What to Know About High Levels of Climate Change Denial in the U.S.
A recent study conducted by the University of Michigan has unveiled that nearly 15% of Americans hold the belief that climate change is not real. This research sheds light on the highly polarized attitude toward global warming, with denialism being most prevalent in the central and southern United States. The study, utilizing artificial intelligence, analyzed over 7.4 million tweets posted between 2017 and 2019, uncovering a substantial portion that denied the reality of climate change.
The findings indicate a correlation between climate change denial and political affiliations, with Republican voters identified as less likely to believe in climate science. Geocoded social media posts revealed that over half of the tweets analyzed denied the existence of climate change or dismissed it as a hoax.
Professor Joshua Newell, co-author of the study, expressed disappointment in the results, emphasizing the importance of a collective understanding of climate change and its significance.
“Over half of the tweets we looked at simply denied that climate change was real, that it was a hoax,” he said in remarks to The Guardian. “It wasn’t surprising but it was disappointing, I would hope that more and more Americans would believe in climate change and the importance of addressing it.”
One influential figure among climate change deniers emerged from the study—former President Donald Trump. His tweets during events such as the cold snap in Texas in December 2017 and his rejection of the 2018 IPCC report garnered significant engagement from climate change deniers.
The geographical distribution of climate change belief aligns with political affiliations, with acceptance and belief in global warming more prevalent along the west and east coasts, where Democratic voters are prominent. However, clusters of denialism exist within blue states, as seen in Shasta County, California, where disbelief in climate change is as high as 52%. Overall, the study suggests a small but vocal minority that denies the overwhelming evidence of human-caused warming.
The study underscores the role of social media platforms in combating misinformation and calls for fact-checking to address what researchers term "knowledge vulnerability." Professor Newell advocates for social media companies to take proactive measures, similar to the actions taken against misinformation surrounding climate change, to ensure accurate information dissemination.
