Heated Discussion: Strategies for Communicating Climate Change in a Polarized Era

Abstract

The 2018 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that Earth's temperatures may soon reach a tipping point that threatens humanity's future. Scientists from many disciplines agree that anthropogenic climate change is a serious problem yet many Americans remain skeptical of the existence, causes, and/or severity of climate change. In this article, we review recent research on climate change communication focusing on audience variables and messaging strategies with the goal of providing communication practitioners research-based recommendations for climate change message design. Factors that influence audience acceptance and understanding of climate science include: demographic variables (such as political party affiliation, religious orientation, and geographic location), as well as brief sections on misinformation, and beliefs in pseudoscience. Keys to effectively construct climate messaging are discussed including: framing strategies; reducing psychological distance; emotional appeals; efficacy cues; weight-of-evidence/ weight of expert reporting; inoculation/correcting misinformation; and separating science from conspiracy theories. Evidence-based strategies are critical in giving science communicators the tools they need to bridge the gap between the scientific community and the at-risk public.

Communicating the scientific consensus on climate change: A preregistered test of the gateway belief model with a one-week time delay

“…Early understandings on how to close the gap between scientific consensus and public opinion relied on a deficit model of knowledge, assuming more information would result in more public support by closing the gap between scientists and public attitudes (Pasek, 2018). Changing people's minds has not been so straightforward as this assumption suggests, however, and a variety of factors have been found to influence how people filter and comprehend scientific information, including demographic variables (Merzdorf et al, 2019). Beliefs about science can be seen as a dynamic interplay of beliefs and group identity, involving more than simply providing accurate information (Pasek, 2018).…”

“…Additionally, studies have found that scientific consensus messaging can cut through polarizing views and have positive effects on all political persuasions, with consensus messaging showing effectiveness around the topics of climate change and vaccine safety (van der Linden et al, 2017;van der Linden et al, 2018). Communicating consensus even with groups who are highly sceptical can have a positive effect, with conservative audiences responding more positively to consensus messaging than liberal groups (Merzdorf et al, 2019). Further, van der Linden (2021 suggests that rather than motivated reasoning, it may be exposure to disinformation that can cancel out the effects of scientific consensus messaging.…”

Motivated Localism: Polarization and Public Support for Intergovernmental Carbon Reduction Efforts

“…One method proffered to mitigate the effects of motivated reasoning on climate beliefs is framing. Framing involves emphasizing particular aspects of an issue or topic in communication so as to make them more salient (Merzdorf, Pfeiffer and Forbes 2019). In practice, framing- whether by the media, political elites, or researchers - often involves de-emphasizing or omitting some potentially salient considerations in order to emphasize others and thereby influence beliefs, attitudes and behavior (Chong and Druckman 2007; Wiest, Raymond and Clawson 2015).…”

“…Empowering local governments to take broader climate and sustainability actions is one potential avenue for addressing such polarization. Scholars have suggested that issue frames which communicate the perceived efficacy of climate action and local benefits may be able to partially mitigate partisan motivated reasoning (Bayes, Bolsen and Druckman 2020; Bolsen and Shapiro 2018; Merzdorf, Pfeiffer and Forbes 2019). Aligning intergenerational concerns and jurisdictionally targeted policies offers the promise of matching the scale of problems with governmental boundaries via tangible actions addressing housing, infrastructure, transit and energy-efficiency.…”

Information Source Use and Social Media Engagement: Examining their Effects on Origin of COVID-19 Beliefs

“…Additionally, social media platforms are increasingly a source of community-building among users, developing online communities through the communication of shared interests (Dobbins et al, 2021;Pan et al, 2017). People associate the trustworthiness of communication messages with their lived experiences and values, often negotiated through various affiliations in their own communities (Gikerson et al, 2016;Merzdorf et al, 2019). Competing messages from both social media exposure and dissonance between the scientific community and one's personal offline community may contribute additionally to feelings of loss of control (Malecki et al, 2021).…”