(New Haven, Connecticut) A majority of Facebook users in countries and territories classified as “low-emissions” report having experienced an extreme weather event in the past year, according to a survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCCC), international conservation organization Rare, and Meta, the parent company of Facebook. According to respondents, the hazard most frequently experienced was a long period of unusually hot weather. Most respondents who experienced an extreme weather hazard said that climate change contributed either “a great deal” or “a moderate amount” to it.
Respondents in Latin America were among the most likely to say they had experienced at least one extreme weather event, including more than 95% of respondents in Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Puerto Rico, and Uruguay. Even in areas least likely to say they had experienced an extreme weather event, nearly 8 in 10 respondents still reported having experienced at least one (Democratic Republic of Congo, 80%; Yemen,78%’; and Angola, 76%).
The report presents results from a larger international survey of nearly 140,000 respondents drawn from more than 3 billion active Facebook users around the world. The subset of 99,453 responses comes from 73 countries, territories, and geographic groups classified as “low-emissions”, based on below-average per-capita CO2 emissions and low per-capita income. Respondents were asked about their experiences with and preparedness for different kinds of extreme weather and climate-related hazards. They were also asked how much they thought climate change had contributed to the most recent event they had experienced.
“People in the countries and territories that have emitted the least amounts of carbon pollution are already experiencing serious extreme weather impacts, which they often attribute to climate change,” said Anthony Leiserowitz, Director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
“People in the countries least responsible for climate change are the ones who are feeling its greatest impact today. As we work to reduce emissions globally, we must invest similarly to build the climate resilience of communities in low-income climate vulnerable countries. This includes investing in nature-based solutions to climate change that both capture carbon and reduce the impact of extreme weather on rural and coastal communities,” said Dr. Caleb McClennen, PhD, President of Rare.
“We’re proud to partner with Yale University and Rare to better understand how people are experiencing the impacts of climate change and whether they are prepared so that organizations and governments can prioritize where they focus their efforts,” said Emily Wood, UX Researcher at Meta.
Preparedness for extreme weather
The survey found that majorities in many areas surveyed are unprepared for extreme weather events. Respondents from Taiwan (76%), El Salvador (72%), and Azerbaijan (71%) were the most likely to report that they are unprepared for extreme weather, while respondents from Vietnam (15%), Cambodia (18%), and Laos (24%) were the least likely to say so. Generally, respondents in South America report being less prepared than respondents in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.
Ability to Recover from Extreme Weather
Respondents from Uzbekistan (59%), Bosnia and Herzegovina (56%), and Bulgaria (55%) were the most likely to say it would take a year or more for their household to recover from an extreme weather event. In contrast, respondents from Indonesia (15%), Benin (16%), and Thailand (22%) were the least likely to say so.
Respondents in Morocco and Lebanon (both 44%), and Pakistan (42%) were the most likely to say they have no relatives or friends who they could count on for help after an extreme weather event. In contrast, respondents in Mozambique (11%), Panama, and Puerto Rico (both 12%) were the least likely to say so.
Many more results, broken down by region, country, territory are available in the full report.
This is the second report issued by YPCCC, Rare, and Meta based on data from the survey, which was fielded August 3 to September 3, 2023. The initial report, International Public Opinion on Climate Change: 2023, was released in November 2023 and based on the full survey of 139,136 monthly active Facebook users from 187 countries and territories.
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Contacts:
Meta: Eric Porterfield – (ecp@meta.com)
Yale: Eric Fine – (eric.fine@yale.edu) or Michaela Hobbs (Michaela.hobbs@yale.edu)
Rare: Zach Lowe – (zlowe@rare.org)