Public Understanding Of Climate Change Research Articles

How does extreme weather impact the climate change discourse? Insights from the Twitter discussion on hurricanes

The public understanding of climate change plays a critical role in translating climate science into climate action. In the public discourse, climate impacts are often discussed in the context of extreme weather events. Here, we analyse 65 million Twitter posts and 240 thousand news media articles related to 18 major hurricanes from 2010 to 2022 to clarify how hurricanes impact the public discussion around climate change. First, we analyse news content and show that climate change is the most prominent non hurricane-specific topic discussed by the news media in relation to hurricanes. Second, we perform a comparative analysis between reliable and questionable news media outlets, finding that unreliable outlets frequently refer to climate-related conspiracies and preferentially use the term “global warming” over “climate change”. Finally, using geolocated data, we show that accounts in regions affected by hurricanes discuss climate change at a significantly higher rate than accounts in unaffected areas, with references to climate change increasing by, on average, 80% after impact, and up to 200% for the largest hurricanes. Our findings demonstrate how hurricanes have a key impact on the public awareness of climate change.

Priorities for research to support local authority action on health and climate change: a study in England

BackgroundEvidence is needed to support local action to reduce the adverse health impacts of climate change and maximise the health co-benefits of climate action. Focused on England, the study identifies priority areas for research to inform local decision making.MethodsFirstly, potential priority areas for research were identified from a brief review of UK policy documents, and feedback invited from public and policy stakeholders. This included a survey of Directors of Public Health (DsPH) in England, the local government officers responsible for public health. Secondly, rapid reviews of research evidence examined whether there was UK evidence relating to the priorities identified in the survey.ResultsThe brief policy review pointed to the importance of evidence in two broad areas: (i) community engagement in local level action on the health impacts of climate change and (ii) the economic (cost) implications of such action. The DsPH survey (n = 57) confirmed these priorities. With respect to community engagement, public understanding of climate change’s health impacts and the public acceptability of local climate actions were identified as key evidence gaps. With respect to economic implications, the gaps related to evidence on the health and non-health-related costs and benefits of climate action and the short, medium and longer-term budgetary implications of such action, particularly with respect to investments in the built environment. Across both areas, the need for evidence relating to impacts across income groups was highlighted, a point also emphasised by the public involvement panel. The rapid reviews confirmed these evidence gaps (relating to public understanding, public acceptability, economic evaluation and social inequalities). In addition, public and policy stakeholders pointed to other barriers to action, including financial pressures, noting that better evidence is insufficient to enable effective local action.ConclusionsThere is limited evidence to inform health-centred local action on climate change. More evidence is required on public perspectives on, and the economic dimensions of, local climate action. Investment in locally focused research is urgently needed if local governments are to develop and implement evidence-based policies to protect public health from climate change and maximise the health co-benefits of local action.

The Role of Raising Awareness in Ensuring the Resilience of Cities

This paper explores the significant role of raising awareness in ensuring the resilience of cities towards climate change. Climate change is an imminent threat to urban development and its adverse effects can only be mitigated with the collective efforts of city dwellers. By evaluating the level of awareness and relating it to the greenhouse gas emissions emitted by three selected countries - namely Germany, Brazil and Kenya - this study highlights the need for awareness-raising campaigns and community-engagement initiatives centered around the risks of climate change and its potential impact on cities. The findings suggest that raising awareness, through several social action campaigns, can enhance the public understanding of climate change and facilitate the adoption of sustainable behaviors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, raising the awareness of a population will make their participation in the decision-making processes of the different adaptation plans more effective. The paper concludes that raising awareness by enhancing public understanding and ensuring their participation in combating climate change is a crucial step in building resilience to climate change.

