Experience, Salience, and Climate Change Beliefs: Evidence from Natural Disasters

20.11.2023 14:15 – 15:30

INSTITUTE OF ECONOMICS AND ECONOMETRICS SEMINAR

Joint with Milena Djourelova, Ruben Durante, Elliot Motte, and Eleonora Patacchini

Abstract:

How does the experience of natural disasters affect attitudes towards climate change? We study this question in the context of the US, combining data on the location and timing of FEMA-declared disasters to large-scale electoral survey data. We find that experiencing disasters increases the gap between individuals with different political leanings: while liberals and moderates become more concerned about climate change and the environment, conservative become less concerned. Our findings are consistent with natural disasters making the debate around climate change - and partisan cleavages on this issue - more salient further polarizing initial beliefs. Exploring the role of partisan media as a source of baseline differences in beliefs we document that liberal and conservative media promote very different narratives of the link between natural disasters and climate change, and that exposure to partisan news causally affects climate change attitudes in the long run.

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