Abstract
The online video-sharing website YouTube is extremely popular globally, also as a tool for information on science and environmental topics. However, only little is known about what kind of information users find when they are searching for information about climate science, climate change and climate engineering on YouTube. This contribution presents results from an exploratory research project that investigates whether videos found on YouTube adhere to or challenge scientific consensus views. Ten search terms were employed to search for and analyze 200 videos about climate and climate modification topics, which are contested topics in online media. The online anonymization tool Tor has been used for the randomization of the sample and to avoid personalization of the results. A heuristic qualitative classification tool was set up to categorize the videos in the sample. 89 videos of the 200 videos in the sample are supporting scientific consensus views about anthropogenic climate change, and climate scientists are discussing climate topics with deniers of climate change in 4 videos in the sample. Unexpectedly, the majority of the videos in the sample (107 videos) supports worldviews that are opposing scientific consensus views: 16 videos deny climate change and 91 videos in the sample propagate straightforward conspiracy theories about climate engineering and climate change. Videos supporting the scientific mainstream view received only slightly more views (16,941,949 views in total) than those opposing the mainstream scientific position (16,939,655 views in total). Consequences for the public communication of climate change and climate engineering are discussed in the second part of the article. The research presented in this contribution is particularly interested in finding out more about strategically distorted communications about climate change and climate engineering in online environments and in critically analyzing them.
Highlights
Climate change is a grand global challenge that affects the whole of humanity
The research presented in this contribution has the aim to shed some light on the question if the content that users find on YouTube, when they are searching for information on climate change and climate engineering, will adhere or contradict scientific views on this issue
The research presented is interested in the question what contents user find when they are searching for climate and climate modification topics on YouTube
Summary
Climate change is a grand global challenge that affects the whole of humanity. National solutions alone will not be sufficient to deal adequately with the resulting global problems. NGOs and industry and citizens of different backgrounds need to be enrolled in a global public debate about climate change in order to find practical solutions for social, political, economic, and environmental consequences. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), working under the auspices of the United Nations, has the aim to provide the world with an objective scientific view on climate change and its social, political, economic, and environmental impacts. The research presented in this contribution has the aim to shed some light on the question if the content that users find on YouTube, when they are searching for information on climate change and climate engineering, will adhere or contradict scientific views on this issue
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