Articles | Volume 9, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-9-145-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-9-145-2026
Research article
 | 
02 Apr 2026
Research article |  | 02 Apr 2026

Quantifying the impact of Skeptical Science rebuttals in reducing climate misperceptions

John Cook, Bärbel Winkler, Collin J. H. M. Maessen, Timo Lubitz, Doug Bostrom, and Dana Nuccitelli

Cited articles

Bedford, D. and Cook, J.: Agnotology, scientific consensus, and the teaching and learning of climate change: A response to Legates, Soon and Briggs, Science and Education, 22, 2019–2030, 2013. 
Coan, T. G., Boussalis, C., Cook, J., and Nanko, M. O.: Computer-assisted classification of contrarian claims about climate change, Scientific Reports, 11, 22320, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01714-4, 2021. 
Cook, B. R. and Overpeck, J. T.: Relationship-building between climate scientists and publics as an alternative to information transfer, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 10, e570, https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.570, 2019. 
Cook, J.: Deconstructing Climate Science Denial, in: Edward Elgar Research Handbook in Communicating Climate Change, edited by: Holmes, D. and Richardson, L. M., Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar, 62–78, https://doi.org/10.4337/9781789900408.00014, 2020. 
Cook, J., Nuccitelli, D., Green, S. A., Richardson, M., Winkler, B., Painting, R., Way, R., Jacobs, P., and Skuce, A.: Quantifying the consensus on anthropogenic global warming in the scientific literature, Environmental Research Letters, 8, 024024, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/8/2/024024, 2013. 
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Short summary
Visitors to Skeptical Science – a website debunking climate misinformation – were surveyed to measure if rebuttals changed their perceptions about climate change. Nearly half of visitors already believed in climate science, showing strong agreement with climate facts and strong disagreement with climate myths. For those who did not agree with climate facts, rebuttals successfully reduced belief in myths. The greatest improvement occurred with those who started with the most inaccurate views.
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