February 14, 2024
3 min read
Echo chambers of climate denial on social media are strongest in the U.S. Midwest and South and in states that depend heavily on fossil fuels
A cracked lake bed at Nicasio Reservoir during a drought in Nicasio, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021.
CLIMATEWIRE | Nearly 15 percent of Americans still deny that climate change is happening, according to a new study that used artificial intelligence to gather data from social media.
That conclusion is similar to findings from other recent surveys. But by using a deep learning model — based on the technology used in ChatGPT — researchers were able to gather data from X, formerly known as Twitter, and analyze how climate science denial correlates with other factors.
The findings — published Wednesday in the journal Scientific Reports — show that people with similar climate views tend to group together on social media, forming echo chambers that reinforce their own views. That makes it harder for scientists to combat misinformation online, the authors suggest.
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“What is scary, and somewhat disheartening, is how divided the worlds are between climate change belief and denial,” said senior study author Joshua Newell, a professor of environment and sustainability at the University of Michigan, in a statement. “The respective X echo chambers have little communication and interaction between them.”
The findings also demonstrate that some social media personas have an outsized influence within their own silos. Former President Donald Trump had the biggest reach among X accounts denying the science of climate change.
The study collected information from X posts published by U.S. users between…
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