Community Participation for Adaptation and Mitigation of Climate Change: Case study the implementation of Program Kampung Iklim (Proklim)

Community is the most vulnerable to climate change. Engaging community is an important factor for the effectiveness and efficiency of the climate change policy and Proklim is one of solutions to implement it. Proklim is regulated through the Minister of Environment and Forestry Regulation Number P.84/MENLHK-SETJEN / KIM.1 / 11/2006 concerning the Climate Village Program and the regulation of the Director General of Climate Change Control No. P.1/PPI/SET/KUM.1/2/2017 concerning Climate Change Guideline. This study aims to analyze the forms of community participation in Proklim. The method used is a qualitative method with a juridical-empirical approach. The study found that the implementation of Proklim uses a top down approach, where the program was born not based on community initiation but came from the government, the community only acted as program beneficiaries without being actively involved. Mitigation programs are generally developed than adaptation programs. In addition, it is important to create an engaging mechanism. The existence of community groups and community leaders and the availability of supporting tools are important factors in creating the sustainability of ProKlim. This program is expected to increase public understanding of climate change and its impacts, so that lifestyle changes can adapt to it.

Improving public understanding of climate change by supporting weathercasters

Improving public understanding of climate change by supporting weathercasters

Public understanding of climate change and health in the Caribbean: Results and recommendations from a 10-country perceptions survey

Public understanding of climate change and health in the Caribbean: Results and recommendations from a 10-country perceptions survey

Building Energy Codes: Reviewing the Status of Implementation Strategies in the Global South

The public understanding of climate change, methods, mitigation, adaptation and the reason behind it have been investigated in developed countries. The current knowledge levels in the Global South remains limited, this while countries forming part of the Global South are more vulnerable to resultant effects of global warming. This requires the urgent attention by both citizens, who lack relevant information as well as decision makers lacking environmental literacy to establish long-term sustainable strategies. With just 9 years left, the probability of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is unlikely and will require the complete redevelopment of the building sector. Focusing on the built environment, this paper uses contemporary definitions of the Global South to establish the contribution, significance and lack of energy efficiency mechanisms in the face of climate change. A combination of literature, desk research and data gathering from various sources are employed to establish the contribution of the Global South built environment to climate change. Using Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) emissions, 2050 urban population figures and distinctive climatic regions as basis, this study selected the largest role players to establish the status, extent and efficacy of building energy codes. The review point towards a built environment lacking the necessary building energy codes, with approximately 47% of selected Global South countries not implementing any form of building energy efficiency regulations or related policies. As part of the recommendations, Global South countries lacking the necessary regulations are encouraged to revise, update or adopt possible best practice standards from relevant countries that implement mandatory building energy codes. This study aims to address the gap in knowledge, establish a way forward and facilitate a larger implementation of building energy codes and strategies in the Global South

Who’s responsible for climate change? Untangling threads of media discussions in India, Nigeria, Australia, and the USA

Media representations of climate change play a critical role in shaping public perceptions and knowledge of climate change. Public understanding of climate change and the responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions are especially important, as these shape social problem definition, in turn influencing policy responses. In this study, we aimed to understand print media discourses on the existence and responsibility for climate change. We contrasted two Global North countries—the USA and Australia—and two Global South countries—India and Nigeria. We examined 600 newspaper articles, randomly selecting 50 articles each from three newspapers in each country. We conducted discourse analysis to examine narratives on climate change existence and who bears responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions. We found media from all four countries agreed that climate change was real. Narratives of responsibility, however, varied between countries. In Australia, the primary narrative stated that India and China were responsible for the majority of emissions, while abdicating Australia from responsibility. In contrast in the USA, the primary narrative focused on the country’s own responsibility. In India, the primary responsibility was assigned to the Global North, while in Nigeria, all countries were considered equally responsible for global emissions. We demonstrated that media narratives for climate change responsibility were primarily driven by political discourse. As the majority of the public depends on media for information on climate change, it is essential that narratives of responsibility incorporate scientific evidence and not follow purely political expedient discourses to assign responsibility for action.

