Experience with Disasters, Media Use, and Climate Change Fears: Who You Gonna Believe, Media or Your Lyin’ Eyes?

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Ann Gordon  

Disasters are increasing in frequency and severity due to climate change. To what extent does the public see a connection between these disasters and climate change? Relying on the Chapman Survey of American Fears, a representative national survey, I find that personally experiencing natural disasters and extreme weather is correlated with climate change fears, such as the belief that climate change is causing more frequent and severe disasters. However, personal experience is filtered through media usage habits, ideology, and partisanship. Fox News viewers, even those who have experienced natural disasters or extreme weather in the past year, are less likely to be concerned with climate change or its effects. Viewers of MSNBC, CNN, and those who read a daily national newspaper are more likely to fear climate change and climate-fueled disasters, even when controlling for party identification and experience with disasters or extreme weather. Further, because of their climate change beliefs, they are more concerned with disaster preparedness. The need for preparedness and mitigation has become more urgent, with the United States experiencing a growing number of deadly, billion-dollar disasters from the changing climate. In 2023 alone, there were 28 such disasters, with 492 fatalities. Despite this trend, public opinion is less dependent upon lived experience than media consumption and political beliefs.