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This report extends and updates an ongoing program of research analyzing Americans’
interpretations of and responses to climate change. The research segments the American public
into six audiences that range along a spectrum of concern and issue engagement from the
Alarmed, who are convinced of the reality and danger of climate change, and who are...
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Citations
... There are five main expectations made of governments: they must reach the 1.5-degree Celsius target, support sustainable agriculture, address the effects of climate change, and ensure that all parties participate equally in climate action (Schramek et al, 2001). B According to research, Americans' views on climate change are varied and constantly evolving (Leiserowitz 2006;Leiserowitz et al, 2010;Leiserowitz et al., 2011;Saad, 2013;Cann, 2020). ...
The impact of neoliberal economic principles on environmental sustainability is investigated in this study, which critically investigates the complex relationship between neoliberalism and climate change. Neoliberalism has dominated the development of international economic policies. It is typified by its commitment to free markets, minimal government involvement, and the promotion of economic growth. Concurrently, due to human activity, the globe is experiencing a severe ecological crisis in the form of climate change. This study examines the relationship between neoliberalism and climate change, evaluating the efficacy of market-based remedies, the effects of deregulation, and the possibility of a worsening of socioeconomic inequalities. The study intends to provide light on the complexity and conflicts involved in reconciling the principles of neoliberalism with the goal of reducing climate change consequences and supporting long-term environmental sustainability through a thorough assessment of the literature and case studies.
... Prior research shows strong political divisions in public attitudes towards climate change and its related risks in the United States [5]. Multiple studies nd that, compared to liberals and Democrats, conservatives consistently express more skepticism about the reality and risks of climate change [e.g. ...
... We use ve linear dependent variables to measure attitudes about climate change including 1) certainty about global climate change, 2) perceptions of global warming risk, 3) personal importance of global warming, 4) worry about global warming, and 5) perceptions about future impacts of global warming. These variables are adapted from the Yale Climate Opinion survey [5]. ...
Climate change poses one of the most significant threats facing humanity, yet engagement in climate issues among American conservatives remains low. This study demonstrates the critical role moral foundations play in climate attitudes among conservatives. Analyzing survey data (n = 2188), we find that conservatives who score higher in compassion show greater belief in human-caused climate change, suggesting that appealing to shared humanity can persuade conservatives to accept the scientific consensus. However, ingroup loyalty is more pivotal for driving personal climate concern among conservatives. The more ingroup-focused, the less conservatives believe in climate change risk or worry about its impacts. These results highlight the nuanced interactions between morality and political orientation on climate views. The implications underscore the need to target specific moral foundations in climate messaging and policy to build conservative engagement. Appealing to compassion opens minds to climate concerns, but emphasizing impacts to local community rather than global effects is likely more effective for inspiring conservative action on climate change.
... Researchers who participated in the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC) conducted a public opinion survey in the United States in 2008 and found that "knowing the recipients" is a key first step in providing effective information. Using 36 items from public opinion survey data on climate changerelated beliefs, attitudes, risk perceptions, involvement in the issue, and political preferences and actions, they classified Americans into the following six segments (the "Six Americas") (Leiserowitz et al., 2009): the "alarmed, " who are the most concerned about global warming and willing to change their behavior and actively support policies; the "concerned, " who recognize global warming is a serious problem but have not taken action; the "cautious, " who are aware of the problem but do not feel the need to act; the "disengaged, " who have little interest in or concern about the issue; the "doubtful, " who believe that global warming is caused by natural changes in the environment; the "dismissive, " who believe that global warming is not a threat of anthropogenic origin and should not be addressed by the national government. This project identifies not only attitudes toward climate change but also details personal attributes, such as age, gender, values, political party support, and sources of information respondents come into contact with (Leiserowitz et al., 2012(Leiserowitz et al., , 2015. ...
Introduction
The study seeks to examine Japanese people's perceptions and attitudes toward climate change by segmenting and characterizing respondents using online survey data from 2017 and 2020.
Methods
The survey administered in 2017 had 2,997 respondents and the survey in 2020, 1,100 respondents. Five segments were identified based on aspects of people's understanding of global warming, their attitudes toward taking countermeasures, and analyses of the characteristics and changes in the segment composition.