Representation of climate change consequences in British newspapers

This article explores British newspaper descriptions of the impact of climate change across three time periods. It shows a reduction in representing the consequences of climate change as ‘out of human control’. It also shows a decrease in adopting alarming and uncertain descriptions within the centre-left group, whereas mocking the effects of climate change is a peculiarity of right-leaning narratives. The complexity of climate narratives produces a variety of representations of the consequences of climate change, which in turn might increase ‘uncertainty’ in public understanding of climate change.

Impact of the Climate Matters Program on Public Understanding of Climate Change

AbstractClimate Matters is a localized climate change reporting resources program developed to support television (TV) weathercasters across the United States. Developed as a pilot test in one media market in 2010, it launched nationwide in 2013; in the autumn of 2019 more than 797 weathercasters were participating in the program. In this paper we present evidence of the impact of the Climate Matters program on Americans’ science-based understanding of climate change. We analyzed three sets of data in a multilevel model: 20 nationally representative surveys of American adults conducted biannually since 2010 (n = 23 635), data on when and how frequently Climate Matters stories were aired in each U.S. media market, and data describing the demographic, economic, and climatic conditions in each media market. We hypothesized that 1) reporting about climate change by TV weathercasters will increase science-based public understanding of climate change and 2) this effect will be stronger for people who pay more attention to local weather forecasts. Our results partially support the first hypothesis: controlling for market-level factors (population size, temperature, political ideology, and economic prosperity) and individual-level factors (age, education, income, gender, and political ideology), there is a significant positive association between the amount of Climate Matters reporting and some key indicators of science-based understanding (including that climate change is occurring, is primarily human caused, and causes harm). However, there was no evidence for the second hypothesis. These findings suggest that climate reporting by TV weathercasters, as enabled by the Climate Matters program, may be increasing the climate literacy of the American people.

The connection between hurricane impact and public response to climate change–a study of Sarasota residents one year after Hurricane Irma

Hurricane Irma struck Sarasota, Florida, in September 2017, inflicting extensive damage throughout the community. Based on data from a survey conducted one year after the hurricane, this study tests whether the perceived impact of the hurricane has brought the psychological distance of climate change closer and increased one’s belief regarding climate change. The study also investigates the connection between the belief and action of reducing climate change impact. The structural equation modeling results reveal that the perceived damage from Hurricane Irma is positively related to the public embrace of the existence and human cause of climate change. Increased belief regarding climate change can then promote activities of environmental protection. This study is among the first of its kind to investigate the perspective of local residents post Hurricane Irma. These findings contribute to the existing literature concerning public understanding of climate change after communities experience major climate extreme events. The findings also carry important policy implications about how to mobilize individual’s belief in climate change and translate that belief into action.

Localized Climate Reporting by TV Weathercasters Enhances Public Understanding of Climate Change as a Local Problem: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Experiment

AbstractA rapidly growing number of TV weathercasters are reporting on the local implications of climate change, although little is known about the effectiveness of such communication. To test the impact of localized climate reporting, we conducted an internet-based randomized controlled experiment in which local TV news viewers (n = 1,200) from two American cities (Chicago and Miami) watched either three localized climate reports or three standard weather reports featuring a prominent TV weathercaster from their city; each of the videos was between 1 and 2 min in duration. Participants’ understanding of climate change as real, human-caused, and locally relevant was assessed with a battery of questions after watching the set of three videos. Compared to participants who watched weather reports, participants who watched climate reports became significantly more likely to 1) understand that climate change is happening, is human-caused, and is causing harm in their community; 2) feel that climate change is personally relevant and express greater concern about it; and 3) feel that they understand how climate change works and express greater interest in learning more about it. In short, our findings demonstrate that watching even a brief amount of localized climate reporting (less than 6 min) delivered by TV weathercasters helps viewers develop a more accurate understanding of global climate change as a locally and personally relevant problem, and offer strong support for this promising approach to promoting enhanced public understanding of climate change through public media.

