{"id":358369,"date":"2024-12-23T16:13:44","date_gmt":"2024-12-23T15:13:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=358369"},"modified":"2024-12-23T16:13:46","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T15:13:46","slug":"they-just-wont-leave-the-kids-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=358369","title":{"rendered":"They Just Won\u2019t Leave the Kids Alone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Watts Up With That?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quadrant<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony Thomas<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melbourne University, sometimes billed as the\u00a0Parkville <\/a>Asylum, is ranked by\u00a0The<\/a>\u00a0Times<\/em>\u00a0as top in Australia and 39th<\/sup>\u00a0worldwide. I\u2019m sure a peer-reviewed paper last March from its Disasters, Climate and Adversity Unit made a small contribution to this on-campus glory. The study is\u00a0Growing up in Victoria, Australia, in the<\/em>\u00a0midst of the climate <\/em><\/a>emergency<\/i>. [1]<\/a>\u00a0In this paper the all-female cohort of authors describe how they are turning schoolkids from the age of 12 into \u201cClimate Superpowers\u201d \u2014 shock troops, in other words, for the green blob \u2014 \u201cdeveloping themselves as agents of change\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The program resonates with me. I recall my days as a Young Pioneer in Perth in the 1950s. I was proud of my uniform of white shirt and red scarf, and our repertoire of songs from the German Democratic Republic under Wilhelm Pieck<\/a>. We\u2019d bunch together in a commuter bus to Fremantle and sing the \u201cBau auf!\u201d song:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Build up, build up, free German youth, build up. Build for a happy future, build for a happy life!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 To condition kids as green rather than red thinkers, the Parkville authors have created a roadmap in the form of an online climate quiz<\/a>. It\u2019s illustrated with green and pink climate-fighting hobgoblins with light-bulbs sprouting from their heads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wouldn\u2019t mind being a Climate Superpower, so I took the quiz in my \u201cyoung person\u201d persona, while chewing my pencil and side-glancing at cat videos on TikTok. Each question has a set of multiple choices\u2013 none are \u201cwrong\u201d, I must just prioritise them. A sample:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How would you prefer to learn about climate change and climate action?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By listening to <\/em>young leaders like Greta Thunberg<\/em><\/a> and speakers at the Schools Strikes 4 Climate.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By listening to economists who talk about fair transitions to clean energy.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By hearing from scientists and other experts on climate change and climate justice.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which of these makes you feel the most hopeful?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clean energy is getting cheaper every year<\/strong><\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for the tip, but why has my two-person townhouse bill risen to, like, $2300-plus?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have all the resources we need to stop climate change now<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

i.e.<\/em>\u00a0stopping it for the first time in earth\u2019s 4.5-billion-year history. If Trump, China, India, Russia, Italy and Argentina get in our road, so much the worse for them.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing climate change will also help us build a more inclusive, fair and beautiful society.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melbourne under Labor, certainly inclusive of Palestine supporters, is a \u201cfair and beautiful society\u201d \u2014 apart from that synagogue arson a few weeks back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(editor\u2019s note:<\/strong> more of those loaded questions and Tony\u2019s commentary can be found at the foot of this page<\/em>).After doing the quiz the kids explore 120 \u201csecret missions\u201d<\/a> using their climate Superpowers. The missions involve climate studies and \u201ctaking everyday action, transforming society and self-care.\u201d I was going to print out a few pages, but stopped in my tracks when I read<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, young people said the website itself shouldn\u2019t harm the environment \u2013 it should be powered by renewable energy, with no hard copies of the information. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The climate superpowers gig for 12-years and upwards is billed as\u00a0\u201ca project by the University of Melbourne, with young co-designers in Victoria.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0It was developed on what are described as the unceded lands of the Kulin nation (If the sovereign Kulins have a foreign-aid program, I hope they\u2019ll allocate a few billion towards Jim Chalmer\u2019s budget deficit.) The Superpowers\u00a0co-designers<\/a>\u00a0involved and consulted 31 youngsters aged from 12-25 who did five workshops, and another 50 kids who gave desultory feedback. It is clear the kids were already climate addled as they\u00a0\u201csought to gain a sense of connection, agency, and hope.