U.S. university biology textbooks published in the 2010s contained less climate change content than those published in the 2000s. Passages on climate change moved farther back in the books, while the amount of information about impacts grew. Space devoted to solutions shrank. The median position of sections about climate change moved from the last 15% of pages in the 1970s (when many scientists first became convinced the planet was warming) to the last 2.5% in the 2010s. It may be argued that controversial topics are usually placed at the end since it allows teachers to run out of time and not have to teach them. Sections on climate change expanded in the 2000s because of growing understanding of global warming’s impacts. That rise might have tapered off now that the fundamentals may be well covered in introductory biology textbooks. It doesn’t explain why there could be a reduction in climate change content though.
Climate Crisis Blog
