Hear a wild claim about climate change? A new tool can counteract this.

We’ve all been there. You’re scrolling through LinkedIn and your distant cousin has a new post about how wind turbines cause cancer. Or that global warming is a hoax created by scientists seeking to profit from research funding.

Exasperated, you simply don’t have the energy to counter these claims – and it can be time-consuming to compile the correct statistics from trusted sources. To make debunking climate myths quicker and easier, a New England nonprofit launched a misinformation tracker on Thursday aimed at combating some of the most common misconceptions. Simply enter a claim or search by topic and let the experts settle the debate for you.

Beyond the launch of the new tracker, the Alliance for Climate Transition’s broader campaign is to accelerate the transition to clean energy. The group’s president, Joe Curtatone, said the tracker’s goal is to “put the facts first and democratize science.” [climate change] and some of these technologies.”

The tool, which debunks 63 common climate change myths using academic and federal data, organizes misinformation by state across the Northeast, from Maine to New York. Much of the information is also applicable to climate myths emerging across the country, meaning the tool can be just as useful in a debate with your great-uncle over Facebook as it is at the Thanksgiving dinner table.

Curtatone emphasized that environmental misinformation has changed in recent years and people are now faced less with outright denial of climate change and more attacks on specific technologies or possible solutions.

“This is a big deal in this election cycle. This is what’s on the ballot… [and] We cannot allow the lie to become the truth,” he said. “False narratives about climate technologies such as electric vehicles, wind energy and battery storage [being used to] “confuse the public, undermine their trust and create concern, resulting in delays to critical infrastructure projects.”

According to Curtatone, the tracker is designed to integrate seamlessly with social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn and If You Have Someone On

Natasha Perez, one of the alliance’s vice presidents, said the team hopes to respond quickly to current events in the style of similar fact-checkers like Politifact, while also answering user questions about new misinformation as it emerges.

The current myths the tracker addresses range from practical questions about cost (“Are electric stoves more expensive to run than gas stoves?”) to concerns about human health and animal welfare (“Do offshore wind cables disrupt life.” in the sea by emitting electromagnetic fields?”). ) to conspiracy theories that have gained traction in recent years (“Is Does the government do hurricanes or not?”

Jared Rennie, a research meteorologist in Asheville, North Carolina, with NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, said these types of tools are essential because misinformation breeds not only opposition to green technologies but also skepticism and even outright hostility toward those those who comment on climate change its connection to natural disasters and changing weather conditions.

“It’s important that the experts debunk misinformation,” said Rennie, whose team regularly produces weather reports showing that another record has been broken as the Earth continues to warm.

“We get a lot of questions: How reliable is the temperature recording? How reliable is your methodology? … How can you say that Tropical Storm Helene is a 1-in-1,000-year event when you don’t have 1,000-year data?” he said. “It’s so easy for people to live in their bubbles, so we need to get down to their level, bring the facts to light and say it’s important to you to care.”

Rennie said he knows several meteorologists who spend much of their workday on Facebook, responding to misinformation they see online. This is where myth-busting tools can be really useful, he added, as they quickly distill complex information into easy-to-understand facts while pointing to reputable sources for readers who want to delve deeper.

Perhaps the bigger challenge, however, is getting people to believe experts in their field, something that has become increasingly difficult in recent years as parts of the country have lost trust in academic institutions, the press and the government.

Still, the makers of the new Climate Misinformation Tracker say that doesn’t mean it’s time to give up.

“We’re giving communities the tools to combat this information in real time … to ensure that facts, not fear, truly shape the path forward,” Perez said. “It’s really about fighting for our shared future, everyone’s future, and making sure we act in a way that makes everyone’s voice count.”

Ivy Scott can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @itsivyscott.