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0The uni recruited them through school climate strikes, a \u201cyoung citizens\u2019 jury\u201d on climate at a doubtless, Greens-run city council, school \u201csustainability\u201d groups and the campus \u201cchildren and disasters advisory committee\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The five workshops involved Mao-like struggle sessions against the climate: each kid \u201cdiscussed their personal experiences navigating climate change.\u201d Given that \u201cclimate\u201d comprises 30-year average weather, I don\u2019t think the youngsters had time for too much of that \u201cclimate-crisis navigating\u201d, although they might have noticed the droughts and flooding rains mentioned by some long-dead poet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s where the nitty-gritty gets interesting. The kids\u2019 cohort broken down by age group:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2666 12-13: females 7, males zero;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2666 14-18: females 9, males zero;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2666 18-25 (metro): females 6; males (hooray!) two;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2666 18-25 (regional): females 6; male (hooray!), one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If my maths are up to it, that\u2019s 29 young females and three young males. As an apparent afterthought the study mentions(emphasis added)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

the research participants overwhelmingly consisted of girls and young women, and our university-based research team also comprises solely women.<\/em>[2]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project was expanded last year via Year 10 trials at Academy of Mary Immaculate high school<\/a> in Fitzroy, taking participants from 31 to \u201cabout 40\u201d and feedback from about 50 to \u201cabout 70\u201d kids. Mary Immaculate is Victoria\u2019s oldest girls\u2019 high, and houses the Sisters of Mercy Convent. I can\u2019t imagine the expansion injected any testosterone into the findings. [3]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors remark that women, with their alleged altruism and compassion, tend to be more climate-scared than blokes, who might view \u201ccaring about climate change as uncool.\u201d However, the authors seem more shame-faced about the lack of \u201cmarginalised and oppressed\u201d youngsters in their sample, than the near-absence of guys. The peer-reviewers were obviously unfussed by the lopsided sample. In one workshop, an earnest young person (odds-on, female) described the different ways young people can contribute to climate justice:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people interpret [climate justice] as like, literally striking every day,<\/u> or like talking to their politicians. And then there\u2019s also [those who] stop eating meat. I think thinking about how everyone interprets it differently, it\u2019s also really important.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the authors acknowledged, the university\u2019s \u201cclimate superpowers\u201d exercise seethes with PhD-wielding ladies. For example, an hour-long learned webinar<\/a> I sat through had four female presenters plus one off-screen, plus one lone guy. He seemed to be overcompensating on masculinity, referring to \u201cjerks in charge and wanker leaders on Linked-In\u201d (at 35.15mins). He added, \u201cI don\u2019t have to tell you that twice!\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tute grew chaotic when a very mature-aged student, calling himself \u201can honorary eco-anthropologist\u201d, demanded the audience grapple with capitalism. He asked, \u201cShould we tweak it or transcend it with a finer system dedicated to social justice, democracy and a safe climate?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of telling him to put a sock in it, the presenters nodded that capitalism was indeed the \u201celephant in the room\u201d and with a questioner, considered whether to \u201cdismantle\u201d the metaphorical pachyderm or even \u201ceat\u201d it. (1.00.0) In their intellectual repartee, it emerged that the Melbourne University Fossil Free Club has withered and died because of competition from the Palestine and gender-diversity ferals, who have made the climate emergency look dated (52.00).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The webinar ended with the off-screen presenter summing up, \u201cI was hoping that we might able to tie a bow around this rigorous conversation with, you know, academic flair, as well as acknowledge that we can promote hope, coping and wellbeing in relation to climate change through the curricula and off-curriculum as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, my screen flashed up the university motto (from Horace), postera crescam laude<\/em>, which google translates as \u201cI shall grow in the esteem of future generations\u201d.A facet of this seminar was the prodigious titles awarded to the lady presenters, eg gig leader Phoebe Quinn was introduced a \u201csuperpower-ess leader on campus\u201d. Another lecturer (\u201cshe\/her\u201d) was a specialist in education and science, philosophy of environmental education, and interdisciplinary sustainability and climate studies, as well as environmental social psychology. Delving deeper, I found via LinkedIn that her Master\u2019s research<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

