A while back, geologist Callan Bentley asked me for a climate cartoon poster. He was organizing a climate art exhibition at a geology conference and thought some cartoon art would be an interesting contribution. I had been meaning for a while to do a poster of the 97% consensus crowd I drew for the 97 Hours of Consensus campaign (which had great success, including an Obama tweet). This featured a crowd of 100 climate scientists: 97 of them have their arms raised, indicating agreement with the scientific consensus that humans are causing global warming. 3 of the scientists have their arms crossed or hands on their hips, representing the 2 to 3% of climate scientists who reject the consensus. And yes, all 100 caricatures represent real climate scientists. So I sent Callan the 97% crowd which appeared in his art exhibition.
When we began planning our crowd-funding campaign to develop the Cranky Uncle game, we knew an important element of crowd-funding was offering rewards for donors. Typically the rewards increase for higher donors. One idea I particularly liked—as someone for whom the number 97 is particularly salient—was offering the 97% poster for anyone who donated $97 or more.
With serendipitous timing, the 97% consensus poster arrived from the printer just before our book launch event on Wednesday. The printer did a fantastic job, the glossy posters look gorgeous! We printed extra posters but as I tweeted on the day of the launch, these posters aren’t for sale and cannot be bought anywhere. They are only available (for free) to people who come to live Cranky Uncle book events.
Most attendees of the Wednesday evening book launch took a free 97% poster. A number of people expressed curiosity about the identities of the climate scientists. So I promised that I’d post a page displaying the identity of all 100 caricatures. Here is that page, available as a PDF.
Here’s some homework for the eagle-eyed – the 100 scientists in the poster differ from the original 97 Hours of Consensus in just one case. I’ll be curious to see if anyone finds the difference!
Lastly, I should point out that there is some serious social science research behind this poster. A growing body of empirical evidence finds that public perception of the scientific consensus on human-caused global warming is highly important (this psychological dynamic is otherwise known as the Gateway Belief Model). When people are informed there’s a consensus on human-caused global warming, their acceptance of the reality of climate change and support for climate action increases.
Conversely, when people encounter misinformation casting doubt on the consensus, it reduces their acceptance of climate change and support for climate action. This is why climate misinformation has such a focus on the scientific consensus. People trying to delay climate action are desperate to maintain the gap between public perception and the 97% consensus – the “consensus gap.”
Therefore, it’s important that we are persistent in communicating the 97% scientific consensus on human-caused global warming. As I argue in a recently published book chapter, if we fail to communicate the consensus, we leave the public vulnerable to misinformation casting doubt on the consensus. My hope is that the 97% consensus poster will engage and entertain people but also raise awareness of the 97% consensus.
So to everyone who comes away from my book events with a free poster, I hope you display the poster somewhere prominent and help close the consensus gap!
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