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U.S. Teachers Deliberately Dodge the Climate Change Topic in Schools, Study

By Kanika Gupta | Update Date: Feb 19, 2016 12:17 PM EST

According to a new study, climate change is not studied in middle and high-school classrooms frequently. In fact, the report suggested that the schools are not giving the correct information about the phenomenon to the students. The first such survey conducted in public middle and high schools revealed that only 30% of the teachers said that it was due to indiscriminate burning of fossil fuels by humans that is causing the climate change.

"At least one in three teachers bring climate change denial into the classroom, claiming that many scientists believe climate change is not caused by humans" study co-author Josh Rosenau, programs and policy director at the National Center for Science Education, said in a press release. "Worse, half of the surveyed teachers have allowed students to discuss the supposed 'controversy' over climate change without guiding students to the scientifically supported conclusion," as reported by Daily Star Albany

The study, published by Eric Plutzer, Penn State University, in Science Thursday and other researchers from Wright State University and National Center for Science Education, teaching the evolution and climate change in schools, conducted a mail survey that involved 1,500 teachers from all over the country, reports The Guardian

As per the findings of the survey, 30% teachers said in the survey that they tell students that global warming "is likely due to natural causes" - a statement not aligned with several studies and scientific validations that prove otherwise. 31% teachers believe that it is partially caused by humans and partly due to natural reasons.

"We think any amount of legitimization of nonscientific perspectives sends a message to students that this may be a matter of opinion and values, and not one that can be adjudicated by evidence," says Plutzer, Washington Post reported

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