explored co-productions of environment amongst graduate environments students, underpinned by post-qualitative methodologies and new materialist\/material feminist theory. This work demonstrated the significance of human-environment boundary (re)configurations, (embodied) temporalities, and ethico-onto-epistemological inheritances in students\u2019 relational creation of\/with environment.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clear on all that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The university\u2019s Climate Superpowers project is to be rolled into classrooms in 2025, along with extra resources for \u201cTeacher Mental Health and Wellbeing\u201d.[4]<\/a> This add-on will help teachers, perhaps fretting over their own household power bills, to convince kids about \u201cclean energy getting cheaper every year\u201d. Project leaders Phoebe Quinn<\/a> and Dr Katitza Marinkovic Chavez<\/a> were gathering input from teachers about their mental coping last September quarter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did wonder who was paying the Carlton Crew to keep teachers and kids in a state of superpowerdom. The website\u2019s young helpers have required that it should be \u201ctransparent about funding<\/a> and where the resource comes from\u201d. The teacher-sanity add-on is alone consuming the time of seven professors as \u201cInvestigators\u201d, plus at least seven doctoral or pre-doctoral helpers.[5]<\/a> But here\u2019s an oddity: my searches never discovered what this exercise is costing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The teacher-sanity leg involved some money from the Teacher Health Foundation. This charity paid $100,000 for the superpower project plus a Newcastle Uni project about \u201can approach to optimising schoolteacher food\u201d. I didn\u2019t know that \u201cschoolteacher food\u201d needs optimising: maybe this involves Friday morning sponge cake in the staffroom. A teacher friend did explain that \u201cteacher\u2019s cordial\u201d was shorthand for Johnny Walker Red Label. Anyway, for teacher sanity research we\u2019re talking no more than a five-figure sum as this external contribution to the university.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rationale for bestowing \u201cClimate Superpowers\u201d on schoolkids is to offset their angst\u2019s \u201coverwhelm, withdrawal, anxiety\u201d about climate change and give them chirpy solutions to China\u2019s burgeoning emissions (one or more new coal-fired plants per week). For example, on the political front, kids can set about<\/p>\n\n\n\n

influencing governments but also people and communities. It could involve going to rallies, signing petitions <\/em>or voting a certain way.<\/em><\/a>\u201d <\/em>Or maybe \u201cspiralling up\u201d by riding a bike, or \u201cinfluencing your family to buy solar panels<\/em>\u201d <\/strong>which can \u201cbuild a sense of agency and hope\u201d.<\/em> Each action, we\u2019re told, \u201cwill also help your superpowers grow even stronger!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors don\u2019t actually seem all that upset about kids\u2019 climate grief, seeing it as a spur to kiddie activism:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Studies in Australia have demonstrated that climate anxiety can motivate <\/em>for young people to get involved in climate action, leading to a <\/em>stronger sense of hope and agency.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The team continues to venerate Greta Thunberg\u2019s \u201cneurodivergent\u201d climate insights. As presenters they haven\u2019t yet caught up with Greta in her keffiyeh outfit chanting\u00a0\u201cF\u2014k Germany! And f\u2014ck Israel!\u201d<\/a>\u00a0rather than \u201cHow dare you [emit CO2]!\u201d The material\u00a0includes<\/a>,\u00a0\u201c<\/strong>Read about climate leadership from young activists like Greta Thunberg\u2019s\u00a0The Climate Book<\/em>\u2026Or check out this cool\u00a0interactive timeline<\/a>\u00a0of Greta\u2019s work!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors quote their kid clients on Thunberg:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She literally sounds like one of us, and she was rejected by <\/em>everybody around her, who didn\u2019t think that what she was <\/em>fighting for was worth it. \u2014 12\u201313 yo, Metropolitan <\/strong>Melbourne<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And let\u2019s not forget she\u2019s a she. That would have been extra <\/em>hard for her as well, being a girl. When girls have their <\/em>own opinions, they\u2019re called bossy. \u2014 12\u201313 yo, Metropolitan <\/strong><\/em>Melbourne<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project is keen to shelter its kids from sceptical parents and other nay-sayers. They recommend several anti-sceptic combat sites, which have \u201cno magic answers\u201d<\/a> to sceptics but at least make 12yo climate doom-criers feel more supported and less freaky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The website has links to further reading. Sample titles include, starting from the birth to kindergarten demographic<\/a>. Citizen Baby: My vote<\/em>; We March<\/em>; and \u201cV is for voting\u201d. As kids mature from kindergarten, they can enjoy Our House is on Fire <\/em>and The Tantrum That Saved the World <\/em><\/a>. <\/em>Young Adult fare includes Youth to Power<\/em>, How to Change Everything<\/em> , Youth Climate Courts: How You Can Host a Human Rights Trial for People and Planet, <\/em>and The Future of Earth: A Radical Vision for What\u2019s Possible in the Age of Warming<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If kids get panicky about their imminent climate doom, the university refers teachers and parents to the climate psychology crowd<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is important to recognise that while they are rational responses and can motivate action, for some children these feelings can be debilitating, leading to reactions like nightmares, numbness, and despair.