Does media exposure relate to the illusion of knowing in the public understanding of climate change?

By acknowledging that people are cognitive misers, this study proposes that people may rely on the illusion of knowing as cognitive devices for attitudinal or behavioral change, in addition to factual knowledge. Accordingly, this study shifted the focus of inquiry from assessing media effects in increasing factual knowledge to assessing how media consumption relates to the illusion of knowing. Using a nationally door-to-door survey in Singapore (N = 705), the results revealed that individuals' attention to media messages about climate change and elaboration of these messages were positively related to the illusion of knowing. Furthermore, elaboration had moderating effects on the relationship between media attention and the illusion of knowing. These findings suggest that media consumption of climate change messages could drive the illusion of knowing, which is speculated to account for pro-environmental behaviors in addressing climate change. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

Game Developers' Approaches to Communicating Climate Change

Educational games are potential tools for communicating climate science to the public and thus improving public understanding of climate change. In this article we explore the use of co-design methodologies, a participatory open design process, to communicate climate change to a wider audience. To this end, we hosted Climate Jam 2018, a game jam with the objective of creating games to communicate climate change science and to gain insight into how developers approach educational game design. The inclusive event attracted professional game developers and hobbyists from four continents. Participants received a science pack with scientific information about climate change and completed a pre- and post-game-jam survey containing questions relating to climate change, motivations, and game design principles. We present a description of select games that highlight different approaches to communicating climate change to a general audience. Additional results from the surveys showed that few game developers engaged with the science pack and other resources in depth, that communicating climate science was of medium interest to game developers, and that the games’ potential learning effects relate mostly to memorizing and recalling the information communicated in the games. The results are discussed with respect to improving communication between scientists and game developers in the co-creation process.

Systems thinking as a pathway to global warming beliefs and attitudes through an ecological worldview

Prior research has found that systems thinking, the tendency to perceive phenomena as interconnected and dynamic, is associated with a general proenvironmental orientation. However, less is known about its relationship with public understanding of climate change and/or whether this relationship varies across people with different political views. Because climate change is a highly politicized issue, it is also important to understand the extent to which systems thinking can foster acceptance of climate science across political lines. Using an online sample of US adults (n = 1,058), we tested the degree to which systems thinking predicts global warming beliefs and attitudes (e.g., believing that global warming is happening, that it is human-caused, etc.), independent of an ecological worldview (i.e., the New Ecological Paradigm). We found that although systems thinking is positively related to global warming beliefs and attitudes, the relationships are almost fully explained by an ecological worldview. Indirect effects of systems thinking are consistently strong across political ideologies and party affiliations, although slightly stronger for conservatives and Republicans than for liberals and Democrats, respectively. We did not find evidence of the converse: Systems thinking does not seem to mediate the relationship between an ecological worldview and global warming beliefs and attitudes. Together, these findings suggest that systems thinking may support the adoption of global warming beliefs and attitudes indirectly by helping to develop an ecological ethic that people should take care of and not abuse the environment.

Reflections on an interdisciplinary collaboration to inform public understanding of climate change, mitigation, and impacts

We describe two interdisciplinary projects in which natural scientists and engineers, as well as psychologists and other behavioral scientists, worked together to better communicate about climate change, including mitigation and impacts. One project focused on understanding and informing public perceptions of an emerging technology to capture and sequester carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants, as well as other low-carbon electricity-generation technologies. A second project focused on public understanding about carbon dioxide’s residence time in the atmosphere. In both projects, we applied the mental-models approach, which aims to design effective communications by using insights from interdisciplinary teams of experts and mental models elicited from intended audience members. In addition to summarizing our findings, we discuss the process of interdisciplinary collaboration that we pursued in framing and completing both projects. We conclude by describing what we think we have learned about the conditions that supported our ongoing interdisciplinary collaborations.

What Affects Chinese Residents’ Perceptions of Climate Change?

