Why some conservatives are blind to climate change

Article by Jiaying Zhao et al. in The Conversation. Some excerpts:

"Despite the strong evidence that human activities are contributing to climate change, a small minority of the public disagrees with the scientific consensus. [...] When we analyzed the data, we found a pattern: Conservatives who were less concerned about climate change were less likely to see climate-related words than liberals who were worried about the issue. In short, conservatives showed climate change blindness."



"Now that we know people’s political orientation affects their visual attention to climate change, this raises a possible feedback loop, where concerned liberals readily tune their attention to news headlines about climate change and become even more concerned. But unconcerned conservatives may be more blind to the same headlines about climate change and therefore become more entrenched in their disbelief. The visual blindness can further deepen the denial of the real risks of climate change such as flooding, hurricanes, drought and heatwaves, and consequently a lack of action to mitigate climate change."

The article goes on to suggest ways of framing climate change in terms amenable to these conservatives. See the link for more.