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The child-helpers\u2019 remedy involves what they call \u201crealistic hope\u201d that warming can be stopped by popular effort and technology to pull CO2 out of the skies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGive them examples of the big problems we have solved before, such as abolishing slavery and apartheid, winning women the right to vote, and saving the Franklin River,\u201d goes one recommendation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The superpower youngsters had fully absorbed misinformation from Tim Flannery\u2019s Climate Council and other spruikers that all nasty weather events stem from global warming. However, as one superpower late-teen put it,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This general omniscient sense of doom around the world <\/em>is just too much for humans to physically handle. I got so <\/em>depressed when there was smoky haze over the sky every day. And [then] it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, whatever, it\u2019s not there anymore.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The anti-capitalist messaging drummed into kids can also backfire. As a 14-18yo kid put it,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know a lot of people who go, \u201cWell, if there\u2019s no ethical <\/em>consumption under capitalism, what\u2019s the difference. <\/em>I\u2019m just gonna live in the moment.\u201d <\/em>Meanwhile, what\u2019s happening at the coalface (or renewablesface) in climate classrooms can be found in a paper by Tasmania University researchers: \u201cThe burden of bad news: educators\u2019 experiences of navigating climate change education.\u201d[7]<\/a> It quotes teacher \u201cAndy\u201d, a climate pessimist trying to make kids optimistic:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The direction of things isn\u2019t looking hopeful, but I try and use language that will encourage students to feel empowered and want to make a change and fight for action rather than be like, \u201cOK, well, it\u2019s the end of the world.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The paper outlines that few teachers have the science nous to teach climate, nor the counselling\/therapy expertise to deal with the kids\u2019 emotional trauma. On science, its recommendation is more-or-less to throw it out the window:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Science learning alone is not enough to support young people in learning and preparing for climate change. More holistic and dialogic approaches to teaching young people about climate change are required\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collaborations across teaching subjects\/disciplines, as well as outside of curricula (e.g. citizen science, climate games) may also be able to foster the holistic exchanges and learning needed to provide young people with more tangible and \u2018real-life\u2019 understandings of climate change\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prevailing cultural norm in western education systems is to downplay subjective experience in favour of factual learning. This norm acts in part to justify what is taught using a lens of objectivity, thus reducing the potential criticism that teaching is politically motivated. It is also a way of maintaining control over groups of young people, who are often portrayed as emotionally volatile and immature\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specifically, we suggest that schools are appropriate spaces to describe, respect and explore feelings<\/u> about climate change\u2026 Such approaches could build on existing pedagogies that harness students\u2019 emotional reactions to historical injustice. One example of recent teaching practice that does not shy away from uncomfortable emotions is the history of colonisation of indigenous peoples. For instance, the Tasmanian educational resource \u2018From Gumnuts to Buttons\u2019 powerfully evokes shock, anger, and sadness by helping learners to see European invasion through the eyes of Aboriginal inhabitants\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recognising and respecting the spectrum of emotional responses to climate change can help educators to develop students\u2019 collective motivation to change the status quo, honour their feelings of injustice,<\/u> and foster empathy for the people, places and species most affected by climate change. <\/em>[Emphases added]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As usual, these climate hangers-on in academia have no idea how ragged and unscientific their climate notions are<\/a>. Australia\u2019s top dog in orthodox climate science is Andy Pitman<\/a> of UNSW. He\u2019s chair of the Academy of Science\u2019s National Committee for Earth System Science and director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes. Last month he admitted on behalf of the Academy that \u201cwe are building our climate policies on crumbling foundations<\/a>\u201d and there\u2019s \u201ccritical gaps in our understanding\u201d and \u201cour knowledge is incomplete\u201d. Sensationally, he