Understanding the Political and Psychological Roots of Climate Misinformation and Its Impact on Public Opinion

This chapter describes the political, ideological, and psychological underpinnings driving public opinion formation on climate change and demonstrates how and why climate obstruction strategies might be successful in light of these factors. First, it highlights forces researchers have identified as drivers of climate change public opinion, discussing climate denial as a form of obstruction and how climate obstruction arguments have evolved. It then addresses climate misinformation specifically, rooting the analysis in five key climate disbeliefs and emphasizing the shift from explicit climate denial rhetoric to attacks on mitigation efforts, rooting this discussion in the FLICC framework (fake experts, logical fallacies, impossible expectations, conspiracy theories, cherry picking). Next it reviews concrete effects of climate misinformation in terms of climate beliefs and broader, systemic consequences that make it difficult to act politically and socially to address climate change. The chapter concludes with suggested interventions for addressing the problem. It illustrates these dynamics with a case study of Brazil under Jair Bolsonaro, where climate misinformation became institutionalized through populist and anti-globalist discourse.