Computer-assisted classification of contrarian claims about climate change

Coan, Travis; Boussalis, Constantine; Cook, John; Nanko, Mirjam O.

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-01714-4

Cited by 55 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 42 publications

(69 reference statements)

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“…The COP26 minority discuss a broad range of climate-related topics. Cross-referencing these with a taxonomy of "climate contrarian" claims 37 shows that the COP26 minority promote and engage with all five of the leading contrarian claim types (Table 1).…”

Section: Topics Of Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our data point towards the role The left column lists the five leading claim types made by "climate contrarians" according to ref. 37 . For each claim, we list related topic numbers from the ideological minority (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Third, we emphasize the political dimension of COP, revealing broad international engagement from elected politicians and highlighting the political parties who oppose urgent climate action. Fourth, we investigate discussion topics during COP26 and highlight the overlap between minority rhetoric and established climate-contrarian views 37 . Notably, the issue of political hypocrisy is identified as a salient issue of cross-ideological appeal.…”

Section: Ideological Polarization During Copmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Growing polarization around climate change on social media

et al. 2022

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Climate change and political polarization are two of the twenty-first century’s critical socio-political issues. Here we investigate their intersection by studying the discussion around the United Nations Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP) using Twitter data from 2014 to 2021. First, we reveal a large increase in ideological polarization during COP26, following low polarization between COP20 and COP25. Second, we show that this increase is driven by growing right-wing activity, a fourfold increase since COP21 relative to pro-climate groups. Finally, we identify a broad range of ‘climate contrarian’ views during COP26, emphasizing the theme of political hypocrisy as a topic of cross-ideological appeal; contrarian views and accusations of hypocrisy have become key themes in the Twitter climate discussion since 2019. With future climate action reliant on negotiations at COP27 and beyond, our results highlight the importance of monitoring polarization and its impacts in the public climate discourse.

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Section: Topics Of Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ideological Polarization During Copmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Growing polarization around climate change on social media

et al. 2022

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“…At any given level of climate change knowledge, citizens with lower confidence in their knowledge were more likely to spread information about the alleged uncertainty of climate science. This finding is particularly telling in light of decades of organized climate contrarianism--of which the claim that "Science in unreliable" is among the most frequently encountered (Coan et al, 2021): Narratives that intend to damage the credibility of climate science may gain particular traction among those with low metacognitive confidence in their knowledge.…”

Section: Does the Predictivity Of Metacognition Vary Along The Spectr...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Metacognitive and cultural cognition accounts jointly explain believing, and spreading of contested information

Fischer¹,

Herzog²,

Rebitschek³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Although science-related misconceptions such as climate denial are often held with high confidence, research explaining the origin of erroneous beliefs has historically remained largely detached from research into metacognition—the insight and confidence we have in these beliefs. Instead, traditional explanations were based on political and econom5ic worldviews. Here, we provide a joint investigation into the explanatory value of ideology-driven cultural cognition, and more reflective, metacognitive accounts for belief-updating and information sharing about contested science. We presented a national sample of citizens in Germany with noisy information about climate change, most of it aligned with scientific consensus, but some contradicting consensus. Frequentist and Bayesian results demonstrate that, skeptical belief-updating was more pronounced among citizens with lower metacognitive insight; and sharing claims about the uncertainty of climate science was increased among citizens with lower metacognitive confidence in climate change knowledge--even when controlling for their worldviews. Furthermore, the predictivity of metacognitive variables was systematically reduced among climate skeptic citizens, revealing a striking interaction between worldviews and the reliance on more reflective, metacognitive cues for belief-updating. Together these findings suggest that both worldview-related, and more reflective, metacognitive accounts—and their interactions—explain beliefs about contested issues; advancing more realistic theories of the “ideology” vs. “rationality” of science beliefs.

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“…The Yale Global Warming's Six Americas report (2021) defines six U.S. groups ranging from belief to disbelief, with categories like "dismissive" and "doubtful" falling within a denialist spectrum. Coan, Boussalis, Cook, and Nanko (2021) classify denialism in groupings such as "it's not real," our focus in this paper, and "it's not bad" or "the experts are unreliable. "…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change Denial & Skepticism: A Review of the Literature

Weddig¹

2022

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Political actors and individuals who deny the reality of human-caused climate change are a minority with an outsized ability to shape domestic climate science, policy, and communications. This literature review traces the development of climate change denial from its beginnings in conservative organizations and the energy industry in the mid-20th century, and shows how the initial denialists' work has been refined by contemporary actors to spread climate dis-and misinformation online. The essay examines the scholarly literature on the alignment of climate change denial with identity, showing how climate change denial has become woven into certain cultural, political, racial, and religious identities. It further traces the tactics for spreading climate change denial, like social media targeting and conspiracy theories designed to cast doubt on scientific findings. Finally, the essay explores scholars' work examining ways to disrupt climate change denial, build support for scientific institutions, and bolster acceptance of knowledge about climate change.

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Computer-assisted classification of contrarian claims about climate change

Cited by 55 publications

References 42 publications

Growing polarization around climate change on social media

Growing polarization around climate change on social media

Metacognitive and cultural cognition accounts jointly explain believing, and spreading of contested information

Climate Change Denial & Skepticism: A Review of the Literature

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