TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida climate change textbook edits requested by state education officials changed or removed language about global warming from science books before publishers won state approval, according to newly examined public records.
A joint investigation by WUSF and The Hechinger Report found that publishers agreed to a series of changes requested by the Florida Department of Education during the state’s 2024 science textbook review.
Some of the edits were strikingly specific.
In one section of McGraw Hill’s Marine Science, the words “climate change” were replaced with “changes in the environment.”
Another book, published by Cengage, removed the word “polluting” from a reference to coal-burning power plants. Other material dealing with fossil fuels, renewable energy and the possible consequences of climate change was also altered or removed, according to the investigation.
Michael Huber, an author of McGraw Hill’s Marine Science, told the reporters he had not been informed about the Florida-specific changes before they contacted him.
After reviewing them, his reaction was blunt: “It just degrades the book.”
Records reveal what Florida asked publishers to change
The investigation was based in part on correspondence obtained from the Florida Department of Education through a public-records request.
The records show state officials sought changes to textbooks most likely to contain extensive climate material, including environmental science, earth science and marine science.
One of the most notable examples involved a passage about climate change and human health.
The original material discussed research estimating deaths associated with climate change and the potential effect of additional warming. The Florida version replaced that language with a more general statement about increased carbon dioxide and effects on human health.
Huber said the revised version could actually make the scientific point less clear because it could suggest carbon dioxide itself is directly harming human health rather than describing the broader consequences of CO2-driven climate change.
The records also showed that textbook authors Ken Miller and Joe Levine were asked to remove the words “caused by human activity” from a biology textbook’s discussion of climate change.
Instead of simply deleting other disputed statements, the authors responded to some state requests by adding references to peer-reviewed research supporting their material.
Glenn Branch, deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, told the reporters that the requested weakening of climate-change treatment was unusual and did not appear necessary to make the textbooks comply with Florida’s existing science standards.
Florida says textbook reviews follow state standards
The Florida Department of Education defended its review process.
Department press secretary Olivia Wester told The Hechinger Report that instructional-material reviews are guided by Florida law, State Board of Education rules and the state’s academic standards and benchmarks.
Publishers also pushed back on the idea that the edits removed climate science altogether.
McGraw Hill spokesperson Tyler Reed said state education departments routinely request changes to fit local requirements and said climate change and its environmental effects continue to be covered in the company’s Florida textbooks.
The company also said the Florida changes do not apply to its national editions or books produced for other states. Cengage similarly said it works with state education agencies to align textbooks with local standards while maintaining the quality of its material.
That distinction matters: the records document specific Florida-requested edits, but they do not show that the phrase “climate change” has been completely banned from Florida classrooms or textbooks.
Florida is also rewriting its science standards
The textbook revelations come as Florida undertakes another potentially consequential education change: updating its science standards for the first time since 2008.
Current standards include human-caused climate change in several high school electives, including earth science, environmental science and marine science.
What the next version will require remains unclear.
According to the WUSF-Hechinger investigation, a committee submitted recommended new standards this summer, but the state has not publicly released a proposed final version for feedback. The Department of Education also did not answer the reporters’ questions about whether climate-change instruction will remain in the updated standards.
The issue comes two years after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation that removed references to climate change from portions of Florida law dealing with state energy policy.
For Florida students, the argument is particularly close to home. The state regularly faces flooding, extreme heat, sea-level concerns and destructive hurricanes — all while nearly 3 million students rely on state standards and approved instructional materials to shape what they learn in public schools.
The next major question is no longer simply what Florida asked textbook publishers to change in 2024.
It’s what the state will require students to learn about climate change when its new science standards finally emerge.
