Hurricane Helene, one of the deadliest hurricanes in US history, did not affect people's views on climate change or their intentions to vote for politicians advocating stricter climate policies. This is shown in a new study from the University of Gothenburg.
In late September 2024, Tropical Storm Helene swept across the south-eastern United States. When the storm subsided a few days later, the destruction was extensive and more than 250 people had lost their lives. The event occurred just five weeks before the US presidential election, prompting researchers to ask whether this type of extreme weather can influence public attitudes towards climate change and support for environmental policy.
To be able to assess cause and effect, the researchers conducted a two-wave study. The first wave took place one month before the hurricane, when 1,155 Americans responded to a survey. The second wave was conducted immediately after the hurricane, when the same participants answered the same questions again. The survey asked about voting intentions in the upcoming election, views on climate change, and concerns about extreme weather. Some participants lived in areas affected by the hurricane, while others lived in regions that were not affected.
"The results show that the hurricane did not change people's views on climate change. Concerns about extreme weather were also unaffected, and there was no increase in the number of people planning to vote for politicians in favor of stricter climate policies. The findings relate to group-level effects of this specific hurricane and do not necessarily apply to individuals or other extreme weather events," says Magnus Bergquist, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Gothenburg.
Previous studies that have found links between extreme weather and climate attitudes are often based on data collected at a single point in time, which makes it difficult to draw conclusions about cause and effect.
"By measuring attitudes both before and after Hurricane Helene, our study provides strong evidence of unchanged concern about climate change and stable support for climate policy, even among people exposed to an extremely severe hurricane," says Magnus Bergquist.
The researchers also analyzed the role of political affiliation. In line with previous research, political preference proved to be a much stronger predictor of voting intentions than exposure to a powerful hurricane. Democrats showed greater support for politicians advocating climate policy reforms than Republicans. Differences between supporters of the respective parties were substantially larger than differences between affected and non-affected regions, or between measurements taken before and after the hurricane.
"This may point to the importance of how extreme weather events are portrayed in the media. Media coverage following Hurricane Helene largely focused on the responsibility of politicians and institutions in managing the crisis, rather than on links to climate change. This may have influenced how people interpreted the event and could help explain why neither climate-related attitudes nor voting intentions were affected," says Sofiia Skipor, PhD student in Psychology.
Study:
- Attitudes unchanged: no support for increased climate change beliefs, concerns, or voting intentions after Hurricane Helene, published in Environmental research communications
- Funding: Swedish Research Council Formas (project number 2022-01871)
Text: Katarina Englund and Ulrika Lundin
