The effect of different extreme weather events on attitudes toward climate change

result, have consequential effects on efforts to curb climate variability. Although the literature on climate attitudes has grown substantially in recent years, several important gaps remain, including a relative lack of causal evidence about the effects of exposure to extreme weather associated with global climate change. Often, these studies also focus on the effect of one type of disaster (e.g., droughts), though many areas are at risk for a range of extreme weather types. In this study, we aim to offer two key contributions: (i) evidence about the effect of a range of extreme weather types on attitudes about climate change and (ii) an application of a dynamic difference-in-difference design (DiD), allowing us to draw inferences of the impacts of extreme weather events. More specifically, we examine the effect of four of the most com- mon disasters associated with climate change in the United States—namely, fires, floods, hurri- canes, and severe storms—on individuals’ beliefs about the seriousness of global climate change and what should be done to address it. We find that only one type of extreme weather —fires—has a small but statistically significant effect on acknowledging the existence of cli- mate change and supporting the need for action to address the issue. However, this effect dis- appears in the years after initial exposure. We find no effect for any of the other common extreme weather types. Although these findings do not necessarily settle the debate about how extreme weather events might influence public opinion, they may help to explain some of the

mixed results in the literature and offer fruitful areas for future research into particular types of extreme weather. In the following sections, we offer an overview of existing literature on the impact of extreme weather events, review our data, and describe our research design using a dynamic DiD approach. Next, we report our findings, namely that exposure to fires may briefly impact individuals’ opinions about climate change. We conclude by briefly considering the implica- tions of this finding and considering next steps for future research. Literature review Recent surveys demonstrate that the majority of U.S. adults believe global warming is happen- ing and that it is human-caused [7]. There is far less agreement when respondents are asked how concerned they are about potential climate impacts, though, and there is no consensus on the best policy approach for how to address the issue. Extreme weather events associated with a changing climate could serve as a kind of focusing event around climate change, perhaps solidifying public concern that may spur policymakers to act [8]. As extreme weather events become more severe and frequent, it is therefore critical to understand how exposure to a range of disaster types might influence public attitudes and behavior [9, 10]. The literature on the social and political effects of weather conditions, extreme weather events, and climate indicators like temperature changes has grown substantially over the past several decades [11–13]. Many scholars have found that exposure to extreme weather events

like tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and wildfires can influence factors like concern about cli- mate change and support for policy measures to address the issue [14–17]. However, there are also many studies that report null or highly nuanced findings [18, 19]. As stated in a review of this literature, “despite extensive research efforts, the relationship between weather and climate opinions still remains unclear” [20, p.1]. Researchers have used a variety of methodologies to examine the potential impact of extreme weather events. For example, a review of 73 papers prior to 2019 found a substantial diversity in measurement and methodological approaches, which creates challenges for gener- alizability [20]. Many of these papers draw on survey data [15, 16, 21]; another portion of the literature uses a case-based approach to evaluate the effect of particular disaster events [17, 22, 23]. Studies in this literature also vary by the type and number of extreme weather events they PLOS ONE Extreme weather events and attitudes toward climate change PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0300967 May 15, 2024 2 / 10 Funding: This project was supported by CONICYT/ FONDECYT 1191522. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.