that money in fossil fuels is like investing in the horse and buggy industry at the dawn of the motor vehicle. In the other corner was Cory Bernardi, one of the ring leaders behind the toppling of Malcolm Turnbull because of his support for an emissions trading scheme, who believes global warming is a fraud."

"Progressives should know the disinformers' most commonly used arguments - and how to answer them crisply. Those arguments have been repeated so many times by the fossil-fuel-funded disinformation campaign that almost everyone has heard them - and that means you'll have to deal with them in almost any setting, from a public talk to a dinner party. You should also know as much of the science behind those rebuttals as possible, and a great place to start is SkepticalScience.com."

"A new study adds to evidence that future warming will produce lower average rainfall around the world, even though Earth's past warming episodes led to more precipitation. A team of Chinese and US scientists modelled climate data over the last millennium. Their work may help resolve intense debate surrounding palaeoclimatic records and model projections of future greenhouse gas warming."

Coastal seagrass can store more heat-trapping carbon per square kilometre than forests can, which means these coastal plants could be part of the solution to climate change. Even though seagrasses occupy less than 0.2 per cent of the world's oceans, they can hold up to 83,000 tonne of carbon per square kilometre, a global team of researchers reported in the journal Nature Geoscience.

"Professor Robert Manne, a political philosopher at La Trobe University, is making this declaration in a 7,000-word essay published on Friday in The Monthly magazine - its cover screaming "Victory of the Denialists: How Climate Science Was Vanquished". Manne's essay charts the decades-long effort to spread doubt and confusion about the science of human-caused climate change, focusing on the think tanks and corporations that created and backed a "relentless" campaign in the United States which has infected other parts of the Western world, including Australia."

"Megan Clark has recruited Dr Maurice Moloney to the role of Group Executive, Food Health and Life Science Industries. Maurice brings with him a significant breadth of experience in the plant biotechnology area and a strong background in research delivery. Maurice will take up the role in November 2013. Dr Moloney has been the Director and Chief Executive of Rothamsted Research near London, UK since 2010.  Rothamsted is the oldest and largest agricultural research centre in Europe, with a mandate for food security, agricultural sustainability and adaptation of agriculture to the consequences of both climate change and depletion of fossil fuels."

"One third of articles in Australia's major newspapers rejected or cast doubt on the overwhelming findings of climate science, with climate sceptic Andrew Bolt monopolising coverage of the topic in several high-circulation News Corporation titles, according to a new analysis. A study of 602 articles in 10 newspapers by the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism found that 32% dismissed or questioned whether human activity was causing the climate to change. The articles were analysed between February and April in 2011 and again in the same period in 2012."

Climate Change: An Australian Guide to the Science and Potential Impacts

"Climate science is a complicated beast, and making solid predictions about the future is never easy. Forecasting exactly how our agricultural systems will cope with changing climate conditions is not straightforward, but it is clear that we can't take bountiful harvests for granted. We will need innovative adaptive measures to ensure that our agricultural systems cope with feeding the future generations."

"Unless urgent action is taken to reduce carbon emissions, more than half of common plants and a third of animal species around the world are likely to see their living space halved by 2080, predicts a new study."

We all know how much emphasis is being placed on green energy strategies these days. The folks over National Geographic recently teamed up with GE Power & Water and the Center for Science to release Plan It Green: The Big Switch, a new cloud based online gaming community where students come together to learn more about the importance of recycling and how eco-friendly habits that can help save our environment. 

"Australia is belatedly waking up to the implications of the carbon budget, although the concept has been around for years. It simply says that if the increase in global temperature resulting from human carbon emissions is to be contained to a level which will prevent dangerous climate change, the world, henceforth, can only afford to emit a limited amount of greenhouse gases. According to the latest science, that limit will be exceeded if we burn more than 20 per cent of the world's proven coal, oil and gas reserves. This is confirmed in recent reports from the International Energy Agency and Australia's Climate Commission."

Here is a summary of global warming and climate change myths, sorted by recent popularity vs what science says. Click the response for a more detailed response. You can also view them sorted by taxonomy, by popularity, in a print-friendly version, with short URLs or with fixed numbers you can use for permanent references.

Investment in renewable energy infrastructure is outstripping that for fossil fuels. Investment was equal in 2008, but the balance has swung since. During 2011, globally, $40 billion was invested in fossil fuels. $260 billion was invested in renewables.  In the past year the price of photo voltaic cells has dropped by 50%. Peter Newman describes the growth of investment in renewable as exponential. He says we are living through one of the most dramatic periods in history as fossil fuels are being phased out.