Hurricane Impacts Increase Climate Change Conversations on Twitter by Up to 200%

Examining the impact of extreme weather events on public perceptions of climate change, Torricelli and her team delved into the attitudes shaped by hurricanes. Their investigation involved the analysis of 65 million Twitter posts (Predating the platform’s rebranding to “X”) associated with 18 major North Atlantic hurricanes spanning the period from 2010 to 2020. Additionally, the researchers scrutinized 240 thousand news articles referenced in these tweets, which discussed climate change. To gauge reliability, they employed the media reliability assessment tool NewsGuard, categorizing the articles as either reliable or unreliable.

The study revealed a notable uptick in online conversations about climate change in the aftermath of hurricanes. Geolocated climate change-related tweets in states affected by the hurricanes saw an increase ranging from 80% to 200% compared to baseline levels, particularly following the most impactful hurricanes. Notably, these heightened discussion rates were region-specific and typically reverted to baseline levels within a span of approximately two months.

In their comparative examination of news media outlets, the researchers observed a correlation between sources deemed unreliable by NewsGuard and their usage of the term “global warming.” Additionally, these sources were found to more frequently reference conspiracy theories associated with hurricanes, such as the unfounded notion of the “US government’s manipulation of weather through a radio transmitter.”

While users on Twitter/X may not entirely mirror the broader population, the platform continues to serve as a valuable tool for examining public perceptions.

The study’s results imply that the increased public concern about climate change in the aftermath of local extreme weather events might be temporary. Co-author Professor Andrea Baronchelli highlights that their research provides insight into the impact of extreme weather on public awareness of climate change. Notably, the heightened awareness observed in the weeks following a hurricane presents a valuable opportunity for policymakers to effectively engage with the public on climate-related issues.

Resources

1. ^NEWSPAPER Public Library of Science. (2023, November 14). Twitter users in states affected by hurricanes discuss climate change up to 200% more frequently in the following weeks. Phys.org. [Phys.org]
2. ^JOURNAL Torricelli, M., Falkenberg, M., Galeazzi, A., Zollo, F., Quattrociocchi, W., & Baronchelli, A. (2023, November). How does extreme weather impact the climate change discourse? Insights from the Twitter discussion on hurricanes. PLOS Climate, 2(11), 1-13. [PLOS Climate]