Climate change makes us much more aggressive, even on social media

When it’s hotter than normal, online hate speech increases. Especially on Twitter, and in general on social media. It is no coincidence because when it is warmer, acts of urban violence and even wars and conflicts grow. So, since it is now difficult to challenge climate change, some researchers have analyzed a sample of 4 billion tweets between 2014 and 2020 of users residing in the United States to understand how the climate change about anger on the net. Based on the findings and through other research, the scientists of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research they found that the hate speech increase on social networks when temperatures exceed 30 degrees. And this is a universal reaction, as he told Bloomberg Annika Stechemesserlead author of the study published in The Lancet Planetary Health last September:

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A quarter more hate messages with abnormal heat

The analyzes of the researchers of the Potsdam Institute used artificial intelligence to isolate 75 million hate messages in English, using the definition of online hate provided by the United Nations, which includes racial discrimination, misogyny and homophobia. So they recorded thequantitative increase in tweets with the change of temperatures. In general, it is the heat that drives the increase in aggression: Researchers found that online hate speech increased when daily maximum temperatures exceeded 21 ° C. Compared to the average, hate messages increased by up to 22% on hot days: one fifth more than normal. But the recorded tensions on the network were even more intense when temperatures exceeded 30ºC. And in American states like Texas, Arizona or California, with hot, dry climates, when the thermometers reached 42ºC and 45ºC the hate speech grew by 24%: almost a quarter more than normal. It’s not just about the US: last year, a study by the same researchers dedicated to online hate messages analyzing aEuropean user came to similar conclusions. Even in China: the direct relationship between heat and hate on the net has been documented through the analysis of over 400 million messages (from a sample of 43 million users) published on Sina Weibo, the largest microblogging platform in the country. The results were that on days with temperatures above 35 ° C, atmospheric phenomena such as rain, gusts of wind, leaden skies and air pollution have increased the anger of online users.

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Aggressive online behavior it is often linked to episodes of offline violence, as another study by the Council on Foreign Relations explains. According to this research, angry posts have led to increased violence against minorities, including mass shootings, lynchings and ethnic cleansing. Not surprisingly: it is now proven by a lot of scientific research that the extraordinary heat makes people more aggressive even in real life, beyond the screens.

Climate change makes our anger grow even offline

In 2017, a study published in the Journal of Urban Health showed a correlation between rising temperatures and crime. For example, on days with temperatures higher than the seasonal average, a higher crime rate was noted 7%. The data showed that in the hot months there were still more crimes on average, but it was surprising how in the hot days of the colder months there was a percentage of 16% higher violent crimes and 23% higher for general unrest in urban areas. And above all, climate change increases international wars and conflicts. There are many studies but one of the most authoritative was conducted by the magazine Natureso much so that it was taken up and quoted by our Ministry of Defense in a paper called precisely Climate and conflictswhich explains at the beginning: “From 3% to 20% of the conflicts of the last century had climate-related factors among the triggering causes and the risk will increase due to global warming (…)

Returning to the analysis on the net, Stechemesser recalled that we are not forced into this state of mind: “Of course, people can consciously decide whether they want to be nice or not, but we’ve still found more hateful behavior if you’re in a certain temperature range.“. The solution? The most linear: to eliminate the alteration of the ordinary state:”The first thing to do is limit global warming: This is the most obvious approach to solving the problem“concludes the researcher. Otherwise we will also have to get used to this side effect deriving from climate change. Which can lead to paradoxical effects: for example, the heat can increase resentment in digital form even of those who get angry against climate denial. Stuff that only thinking about it is so convoluted that it makes us confused, or maybe angry.