concedes that current climate models can\u2019t predict whether natural disasters will become more or less common in the warming era. In other words, warming might make actually weather milder and more comfortable. Moreover, extra vegetation might increase our CO2 emissions rather than reduce them. So much for well-meaning kids planting trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warming might bring welcome rains rather than the dreaded droughts. So-called \u201ctipping points\u201d? El Ninos vs La Ninas? \u201cThese are not easily solvable but offer profoundly different futures for Australia,\u201d he admits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given his Academy paper last month, \u201cexpert\u201d activists keen to recruit schoolkids to the net zero cause, might as well throw their curriculum drafts into the bin and start on a clean page and with a decent dash of objectivity and humility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tony Thomas\u2019s latest book from Connor Court is Anthem of the Unwoke \u2013 Yep! The other lot\u2019s gone bonkers. $34.95 <\/em><\/strong>here<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You are helping to organise a School Strike 4 Climate. What would be your role?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m invited to donate from $25 to $2500<\/a> and referred to SS4C\u2019s opening catechism<\/a> that reads:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We acknowledge that we meet, organise and strike on stolen Country, and that sovereignty has never been ceded. First Nations peoples are disproportionately on the frontlines of the climate crisis and therefore must be enshrined at the forefront of the climate movement. There can be no climate justice without First Nations justice.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I then ticked the boxes about my preferred roles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a speaker at the strike to demand more climate action. Convincing your school Principal to support students to go to the strike. Designing eye-catching banners and signs. Helping everyone stay motivated and supporting my teammates when things get stressful.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next quiz question:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What would help you feel better if you felt overwhelmed about climate change?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making art to express my feelings and raise awareness about climate change. Joining groups that push for changes in government, policies, and laws.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which of these are most like something you would do<\/strong>?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Writing a letter to a politician about climate action<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having just watched Chris Uhlman\u2019s masterful climate take-down on Sky last night<\/a>, I\u2019m writing to Climate Minister Chris Bowen right now to ask how he\u2019ll back up his trillion-dollar wind and solar monopoly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creating infographics, memes, or videos about climate change and sharing them over social media. Fundraising and circulating petitions to save the Great Barrier Reef.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coral extent has been at a record level for three years straight,<\/a> why does the reef need to be \u201csaved\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which everyday actions are you most likely to take to help fight climate change?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participating in a theatre production or art project about climate change. Giving emotional support to your sibling (or other children in your life), who is feeling anxious about climate change.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll write a calming email to my elder sister in Perth, who says its hot in summer there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buying less new stuff (e.g., re-using, repairing and buying secondhand.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Which of these would you love to do as a job?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a climate change researcher or educator. Being Environmental Minister. Painting murals or making music to inspire others to engage in climate action<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like ABC chair Kim Williams, I\u2019m a failed clarinettist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leading communications and social media campaigns for climate action.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes you feel proud of yourself?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am in touch with my creativity, spirituality and imagination. I\u2019m great at making a convincing argument.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 What would help you feel better if you felt overwhelmed about climate change?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making art to express my feelings and raise awareness about climate change. Joining groups that push for changes in government, policies, and laws\u2026 connecting with my values and beliefs for building a better world.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

