PNNL

Abstract

Debating Climate Change explores, both theoretically and empirically, how people argue about climate change and link to each other through various elements in their arguments. As science is a central issue in the debate, the arguments of scientists and the interpretations and responses of non-scientists are important aspects of the analysis. The book first assesses current thinking about the climate change debate and current participants in the debates surrounding the issue, as well as a brief history of various groups’ involvements. Chapters 2 and 3 distill and organize various ways of framing the climate change issue. Beginning in Chapter 4, a modified classical analysis of the elements carried in an argument is used to identify areas and degrees of disagreement and agreement. One hundred documents, drawn from a wide spectrum of sources, map the topic and debate space of the climate change issue. Five elements of each argument are distilled: the authority of the writer, the evidence presented, the formulation of the argument, the worldview presented, and the actions proposed. Then a social network analysis identifies elements of the arguments that point to potential agreements. Finally, the book suggests mechanisms by which participants in the debate can build more general agreements on elements of existing agreement.