Dissemination of information that conflicts with scientific evidence: a danger for schools

The Department of Geosciences of the University of Padua expresses strong concern over certain statements contained in the volume “Climate change: scenarios, challenges, solutions” and over the distribution of the publication in upper secondary schools in the Bellunese area. Scientists from the Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (TESAF) of the University are on the same line.

«In particular, we are referring to the contribution by the president of the Ordine dei Geologi del Veneto, which proposes an interpretation of the causes of global warming that conflicts with scientific evidence that is now well established,” explains the director of the Department of Geosciences of the University of Padua, Nicola Surian. “Human activities, above all through greenhouse gas emissions, are the main cause of the ongoing global warming. 

This conclusion is based on decades of observations and studies and is reiterated in the reports of the IPCC, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In the president of the Ordine’s report, on pages 42–44, it is argued that the greenhouse effect becomes negligible above 260 ppm and the current rise in temperatures is attributed to natural cycles, probably of astronomical origin, excluding the responsibility of anthropogenic emissions. These statements conflict with scientific knowledge of the climate system. The text also reports an atmospheric CO₂ concentration of about 460 ppm, a value that is not consistent with the available measurements: the NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory indicates a global monthly average of 427.62 ppm for June 2026.

At a historical moment when it is essential to communicate rigorously and effectively how the climate is changing and what the causes of this change are, we believe it is particularly serious that content of this kind should be presented to students as scientific background material. The distribution of publications supported by public institutions requires particular attention to the accuracy of the data and the soundness of the interpretations. Schools must be provided with reliable tools to understand the causes of climate change and critically assess information.

With this statement, the Department of Geosciences and colleagues from TESAF join the call for scientific rigour already expressed within academia, including through the open letter from lecturer Carlo Barbante, sent to the Comune di Belluno and the Regione del Veneto. Alongside these positions are the reactions of students, which represent an encouraging sign of their attention to the issue and their level of awareness.

The attention and reactions prompted by this volume, on social media channels and in the press, provide an opportunity to recall how in recent years the Department of Geosciences has greatly strengthened its expertise in this area, becoming the point of reference for climatology research within the University of Padua, and speaking authoritatively and with scientific rigour in national media outreach. In parallel with its research, the Department has renewed its academic programmes at all levels, from the bachelor’s degree in “Earth and Climate Dynamics”, launched in 2023, to the PhD course in Geosciences, that is, the highest level of university education».