REFERENCES:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[1]<\/a> International Journal of Behavioral Development 2024, Vol. 48(2) 125\u00ad \u2013131<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2]<\/a> \u201c It is essential to recognize the limitations of our study, which may impact the generalizability and validity of our results, as they might not represent the views and experiences of Victorian youth at large.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3]<\/a> Mary Immaculate alumni include Anne Henderson, of hubbie Gerard\u2019s Sydney Institute and co-owner of Media Watch Dog\u2019s blue heeler Ellie.<\/a> Other alumni include supermodel Abbey Kershaw and ex-ACTU president Jed Kearney<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4]<\/a> \u201cGuidance on how the Climate Superpowers website aligns with school curricula and tertiary education frameworks will also be developed and tested.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5]<\/a> Professor Lisa Gibbs, Dr Katitza Marinkovic, Phoebe Quinn, Jane Nursey, Prof Mehmet Ulubasoglu, A\/Prof Sean Cowlishaw, Prof Erdal Tekin, Prof Vanessa Cobham, Robyn Molyneaux, Dr Rebecca Patrick, Prof Dianne Vella-Brodrick, Prof Ann Sanson, and Nathaniel Barker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[6]<\/a> Project funders include a Climate Research Accelerator Grant from Melbourne Climate Futures; the Climate CATCH Lab (Collaborative Action Towards Transformative Change in Health and Healthcare) at UniMelb and a UniMelb Wildfires Futures Hallmark Research Initiative<\/a> supporting author Katitza Marinkovic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[7]<\/a> The burden of bad news: educators\u2019 experiences of navigating climate change education.<\/em> Environmental Education Research 2023, vol. 29, no. 11, 1678\u20131691. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/13504622.2023.2238136<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melbourne University, sometimes billed as the\u00a0Parkville Asylum, is ranked by\u00a0The\u00a0Times\u00a0as top in Australia and 39th\u00a0worldwide. I\u2019m sure a peer-reviewed paper last March from its Disasters, Climate and Adversity Unit made a small contribution to this on-campus glory. The study is\u00a0Growing up in Victoria, Australia, in the\u00a0midst of the climate emergency. [1]\u00a0In this paper the all-female cohort of authors describe how they are turning schoolkids from the age of 12 into \u201cClimate Superpowers\u201d \u2014 shock troops, in other words, for the green blob \u2014 \u201cdeveloping themselves as agents of change\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":358372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691819627,691818056,691819230,691819743,691832241,691822002,691820416],"class_list":{"0":"post-358369","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-clean-energy","9":"tag-climate-change","10":"tag-climate-justice","11":"tag-climate-propaganda","12":"tag-climate-superpowers-project","13":"tag-green-blob","14":"tag-greta-thunberg","16":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/00New-Driver-Blog.webp?fit=1000%2C677&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1ve9","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":349881,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=349881","url_meta":{"origin":358369,"position":0},"title":"Seven years to go! Extremely bad science is the new normal for the climate","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/11\/2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Brave scientists at the CSIRO and BoM have dug hard through the sacred Arc of the Climate Covenant, CMIP-6,\u00a0 to discover the horrible truth that we only have seven years (just seven!) until we pass through the sanctified Target-of-Paris on Halloween of 2031.","rel":"","context":"In \"Australia\"","block_context":{"text":"Australia","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=australia"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0Screenshot-2024-11-02-154600.png?fit=1021%2C919&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0Screenshot-2024-11-02-154600.png?fit=1021%2C919&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0Screenshot-2024-11-02-154600.png?fit=1021%2C919&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/0Screenshot-2024-11-02-154600.png?fit=1021%2C919&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":369754,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=369754","url_meta":{"origin":358369,"position":1},"title":"Climate Astrologers forecast \u2018Global weirding\u2019 and climate whiplash will hit the world\u2019s biggest cities","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"13\/03\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A new \u201cstudy\u201d warns us that the most populated cities on Earth have a distinct trend towards, wait for it, wetter or drier weather.\u00a0 Somehow, 95 of the 100 biggest cities do not have the exact same amount of rain that they had 40 years ago. (The horror). And this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate Bingo\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate Bingo","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-bingo"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0OIG1-17.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0OIG1-17.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0OIG1-17.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0OIG1-17.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":217653,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=217653","url_meta":{"origin":358369,"position":2},"title":"JAYARAJ: Climate Change Transformed India into an Agricultural Superpower \u2014 Just Ask My Grandparents","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/09\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Today\u2019s warmth and CO2 levels are a boon to human civilization, not a bane. Just ask my grandparents.