The theme of global sustainable development has changed from environmental management to climate governance, and relevant policies on climate governance urgently need to be implemented by the public. The public understanding of climate change has become the prerequisite and basis for implementing various climate change policies. In order to explore the affected factors of climate change perception among Chinese residents, this study was conducted across 31 provinces and regions of China through field household surveys and interviews. Combined with the residents’ perception of climate change with the possible affected factors, the related factors affecting Chinese residents’ perception of climate change were explored. The results show that the perceptive level of climate change of Chinese residents is related to the education level and the household size of residents. Improving public awareness of climate change risk in the context of climate change through multiple channels will also help to improve residents’ awareness of climate change. On the premise of improving the level of national education, improving education on climate change in school education and raising awareness of climate change risk among dependents will help to improve the level of Chinese residents’ awareness of climate change, which could be instrumental in promoting public participation in climate change mitigation and adaptation actions.

Intermediaries’ perspectives on the public’s role in the energy transitions needed to deliver UK climate change policy goals

There is now a large body of research into public understanding of climate change and energy challenges. There is however little empirical examination of how actors from politics, government, civil society and non-governmental organisations regard the role of public engagement in climate and energy policy. Research is lacking as to their views on the desirability of active citizen participation or indeed whether they draw on the findings from social science research in forming strategies and policy. This paper presents an analysis of interviews with policy experts and deliberative seminars held with non-governmental stakeholders acting in an intermediary capacity between climate policy and the public. A comparison of four policy scenarios was used to explore intermediaries’ beliefs about the role of the public in delivering the UK’s Climate Change Act targets. The results reveal a general antipathy to policies that seek to ‘engage’ the public and a lack of knowledge amongst seminar participants about how insights from the social sciences can be used to build and sustain public engagement. This research exposes the need to assess the means by which public engagement can better be understood, integrated and most effectively utilised for sustainable progression towards climate targets.

United States news media and climate change in the era of US President Trump.

The Donald J Trump administration's strategy to disengage and downplay the Paris Climate Agreement will likely result in a slight decrease in the already low levels of US news media global warming coverage. This is because significant limitations with the news media's ability to adequately cover climate change predated the administration. First, studies indicate that advertising interests and editors have always challenged journalists' abilities to adequately report on climate change issues. Instead of climate change stories, editors often prefer more sensational topics that garner higher ratings and approval with advertisers. Second, the journalistic norm of balance and the role of sourcing give climate skeptics exceptional media exposure, which creates a "false balance" or equivalency between skeptics and scientists. Third, the massive power and influence of the fossil fuel industry's public relations arm has also had a tremendous impact on public (mis)understanding of climate change. Fourth, a trend toward declining climate change coverage and "climate silence" in US media is developing. Media corporations have substantially eliminated the number of environmental journalists that cover climate change. The overall effect of these limitations distorts public understanding of climate change and delays potential government action. Moving away from a predominantly commercial media system to one with a substantial noncommercial component can improve US journalism, whereas using advertising to increase rates for environmentally unsound products and services may also help mitigate global warming. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:202-204. © 2018 SETAC.

Decreasing the knowledge gap among different socioeconomic status groups on the issue of climate change

ABSTRACTClimate change is causing severe negative consequences to small low-lying islands. To mitigate and adapt to climate change, it is important to improve public knowledge on its causes and consequences. As a social issue that needs collective action to address, the knowledge gap among different segments of population would be a barrier to people’s behaviors toward mitigation and adaption to climate change. This study aims to investigate public knowledge acquisition of climate change by revisiting the knowledge gap hypothesis. A nationally representative random computer-assisted telephone interview survey (N = 1093) was conducted in Singapore. Quantitative analyses revealed that both newspaper reading and television viewing could reduce the knowledge gap between high and low socioeconomic status individuals. We recommend that governments and relevant authorities should utilize mass media to disseminate information and cultivate public understanding of climate change.