Results
The groups identified were the “Alarmed,” who have a strong sense of urgency and undertake proactive measures; the “Indifferent,” who have limited interest and no clear opinion; the “Affirmative,” who tend to agree with all questions regardless of their content; and the “Skeptic,” who tend to suspect global warming. Provide negative responses to contradictory questions. The 2017 survey also yielded a segment called “Dismissive 2017,” and in the 2020 survey, a new segment called “Cautious 2020” was identified. People with unclear perceptions about climate change accounted for about 50% of respondents in both surveys.
Conclusion
The findings suggest that in communicating with the public regarding the implementation of countermeasures, it is necessary to consider the differences in awareness, knowledge, and perception of the effects of global warming among various segments of the population.
... This experiment cannot escape the context of US subgroups who struggle to understand and access diagnostic information. From public health guidelines (e.g., slowing COVID-19's spread with masks) and US election-results denial to climate change mitigation and adaptation, people vary in how much they trust experts (Evans & Hargittai, 2020;Leiserowitz et al., 2011). Given the proliferation of misinformation in mass media and its effect in undermining trust in domain experts, it is crucial to make accurate, relevant, and non-polarizing information (such as those used in our texts) widely available--and repeated through multiple sources--to bolster trust and improve public science understanding. ...
... ΕΙΣΑΓΩΓΗ Η Κλιματική Αλλαγή (ΚΑ) αποτελεί ένα από τα κρισιμότερα προβλήματα που καλείται να αντιμετωπίσει ο άνθρωπος λόγω των επιπτώσεων που επιφέρει σε περιβαλλοντικό, πολιτικό, οικονομικό και κοινωνικό επίπεδο. Παράλληλα, ενώ η επιστημονική κοινότητα έχει καταλήξει σε ομοφωνία αναφορικά με τις επιστημονικές διαστάσεις της ΚΑ και το ρόλο των ανθρωπογενών δραστηριοτήτων στην όξυνση του φαινομένου (Mukherji et al., 2023), ποικίλες αμφιλεγόμενες αλλά και ταυτόχρονα πειστικές πληροφορίες αναφορικά τόσο με τα αίτια όσο και την έκταση της ΚΑ εξακολουθούν να διαδίδονται ευρέως είτε μέσω των μέσων μαζικής ενημέρωσης είτε μέσω των κοινωνικών δικτύων (Leiserowitz et al. 2011). Το γεγονός αυτό φαίνεται να περιορίζει την ικανότητα των πολιτών για λήψη τεκμηριωμένων αποφάσεων για ζητήματα του κλίματος καθώς και την ανάληψη ατομικών και συλλογικών δράσεων για τη διαμόρφωση μιας πιο βιώσιμης κοινωνίας (Whitmarsh et al., 2013). ...
Η παρούσα εργασία εξετάζει τις υφιστάμενες πρακτικές που ακολουθούν STEM ερευνητές/-τριες αναφορικά με την επικοινωνία της κλιματικής αλλαγής στο ευρύ κοινό καθώς και το πώς αυτές οι πρακτικές διαμορφώνονται έπειτα από ένα πρόγραμμα επιμόρφωσης των ερευνητών/-τριων σε στρατηγικές εμπλοκής του ευρέος κοινού σε δράσεις για το κλίμα. Στην έρευνα συμμετέχουν 8 STEM ερευνητές/-τριες, 2 ερευνητές της διδακτικής των φυσικών επιστημών και 4 υπεύθυνοι/-ες εκπαιδευτικών προγραμμάτων ενός κέντρου επιστήμης. Τα μέχρι τώρα αποτελέσματα αναδεικνύουν την υλοποίηση σχολικών επισκέψεων στα ερευνητικά κέντρα και τη διεξαγωγή ομιλιών για διάχυση των ερευνητικών αποτελεσμάτων στο ευρύ κοινό ως τις κυρίαρχες πρακτικές που υιοθετούν οι ερευνητές/-τριες.
... 268) 59 . Segmentation has been undertaken for many years to assist in grouping like-minded, interpretive communities relating to climate change (see 60 for a longitudinal example) and health (see 61 for example). Targeting messages to such segments is a valuable tool for improving the effectiveness of communication campaigns 58,59 . ...