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-336.png?fit=848%2C565&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-336.png?fit=848%2C565&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-336.png?fit=848%2C565&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-336.png?fit=848%2C565&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":371387,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=371387","url_meta":{"origin":358369,"position":3},"title":"No, NewsBreak, the Supposed \u201cCold Blob\u201d in the Atlantic Isn\u2019t a Harbinger of the Atlantic Ocean Current Collapsing","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"22\/03\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"An article published at NewsBreak (NB) titled,\u00a0Scientists issue urgent warning about mysterious \u2018cold blob\u2019 in the ocean: \u2018Most likely underestimated\u2019\u00a0claims that a \u201cmysterious cold blob\u201d in the Atlantic Ocean signals an impending collapse of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which could have \u201ccatastrophic\u201d consequences. This claim is, at best,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC)\"","block_context":{"text":"Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC)","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=atlantic-meridional-overturning-circulation-amoc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0cold-blob-2018-NASA.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0cold-blob-2018-NASA.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0cold-blob-2018-NASA.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0cold-blob-2018-NASA.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/0cold-blob-2018-NASA.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":386598,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=386598","url_meta":{"origin":358369,"position":4},"title":"BBC Complaints Director Takes Six-Month Sabbatical to Learn How to Promote \u2018Climate Crisis\u2019","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"03\/07\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The BBC Complaints Director Colin Tregear has enrolled on the green grooming course run as a six-month sabbatical by the Oxford Climate Journalism Network (OCJN). The course is funded by the Green Blob and aims to make the \u2018climate crisis\u2019 a central element in the journalism of the attendees. Tregear\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"BBC\"","block_context":{"text":"BBC","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bbc"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/OIG-2023-08-09T120430.902.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/OIG-2023-08-09T120430.902.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/OIG-2023-08-09T120430.902.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/OIG-2023-08-09T120430.902.jpeg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":392383,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=392383","url_meta":{"origin":358369,"position":5},"title":"Misuse, Misquote, or Just Misunderstood? Readers Wanted for the Blob\u2019s Latest Climate Panic","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/08\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The Department of Energy\u2019s A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate has unleashed a Category 5 tantrum across climate science\u2019s more excitable precincts. No surprise there. What is new, and potentially consequential, is that the Blob\u2014our affectionate term for the climate-industrial complex\u2014has chosen to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"3.\u00a0Joy Ward\"","block_context":{"text":"3.\u00a0Joy Ward","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=3-joy-ward"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AQNZLMtWW966EyX7vyCC_EN3pRg1szhFQkjPDciDudSZnpfBiJGXTteamuZWs6klEMepqKx3f-LMR_slCiqlKds3hNLHjxTBIAgIJ4vj98JonnP69p-uHhiVueDWIKfrFf1y5svFj-7uHnuXvHdTEVxXRGw14g-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AQNZLMtWW966EyX7vyCC_EN3pRg1szhFQkjPDciDudSZnpfBiJGXTteamuZWs6klEMepqKx3f-LMR_slCiqlKds3hNLHjxTBIAgIJ4vj98JonnP69p-uHhiVueDWIKfrFf1y5svFj-7uHnuXvHdTEVxXRGw14g-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AQNZLMtWW966EyX7vyCC_EN3pRg1szhFQkjPDciDudSZnpfBiJGXTteamuZWs6klEMepqKx3f-LMR_slCiqlKds3hNLHjxTBIAgIJ4vj98JonnP69p-uHhiVueDWIKfrFf1y5svFj-7uHnuXvHdTEVxXRGw14g-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AQNZLMtWW966EyX7vyCC_EN3pRg1szhFQkjPDciDudSZnpfBiJGXTteamuZWs6klEMepqKx3f-LMR_slCiqlKds3hNLHjxTBIAgIJ4vj98JonnP69p-uHhiVueDWIKfrFf1y5svFj-7uHnuXvHdTEVxXRGw14g-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AQNZLMtWW966EyX7vyCC_EN3pRg1szhFQkjPDciDudSZnpfBiJGXTteamuZWs6klEMepqKx3f-LMR_slCiqlKds3hNLHjxTBIAgIJ4vj98JonnP69p-uHhiVueDWIKfrFf1y5svFj-7uHnuXvHdTEVxXRGw14g-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=358369"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358369\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":358373,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358369\/revisions\/358373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/358372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=358369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=358369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=358369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}