A Stanford University study says California textbooks “use the same kind of language seen on climate change denier blogs” and misrepresent the scientific consensus about the causes and impact of global warming, reports The Guardian.

Researchers studied 2,770 words used in the books, which are given to students as their first introduction to climate science, and found that the widely accepted opinion that the climate is changing and that humans are the main cause wasn’t represented in the books.

So just what the hell is represented in these damn textbooks?

“Farmers in some areas that are now cool could plant two crops a year instead of one,” it reads. “Places that are too cold for farming today could become farmland.”

Global warming is actually cool and good, apparently. Don’t worry, though: in the interest of fairness, this textbook, published by Prentice Hall, is careful to note there might be some downsides to global warming (if it’s real, that is):

“However, many effects of global warming are likely to be less positive.”

Less positive. Like finding a quarter in your pocket instead of a dollar. Positive! But not as positive.

The study was reportedly performed by KC Busch, of the Stanford Graduate School of Education, and assistant professor Diego Roman, a linguist at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. What they found, mainly, was a lot of dumb hedging and conditional language.

“Instead of saying climate change is happening, it’s: ‘Climate change may be happening,’ which isn’t what is generally known and understood.”

[...]

“Perhaps the textbook companies are making them palatable in a politically charged environment in order to get published. I think they are softening the language. I’m shocked that California has allowed them, to be honest.”

The study looked at “four key science texts given to sixth-grade students in California.” The California State Board of Education reportedly said that “a new round of textbooks was currently in development and would be introduced in 2018.” In the meantime, let’s focus on the positive consequences of America’s children being misled about climate change, like

[The Guardian]

Photo via AP