Denialism and the spreading of misinformation have occurred regarding both climate change and COVID-19, delaying uptake of urgent actions. Audience segmentation analysis identifies audience subgroups likely to have similar responses to messaging, and is a valuable tool for effective campaigns encouraging critical behaviors in both contexts. This study compared audience segmentations based on a representative sample of 1054 Australians. One segmentation was based on the ‘Global Warming’s Six Americas’ online SASSY tool. The second segmentation applied the Theory of Planned Behavior and found five distinct COVID-19 vaccine segments. Both studies showed those most concerned and those most skeptical in the climate change segmentation tended to be in more enthusiastic COVID-19 vaccine segments, while those in the center on climate change were more skeptical on COVID-19 vaccines. Differences identified relating to age, gender, and political views may be explained by a combination of the specific nature and histories of these issues. These findings have implications for effective communication on science and health issues across diverse disciplines.
... Few people thought that climate change is linked to public health issues such as water, food, and insect-borne illnesses and food supply shortages. (Leiserowitz, 2010). Another important concern in climate change communications is the constraints that hinder individuals from making effective climate change mitigation action, even if they believe the problem is serious. ...
... Acknowledge and Value Local Accomplishments: Much has been accomplished locally in terms of improving the quality of life and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. By looking at local examples of climate-smart construction and transportation systems that are presently having a significant impact, citizens can picture how planned enhancements and initiatives will benefit them in the future (Leiserowitz et al, 2010) Make Actions Attainable: It is also helpful to break down big issues into manageable chunks; provide people with information about climate change along with clear instructions on specific actions they can take, so they feel empowered to act rather than getting stressed by the severity of the issue. (Miller et al, 2012) ...
... Geographical Distance Perception: The most popular images of climate change in the media are melting glaciers and polar ice caps, leading most viewers to assume that the impacts of global warming can only be observed in faraway areas. Time Constraint to Take Action: It will take years for humans that contribute to global warming (transportation, emissions, coal power generation, and so on) to change on a large scale to alter carbon levels in the atmosphere and reduce climate change (Leiserowitz et al, 2010). Lack of Common Concern: People acting rationally in their own self-interest will degrade a shared limited resource because it is in no one's individual best interest to conserve it, despite the fact that all will suffer if the resource is depleted (as outlined by Garrett Hardin in 1968) (Pike and Herr, 2009) ...
Plant life and reproduction are constantly threatened by biotic and abiotic pressures generated by pathogenic bacteria, fungi, viruses, and oomycetes, as well as environmental variables (Panstruga et al., 2009). The majority of plant pathogenic
microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, enter the apoplast and extract nutrients through a variety of enzymatic and physical methods. The plant's principal goal is to be healthy and productive by defending itself against pathogens via physical and chemical barriers such as the cell wall, waxes, hairs, antimicrobial enzymes, and secondary metabolites. Pathogens have the ability to break through these barriers and get access to their hosts. For successful defence, the plant must be able to identify microbial assault. When a pathogen is identified, the plant responds by inducing apoplastic defence to block microbial enzymes, reinforce cell walls, or poison the pathogen. The microbial phytopathogens must have some sort of interaction with the cell wall. Necrotrophic pathogens, which destroy cells and feed on dead tissues, macerate plant tissues by secreting a large number of hydrolytic enzymes that break down cell wall polymers (Laluk and Mengiste, 2010). Biotrophic and hemibiotrophic infections, on the other hand, must interact with their hosts by generating specialised structures, such as the haustorium produced by oomycete mildews, powdery mildew, and rust-causing fungus (Szabo and Bushnell, 2001). Due to invasion difficulties, the characteristics of the plant cell wall have altered, activating a defensive barrier for those bacteria that have evolved a way to overcome the produced barriers. Plants have evolved an innate immunity system known as pattern triggered immunity (PTI), which is based on a set of plasma membrane-anchored pattern-recognition receptors (PRRs) that detect a set of microbial molecules known as microbial/pathogen associated molecular patterns (MAMPs/PAMPs) and prevents pathogen development (Boller and He, 2009).
... A number of segmentation studies have described segment-specific attitudes toward climate change within the general public (Table 1). 1 When implementing segmentation, scholars are faced with a variety of methodological choices, which are invariably made depending on the particular segmentation goal. Some scholars closely follow the approach that Leiserowitz et al. (2009) used to identify (six) segments within the U.S. and adapt it to other countries (e.g. Morrison et al., 2013), while others developed their own segmentation approaches (e.g. ...
... 2.1. Audience segments and their evolution over time Leiserowitz et al. (2009) have been considered a pioneer study in climate change segmentation. Based on a 36-item instrument, 2 the authors identified six distinct segments within the U.S. public. ...
