How You Can Fight Climate Disinformation
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It’s a fact of contemporary life: social media is the most popular way for people of all ages to get their information. Heaven forbid the internet goes out! We’d miss out on checking our favorite stories on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, or X. Quick access, however, masks unverified information. Nowhere is that dilemma more evident than with climate disinformation.
Stabilizing rising global surface temperatures is essential for the long-term healith of the planet. Climate change is an existential crisis that affects everyday life, how businesses operate, and the ways that countries acquire materials and regulate systems. Yet climate entrepreneurs, quick dissemination, and peer-to-peer sharing on social media affect the ability of climate advisory networks to work effectively and to counter disinformation. Rumors, innuendos, myths, accusations, and conspiracies about climate range widely without scientific backing.
Lies about climate and renewable energy permeate the internet. Such “climate disinformation” is the false or misleading content that undermines the impacts of climate change or the viability of environmental policies. The fact that our planet is warming has been proven in hundreds of different ways. Burning oil and gas — which are the deposits of ancient plants and animals — heats the planet and is destroying the unity of the Earth’s biosphere.
But it’s difficult to convince others of this reality for a variety of reasons, including the increasing acceptance of alternative truths, which collide with facts derived from intensive scientific study and, instead, question climate science.
What are some quick signs of climate disinformation? When the internet was in its early years, teachers pointed out suspect features to their students: odd URLs, spelling and punctuation errors, flashing ads and invitations to win prizes, clickbait headlines, secondary and tertiary sources, suspect immediate gratification, and messaging sparking emotion over objectivity. Today, disinformation reflects the tensions across society: disconnected and divided communities, reduced government tech regulation, cultural transmission of stereotypes, and information silos.
Why is social media disinformation so pervasive? It takes time to verify facts. AI scans the web for the most active sites and generates content based on those most popular hits. Algorithms track user engagement, foreground content that spurs negative emotions like anger and outrage, and push messages from certain influencers to an individual’s stream. Then “it’s repetition, repetition, repetition,” says London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who earlier this week received the 2026 Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize. To a large extent, even this article that you are reading jumps to the top of readers’ queues or drifts to the bottom based on SEO — Search Engine Optimization. With disinformation so visible and alluring, scientific explanations get less consideration.
Critique both sides of the political aisle: Indigenous activist Jesse J. Fleay argues that we all need to scrutinize claims from allies and opponents alike “if truth is to serve justice.” Fleay explains that it’s not enough if a claim aligns with our values, as “good intentions are not evidence. Noble causes are not exemptions from scrutiny.” Political movements, even with First Nations communities, “have long relied upon moral authority, lived experience, and evidence to expose injustice.” But those noble positions must be augmented by examining claims from causes we support, too. Otherwise, Fleay adds, “We risk weakening the very foundations upon which our arguments stand.”
What advice does Pope Leo give about disinformation? Pope Leo XIV has called “the drug of fake news” a threat to a health society and has called on journalists to “safeguard voices and faces, cultivate seriousness in every report and every analysis, preserve the beauty of cultures and territories.” The Pope implores journalists to “strengthen communities in the truth that unites us all, govern technology without surrendering to the rhetoric of uniform thought, respect differing opinions, never yield to the temptation to make greater profits by resorting to the drug of fake news and artificial polarizations.” Journalists and their newspapers can “be an instrument of truth, a guardian of history and memory, a source of knowledge and a leaven of humanity.”
What can I do to counter climate disinformation? You can train yourself to become a fake news expert. You can accept responsibility for stepping back, questioning information, researching to verify data, and comparing with expert primary sources. Then you can share your results with others on social media. And don’t forget the Comments section at the bottom of online spaces — your interaction with naysayers may have a real impact as you offer them different insights than they’re getting from their narrow algorithmic information selection. Also, be sure to adjust your approach to meet the needs of different audiences. If you make it a habit to counter climate disinformation in these ways, you’ll be limiting the appeal of climate disinformation and helping others to live healthier lives.
Become an expert in specific areas of climate disinformation: What food products, for example, do you think generate the most carbon emissions? Clearly, beef ranks high: steak, chopped beef, meatballs, and burgers lead the pack. Then lamb comes in a close second: burgers, leg, casserole, and chops. Or maybe you’d like to take an approach that zooms in on accountability. Here’s an eye-opener: Our climate is changing the frequency of devastating weather events, which decimate harvests and strain supply chains. Frequent devastating storms cost lots of money in their aftermath, so climate inflation is now an economic norm. How well we can pay our bills always hits home.
References
“Health or misinformation? The risk of believing everything you see on social media.” Indira Vania López Samé. Radio Angulo. June 20, 2026.
“How extreme weather impacts consumer prices around the world.” Emma Court and Kyle Kim. Bloomberg. June 23, 2026.
“London mayor rages against social media machine, re-imagines an internet of ‘positivity.’” The Straits Times. June 21, 2026.
“The future of online misinformation research: Tackling the landscape with integrity and urgency.” Wen-Ying Sylvia Chou. Journal of Medical Internet Research. June 22, 2026.
“These 10 Foods have the most impact on the climate.” Evan Comen. Yahoo! Life. June 22, 2026.
“Truth matters: Why we must challenge misinformation wherever it comes from.” Jesse J. Fleay. National Indigenous Times. June 16, 2026.
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