Debunking Cranky Uncle on past climate change

John Cook

This humorous short video uses the 'single-cause fallacy' to debunk the myth that current changes in the Earth's climate are a result of natural phenomenon. The video is one of several in the 'Cranky Uncle' series.

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Notes from our reviewers

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Students will need to have some prior knowledge of the concept of climate change. This video would be a good prompt for engaging the class in further discussion about climate change myths and about past temperature data.
The video presents a graph of 400,000 years of atmospheric temperature data and gives students insight into debunking climate change myths by explaining single-cause fallacy. There is not an explanation of where past temperature data comes from in the video. However, references are provided in the Cranky Uncle book (linked on YouTube page and in "Related URLs" box below). Some exaggerations may be present in the video and teachers should be aware of this. For example, statements made near the beginning that the "slightest nudge causes a strong reaction" and we are "hitting it with a big stick" are not supported with evidence. Later in the video greenhouse gases are mentioned; teachers may want to help make the connection to those earlier. Comments from expert scientist: Scientific strengths: Reference source is a book, Cranky Uncle versus Climate Change, by a credible author who has done a lot of work in the space of climate science communication. The video accurately shows the temperature anomaly data (not explicitly identified as such). Suggestions: This video on its own lacks context, so perhaps should be considered within the full suite of these videos that are available. This resource isn't trying to educate about the science of climate change but rather about errors in argumentation (single cause fallacy). It might be worth getting a psychologist to review this resource.
This short video is posted on YouTube with no supporting educational structure or lesson plan. Teachers will need to provide educational context for a rich learning experience. Cartoon scientists are represented as a person of color and a woman. Video is brief and entertaining--would be good for younger audiences.