Meteorologists, who have long been considered reliable experts, are now facing threats, insults, and defamation on the Internet from conspiracy theorists and climate change deniers, who accuse them of falsifying and even manipulating the weather.
On platforms such as Twitter and other social networks, some users accused Spanish climate agencies of causing droughts, the Australian agency of manipulating thermometers, and the French agency of exaggerating climate change through misplaced stations.
According to Alexandre Lopez-Borrull, professor of information and communication sciences at the Open University of Catalonia, “the coronavirus is no longer fashionable; the conspiracy and denialists who used to talk about it are now spreading disinformation about climate change.” Moreover, he added that these scientific entities are considered part of the “establishment,” so anything they say is questioned on social networks.
Members of Spain’s State Meteorological Agency (AEMET) have received threats via Twitter, phone calls, and emails. The messages include words such as “murderers,” “criminals,” and threats of observation. These threats come from people who believe in discredited theories such as the “condensation trails” theory, which claims that aircraft trails are actually chemicals sprayed by authorities to poison people or cause weather disasters.
In another case under investigation, unverified information was spread by conservative media and Facebook users, claiming that the Australian Bureau of Meteorology manipulated its thermometer data. However, experts who analyzed the data assured us that this claim is false.
In France, where record temperatures were recorded in March, claims were spread on social networks that the national weather service exaggerated the warming by relying on stations located in urban areas where it is usually warmer. However, experts denied this information, pointing out that the limited network of 30 stations mentioned in the publication is not the one used by scientists to measure climate change and that weather conditions are also measured in rural areas.
In short, meteorologists are facing online attacks and smears due to distrust and conspiracy theories from climate change deniers. These attacks are based on unfounded accusations and misinformation, making it difficult for them to communicate and educate about climate change and its effects.