Is climate change a laughing matter?

Abstract

Recently there has been an increase in scientists, educators, and activists moving into comedy to tell the climate story. Could using humour as an educational method encourage a greater response to the climate crisis? The present research addresses this question by exploring the impact that an environmental-based comedy show had on various learningrelated and emotional outcomes. It was hypothesised first that humour has a positive influence on these outcomes, second, that there is a relationship between fear, hope, and responding to climate change, and third, that age is a significant factor in predicting such variables. Participants watched a recording of a live environmental stand-up comedy show and completed a questionnaire about their experience—all during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. The analyses indicated that even in these unprecedented circumstances, the environmental comedy show provided various learning-related outcomes and emotional outcomes. Further, the results suggested that age somewhat predicts variables related to climate change.