Issue: Adaptation/Resilience

People in frontline and non-frontline communities in the U.S. are equally worried about global warming (both groups 65%). However, people in frontline communities are slightly more worried about impacts such as extreme heat and power outages.People in frontline communities are less likely to hear about global warming from friends and family or to know about the scientific consensus that global warming is happening. Geographic analysis shows that frontline communities that are most worried about global warming tend to be in the Southwest and Texas, while those that are least worried tend to be in the Appalachians and Ozarks. A new interactive StoryMap explores these differences in more detail.

Extreme weather events like winter storm Fern offer a short window of opportunity when people are seeking information related to climate change. But while most Americans believe we are experiencing more extreme weather, many still don’t see it as driven by climate change. Climate communicators need to help people connect the dots.

Explore how communities can take care of each other’s needs equitably during a changing climate future.

The WaterHub and the Climate Advocacy Lab collaborated on research to investigate audience perceptions of government investment in and responsibility for disaster resilience. Though support was widespread for a government role in disaster resilience, those with the strongest support for a government role were more liberal, and held more progressive values, such as environmentalism and compassion, and believe in government involvement and community-based solutions. A test of four natural defense message frames (Collectivist, Equity, Individual Benefit, Cost Savings) found that they all increased support generally, especially among conservatives. In terms of likelihood to take action, the Collectivist and Equity frames were only effective among non-conservatives, whereas the Individual Benefit and Cost Savings frames were only effective among conservatives.

From the latest on perennial topics such as engaging rural audiences, to new frontier insights on building support for climate superfunds or for battery storage, join the Climate Advocacy Lab and our research partners on the ground across the country for an hour packed with presentations on our latest research. Presentations include projects in collaboration with the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (message test among Six Americas audience segments, especially among Asian & Latino populations), Evangelical Environmental Network (testing testimonial videos), Water Hub (disaster resilience opinions), Vermont Public Interest Research Group (Climate Superfund Act attitudes), Alliance for Climate Transition (maintaining support for battery energy storage systems), and Resource Rural (persuasive message framing and rural narrative analysis).

Join us for our final Clean Energy Deep Dive of the year, featuring Clean Virginia, a group on the frontlines of the clean energy fight.