SQA slammed for promoting positives of climate change
Scotland’s exams body has been slammed for insisting that the ‘positives’ of global warming are given equal consideration in the National 5 Geography course.
The SQA’s course specification states that the pros and cons of climate change should be given equal weight, a position Scottish Greens education spokesperson Ross Greer has branded “deeply inappropriate”.
The document goes as far as listing alleged benefits such as ‘increased tourism to more northerly latitudes’ and ‘improved crop yields’. These examples are used in numerous textbooks available for the course, despite all reputable climate science warning that increased crop failures and widespread famines are an inevitable consequence of the climate emergency.
A new report released this week confirmed that climate breakdown is set to cost the greater Glasgow area in excess of £400 million per year in damage by 2050.
Ross Greer said:
“Asking students to list benefits of the climate crisis is like asking them to think of all the exciting opportunities that come from their house burning down. Boosting tourism will hardly be our priority when half a billion climate refugees need a permanent home in cooler northern countries like Scotland over the coming decades. Yet again, Scotland’s exams authority has some serious questions to answer.
“Hosting the COP26 climate summit later this year will offer Scotland the chance to drive change. It means young people can hope to see the solid action that is so urgently needed delivered right on their doorstep. In that context, the absolute absurdity of the SQA claiming an upsurge in tourism is a benefit of climate change is not only deeply inappropriate, but downright depressing.”