Extreme weather and climate opinion: evidence from Australia

Extreme weather patterns can be linked to the effects of anthropogenic climate change with increasing confidence. Evidence from the USA suggests a weak relationship between individuals’ experiences of many types of weather events and concern about climate change. Using data from Australia, we investigate the effects of experiences of increases in mean temperatures and drought on a range of measures related to individuals’ beliefs in, and concerns about, climate change. Our results show no association between recent experiences of elevated temperature relative to long-term average and views about climate change, though some association between longer-term temperature experiences. We find some evidence that experiencing less rainfall relative to the historical average is related to stronger sentiment that climate change is happening and higher levels of concern. The results are consistent with previous research showing experiences of extreme weather events do not have a large effect on beliefs in, or concerns about, climate change.