... 8) and that this causes variability in the use of statistical techniques. Previous segmentation analyses have used both distance-based methods (Leiserowitz et al., 2013;Wonneberger et al., 2019), partly performing factor analysis as a first step (Metag et al., 2017), and model-based methods (Hine et al., 2013;Leiserowitz et al., 2009;Morrison et al., 2013;Thaker, 2021). Such variance in applying cluster analysis, latent class analysis, or latent profile analysis questions the robustness of segment solutions according to the cross-study application of different clustering techniques (Füchslin, 2019). ...
Climate change is one of the primary challenges facing humanity and a topic of controversial public debates. Research on public attitudes toward climate change has a long tradition in social and communication science across different countries. In that field, segmentation analysis has become an important approach. However, the wide variety of methodological approaches and analytical strategies hamper cross-national comparisons. Against this background, we segmented the German population based on their attitudes toward climate change, using a methodological approach similarly employed in international studies as well, thus ensuring better comparability than prior studies. Based on a nationwide representative online survey (N = 999; fielded in 2021) and latent class analysis, we identified five segments: the Alarmed Actives, Convinced, Cautious, Disengaged, and Dismissive. International comparison yields interesting differences: Compared to the U.S. or Australia, e.g. no segment in Germany consists of climate change deniers; rather, the Dismissive group exhibits a German-specific, moderate form of skepticism.
... The result of the framework consists of seven behavioral clusters of environmental attitude and behavioral patterns (e.g., "Positive Greens", "Concerned Consumers", "Sideline Supporters", etc.) [65]. Similarly in the US, the Global Warming's Six Americas model identifies six clusters reflecting the whole spectrum of environmental concern and engagement (from alarmed to dismissive) [66]. Based on this segmentation model, other researchers applied similar methods on different populations, such as Australia [67,68] or Wales [69], resulting in similar segmentation patterns. ...
... A more practical aspect of the research reported in this study is the introduction of a segmentation model for behavioral patterns of employees. Whereas previous segmentation models have looked at sustainable behavior within wide populations, e.g., the population of the UK [65], Wales [69], the US [66] or Australia [67,68], our model concerns a more narrow population of employees in the financial sector. The results reported here suggest a segmentation model of sustainable behavior patterns categorizing six different types of actual behavior (Table 18). ...
The financial sector is a key industry to invest in sustainable products and services, and to help other companies to make sustainable investments. So far, research sheds little light on environmental attitudes and the behavioral patterns of employees in this sector. We investigated what motivation and motivators promote or inhibit “green” behavior among professionals in the financial service industry. A smartphone friendly online survey concerning the intention to improve and show ‘green behavior’ was sent to 1200 professionals working in 17 locations in 13 European countries, 470 of which responded to the survey (39%). From these participants, 20% are convinced of the need to act in a “green” manner, and only 5% are hardly accessible. Monetary benefits combined with social motives contribute to sustainable living, whereas financial benefits alone actually hinder it. The result of this study points to an intention-behavior gap; intention is built from various influences including moderating factors like sex, age and family status influencing individual decisions. It is recommended that we should evaluate the green attitude and behavioral patterns of employees based on a practical typology of “green behavior”, which is suggested in this study, helping companies to know what actions can be taken to close the intention-behavior gap.
... One relevant dimension is the impact of climate change on public health which is intrinsically connected to people. Myers et al. (2012) found that a public health frame can reduce anger in 'dismissive communities' (see Leiserowitz et al. 2009) and lead to higher levels of hope. Additionally, emerging literature around ecological grief (see review from Ojala et al. 2021) has further highlighted the important role human emotion plays in communication (Stanley et al. 2021a(Stanley et al. , 2021bWang et al. 2018) and how some practitioners use this angle as their focus. ...
Climate change is a complex social-political issue in Australia with a history of dysfunctional conflict over climate policy. This presents challenges for the practitioners communicating about climate change to different publics. To date, academic research has focused on exploring how effective communication can be achieved but rarely has this been understood from a practitioner’s perspective. I present the findings of nineteen ( n = 19) semi-structured interviews with climate change communication (CCC) practitioners in Australia. The interviews explored occupational experiences as a means to understand the state of practice, challenges, and ways forward for CCC. I explore four key themes in this analysis: the practitioners, their goals, the barriers, and their perspectives on framing. Participants spoke of the complexity in doing CCC work, including many barriers, but their focus on effective communication and engagement remains strong in the face of challenging circumstances.
Graphical abstract
