Hateful tweets increase as weather becomes more extreme, according to US study

Study found a 22% increase in hateful tweets when temperatures hit 42C
People are more likely to share hateful tweets during extreme weather
Brett Jordan/Pexels
Seren Morris8 September 2022

Twitter users share more hateful tweets in extreme weather, according to a new US study.

The study, published in the Lancet Planetary Health journal, found that there was a 22% increase in hateful tweets when the temperature hit 42C, and a 12.5% increase when it dipped to -3C.

Annika Stechemesser, author of the study, said: “We found that both the absolute number and the share of hate tweets rise outside a climate comfort zone.

“People tend to show a more aggressive online behaviour when it’s either too cold or too hot outside.”

The researchers, from Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, analysed about four billion tweets on the social media platform from 773 US cities between 2014 and 2020, and evaluated the changes in hateful tweets against the local temperature.

They identified 75 million hate tweets, which is around 2% of the data set.

The study found that the number of hateful tweets increased with extreme weather, regardless of the area’s economic, political, and religious makeup, according to the study.

The results of the study “highlight hate speech online as a potential channel through which temperature alters interpersonal conflict and societal aggression”, according to the researchers, and that “hot and cold temperatures can aggravate aggressive tendencies online.”

The researchers also argue that: “Both aggression and climate change have been found to have negative impacts on mental health.

“Climate change-induced risks for mental health include increased climate anxiety, a greater risk for depression especially in young people, and increased suicide risks. Hate speech has been shown to cause heightened anxiety, depression, and self-harm and a feeling of unsafety in online spaces.

“Our results contribute to this literature by identifying the effect of temperature on hate speech as a new impact channel through which climate change could affect aggression and mental health.”

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