Extreme weather conditions like hurricanes or typhoons, floods, heat waves, wildfires, droughts, and snowstorms have an impact on people all over the world. Extreme events have happened throughout Earth’s history, but climate change may be causing them to happen more frequently and with greater intensity. The physical and social infrastructure that communities and individuals rely on to keep safe and healthy before, during, and after a weather-related disaster is disrupted by extreme weather occurrences.
Extreme temperatures can even endanger people’s health and welfare. Previous studies have demonstrated the immediate negative effects of extreme weather on human health, including a body’s inability to control its internal temperature, which can result in several conditions like heat cramps, heatstroke, or hyperthermia. A growing body of research indicates that harsh weather also affects people’s mental health, specifically their mood and tendency to become more aggressive.
This link between harsh weather and a rise in hostile behavior, including online, was validated by a study conducted by researchers at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. The researchers found that hate speech increased across climate zones, income groups, and religious systems for temperatures that were either too hot or too cold after analyzing billions of tweets on the social media site Twitter in the USA. This finding highlights the limitations of adaptation to intense heat. It emphasizes a social aspect of climate change that has yet to be fully appreciated: conflict in the digital arena, which has repercussions for societal cohesion and mental health.
The ancient subject of how the climate affects human hostility is more important than ever in light of accelerating anthropogenic climate change.
Numerous channels of interaction between violence and climate change have been discovered in earlier studies. It considers the connection between rising levels of hostility and direct physical discomfort from high temperatures and the worsening socioeconomic conditions brought on by climate change.
The internet is used by more than 60% of the world’s population, but violence and aggressiveness can also spread online. Four out of ten Americans report directly encountering online harassment, and online hatred disproportionately impacts populations already more likely to be marginalized.
According to substantial research, the public good of equal dignity for all is undermined by online hate speech, aggression, and harassment, which emphasizes the need to identify potential causes of hate speech and create effective countermeasures. Given the connections between aggression, physical confrontation, and temperature, it stands to reason these factors may also influence that hate speech.
The researchers used a dataset of more than 4 billion tweets from the social media site Twitter between 2014 and 2020 with distinct geolocation at the US city level to statistically examine the relationship between temperature and hate speech.
The authors then looked at how the number of hate tweets changed as local temperatures rose or fell. The researchers used the UN’s official definition of hate speech as their guide, which is: “Cases of discriminatory language concerning an individual or a group based on that individual’s or that group’s religion, ethnic background, nationality, racial group, color, gender, or other identity factors.”
The smallest number of hate tweets is attained for temperatures between 15 and 18°C (59-65 °F), according to the researchers’ investigation, which revealed low levels of hate tweets in the USA within a “feel-good window” of 12-21°C (54-70 °F).
Increases in hate tweets are correlated with hotter and colder temperatures.
Depending on the typical temperatures, different climate zones have slightly different feel-good temperature windows. However, across all climate zones and socioeconomic distinctions like income, religious beliefs, or political inclinations, temperatures above 30°C, or 86 degrees Fahrenheit, are consistently connected to substantial increases in online hate.
The findings of this study show that hotter weather is linked to greater hate speech on the social networking site Twitter. The quasi-quadratic link between aggressive tendencies and uncomfortable heat and cold further supports the hypothesis that uncomfortably hot and cold temperatures increase aggressive tendencies.
The analysis of various climate zones reveals that while the temperature range with the lowest prevalence of hate speech in each climate zone changed slightly following local temperature conditions, the general relationship between temperature and hate speech was maintained across various climates.
This finding may suggest that the response is influenced by the temperature people are accustomed to. However, there may be a limited ability for temperature adaptation, as daily maximum temperatures of more than 30°C were regularly linked to large increases in hate speech.
In conclusion, as hate speech has been shown to have detrimental effects on the mental health of online hate victims, the consequences of more aggressive online behavior may be serious. Researchers have debated how climate conditions affect people’s behavior and social stability for centuries, and given the current state of climate change, it is now more crucial than ever.
The study’s findings point to online hate speech as a new route via which climate change may impact people’s mental health and community cohesiveness. Therefore, dramatically and quickly reducing emissions will have positive effects that extend beyond the environment. Our mental health depends on preventing excessive global warming from harming the environment.
Stechemesser, A., Levermann, A., & Wenz, L. (2022). Temperature impacts on hate speech online: Evidence from 4 billion geolocated tweets from the USA. The Lancet Planetary Health, 6(9). https://doi.org/10.1016/s2542-5196(22)00173-5
