Climate Literacy and Scientific Reasoning

Global climate change has been widely discussed in the public media for the past decades. There have been ongoing debates about what may contribute to the development of climate literacy. This chapter discusses an important cognitive construct, scientific reasoning, to propose a new perspective toward the development of climate literacy. As an underlying mechanism for our mental activities, scientific reasoning relates to different aspects involved in the understanding of climate science. An in-depth investigation of scientific reasoning and its relationship with climate change education can provide an overarching framework for the ongoing efforts in enhancing climate literacy. The chapter presents a brief review on the nature of scientific reasoning, and discusses the importance of promoting scientific reasoning in climate change education. It provides some suggestions on how to incorporate scientific reasoning into the endeavor of enhancing climate literacy.