Giving Compass' Take:

· Tom Jacobs explains that the best way to approach a skeptic about the reality of climate change to first prove the value of science. 

· How can funders work to influence skeptics at scale? 

· Read about three ways to nudge climate skeptics towards action. 

More Americans are taking climate change seriously. A new report by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication reveals that 8 percent of participants in three separate surveys said they had changed their mind on the topic over the previous year—and of those, 84 percent said their level of concern had increased.

While this shift cut across party lines, many conservatives remain resistant to acknowledge the reality of the phenomenon, and its potentially catastrophic consequences. A 2017 study found one way to break through this denial is by emphasizing the near-unanimity among climate scientists on the issue, a rhetorical strategy that leverages human beings' innate motivation to conform.

A new study offers another promising approach, which takes advantage of our desire for internal consistency. It finds that "conservative participants who first acknowledge several general contributions of science subsequently report significantly stronger beliefs in climate science."

This suggests that having people first recognize the value and importance of science in general makes it harder for them to subsequently dismiss one branch of scientific research.

Read the full article about climate change by Tom Jacobs at Pacific Standard.