Work

Attitudes unchanged: no support for increased climate change beliefs, concerns, or voting intentions after Hurricane Helene

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: In late September 2024, Hurricane Helene struck the southeastern USA. Occurring only five weeks before the presidential election, did this extreme weather event change US-Americans’ beliefs, concerns, and voting intentions? In a natural quasi-experiment, we examined these potential consequences of Helene. 1155 participants, from affected and non-affected regions, were surveyed one month before and directly after the hurricane. Results revealed negligible changes in climate change beliefs, concerns, and voting intentions. Bayesian analyses found strong support for stability in attitudes. Specifically, it was approximately 13 times more likely that Helene did not increase climate change concerns and about 14 times more likely that it did not strengthen voting intentions for climate policies in affected regions. These results provide a case study showing that attitudes remained unchanged after a severe extreme weather event.

Source: Environmental Research Communications

DOI: 10.1088/2515-7620/ae2f91

Authors: Magnus Bergquist, Sofiia Skipor

Institution: University of Gothenburg

Language: English

Topic: Climate Change Communication and Perception

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Climate action

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,050