The influence of temperature on #ClimateChange and #GlobalWarming discourses on Twitter

Abstract

Research suggests non-experts associate different content with the terms “global warming” and “climate change.” We test this claim with Twitter content using supervised learning software to categorize tweets by topic and explore differences between content using “global warming” and “climate change” between 1 January 2012 and 31 March 2014. Twitter data were combined with temperature records to observe the extent to which temperature was associated with Twitter discussions. We then used two case studies to examine the relationship between extreme temperature events and Twitter content. Our findings underscore the importance of considering climate change communication on social media.

The social media life of climate change: Platforms, publics, and future imaginaries

“…For example, cold snaps may be described by some as being inconsistent with “global warming.” However, if it is generally accurate that climate activists are more active communicators than skeptics then we may expect such commentary to be a relatively minor part of the overall corpus of climate change tweets around temperature anomalies. Differences have also been found in the content of tweets related with “climate change” and “global warming”; the former being associated with environmental and political content, the latter being linked to weather (including heatwaves) and energy (Yeo et al, ). While there is considerable scope for more detailed research in this area, the notion of Twitter as a series of “remote sensors” is intriguing when set alongside attempts to develop the science of attributing extreme weather events to anthropogenic climate change.…”

Digging deeper? Muddling through? How environmental activists make sense and use of science — an exploratory study

“…In addition to work in areas such as experimental research [Yeo et al, 2017], questions about the reception of scientific information, the processes of its individual appropriation, and its strategic use have also been asked in the course of sense-making research, albeit sparsely and with a focus on lay people. For instance, Ryghaug, Sørensen and Naess [2011] explored how Norwegian lay people understand global warming.…”

Considering what works: experiments in science communication

“…Climate change is associated with political and environmental discourses while global warming is used more often in the context of weather and energy. Comparing US regional weather events, Yeo et al [2017] also found that use of the term 'global warming' was associated with extreme weather events and seasonality. This supports previous research that suggests in the US, at least, the term global warming is more associated with extreme weather events, while the term 'climate change' is perceived to be a more political construct.…”

“…While the rationales and purposes of science communication are many and varied, papers in this issue of JCOM consider how different presentations of astronomical images influence understanding, engagement and aesthetic appreciation amongst non-specialists [Smith et al, 2017]. Three papers consider facets of science communication in the polarised discourse on climate change in the US [see for example, Dunlap and McCright, 2015], Yeo et al [2017] explore the impact of temperature on social media discussion of climate change and global warming, while Kahan [2017] and van der Linden, Leiserowitz and Maibach [2017] debate the value of consensus messaging, where communication focuses on highlighting the majority agreement of scientists on a topic that is perceived as controversial (e.g. 97% of scientists agree that climate change is caused by humans).…”

“…Public use of the terms climate change and global warming are explored by Yeo et al [2017] who find the terms are used in different contexts on Twitter. Climate change is associated with political and environmental discourses while global warming is used more often in the context of weather and energy.…”