Why misinformation spreads during climate disasters, and how to stop it

CBC

06-02-2025

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Why misinformation spreads during climate disasters, and how to stop it
As wildfires spread though Los Angeles last month, so did false information, from theories that the fires were started by lasers or aliens, and to speculation about why some fire hydrants ran out of water to fight the fires. (U.S. President Donald Trump blamed California fish protection regulations, but the New York Times debunked that explanation. Here's why the firefighters were actually short on water.)
That didn't surprise Chris Russill, associate professor in Carleton University's School of Journalism and Communication. He told Laura Lynch, host of CBC's What On Earth, that misinformation also spread quickly during the 2023 Canadian wildfires. It happened during the 2023 Maui fire s too.
But why does misinformation (false info) and disinformation (false info deliberately spread to deceive people) spread so wildly during natural disasters?
In Russill's view, disasters such as wildfires and hurricanes are "really intense and immediate focusing events" that bring more people into the climate change conversation. "And that includes those invested in climate conspiracies … which seek engagement in these moments."
He described conspiracy theories as a kind of misinformation or disinformation that explain events as the work of a group of people acting in unison to pursue a hidden plan. He gave the example of online rumours that the government "was setting the fires to generate fear in order to build support for their climate policy."
Erin Blondeau, director of communications for the Climate Emergency Unit, part of the David Suzuki Institute, told Lynch that when she was a young person struggling with poverty, she was attracted to and believed conspiracy theories.
They "offered explanations that seemed to make sense of the things that I was struggling with," said Blondeau.
They also validated her anger in a way that no one else did, she recalled, but "did so while redirecting that anger at the wrong targets."
While she thinks anyone is susceptible to conspiracy culture these days, she also thinks social and economic inequality can make some people more susceptible, and that needs to be addressed.
So what can be done to stop the spread of misinformation in times of crisis?
Blondeau thinks people should be directed away from online discussions.
"We really need to, as much as we can, focus on communicating outside of social media and offline, so in real life," she said. "We need our elected leaders to actually be accessible and even have local scientists available in person."
She said people need places like climate town halls where they can go to voice their worries about things like losing their jobs in the transition away from fossil fuels. She said she'd love to be able to talk to climate skeptics in the community about the fair sustainable society that climate activists are seeking.
"It's really hard to show them that when politicians, especially far-right politicians, are always turning climate action into the enemy."
Russill, who is academic director at Re.Climate, a centre for climate communication, thinks the solutions include improving the public's information literacy and better regulation of digital platforms where misinformation is spreading.
But he noted that a 2024 report that looked at a wide range of research evidence found the most effective antidote to misinformation was local journalism.
"Timely, accurate local knowledge is something that local journalism provides, particularly in moments of crisis," he said. "So I think really leaning into and supporting journalism is something we need to think about."
Check out our podcast and radio show. In our newest episode: It helps farmers and protects against wildfire. "The world needs to know about biochar," says one scientist. So, what the heck is this charcoal-like, carbon-storing material? We meet a man on Vancouver Island who's spending his retirement years making it for his neighbours. Then, producer Rachel Sanders finds out what potential this climate solution holds, what the pitfalls may be and what the challenges are with scaling it up.
What On Earth drops new podcast episodes every Wednesday and Saturday. You can find them on your favourite podcast app or on demand at CBC Listen. The radio show airs Sundays at 11 a.m., 11:30 a.m. in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Reader feedback
A couple of weeks ago, we wrote about the climate impact of food waste apps. Amy Every wrote: " Regarding food waste apps, could they also be used by food banks?" Lori Pickering wrote that consumers who buy waste food with the apps "might just throw it out anyway because they can't eat it in time and they bought it for cheap. A better use would be to donate it to the food banks (whose users probably don't waste food to the same degree) and the stores would be able to get a charitable donation tax receipt."
We asked food banks what they think of this. Food Banks Canada, a national umbrella group that supports 5500 food banks across the country, said it has long-standing partnerships with many of Canada's leading grocery chains. They both donate surplus food and lead fundraising programs and food drives. Last year, 650 retail stores donated 9,000 tonnes of surplus food, Food Banks Canada reported.
Eva Molina, VP of Marketing and Communications for Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank, said her food bank works with a number of Toronto retailers to "capture nearing date products." She added that food waste apps have led to a slight decline in donations of food products from certain categories, but "we recognize that these apps can be a great resource for individuals who may be struggling with food insecurity as well, and they can create cheaper access to quality food."
While Food Banks Canada said tax receipts are provided for all corporate donations of surplus food, Molina said Canada Revenue Agency doesn't assign a value to food commodities "so the tax receipt is not necessarily an incentive for retailers in this case."
The Big Picture: The biggest years for insurance damage
The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) recently reported that as a result of events like the Jasper wildfire and flooding in eastern Canada, 2024 set a record for insurance payouts in Canada: $8.55 billion.
It was the most expensive year for insurers since 2016, the year of the Fort McMurray wildfires, which resulted in more than $6 billion in payouts.
As Craig Stewart, vice-president of climate change and federal issues for IBC, recently told the CBC Radio program What on Earth, flooding generally accounts for the biggest chunk of insurance payouts in Canada — about $3.7 billion in 2024.
But the sheer unpredictability of global warming is leading to freak occurrences with major financial ramifications. For example, the most expensive event in Canada last year was a 20-minute hailstorm near Calgary that resulted in 70,000 claims.
"It obliterated cars, damaged houses — it came in at about $2.8 billion for that one event," said Stewart.
— Andre Mayer
remove references to climate change from their websites, forcing some of them to go dark.
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Wildlife doesn't respect political boundaries. That's why despite the conflict in Israel, Israeli and Arab scientists are collaborating to save barn owls, whose nests have been destroyed by human war near the Israel-Lebanon border.
Menus often nudge people to eat meat by making it the default option, intentionally or not. But Canadian universities and hospitals are among those trying more plant-based defaults to promote healthier eating and fight climate change.
The University of Northern Colorado is replacing grass with native plants as part of a statewide initiative to save water. But how much water can replacing grass really save?
Artist saves old growth trees with new way to carve totem poles
Spiral wood shavings pile at the feet of artist Hayalthkin'geme Carey Newman. He's in his carving workshop along the shore of Saanichton Bay, B.C., just north of Victoria, where a totem different than any other he has made before with partner Tejas Collison is starting to take shape.
"This is the first pole that I'm making this way, so I'm learning as I go," said Newman, who is Kwakwaka'wakw from northern Vancouver Island and Sto:lo from Cheam First Nation.
Fourteen beams of second growth wood are wedged in a contraption built to make totem carving possible out of multiple pieces of wood. The device was designed and made by Camosun Innovates, a technology access centre at Camosun College in Victoria.
The idea for what Newman calls "Totem 2.0" came out of a responsibility he felt to preserve old growth trees.
About 10 years ago he noticed old growth logs were harder to come by.
"It became more and more difficult to find them," said Newman.
Newman was commissioned to make a pole that would go to Germany and the person who ordered it wanted to see the tree that would be used get cut down.
"That's something that I'd never done before," said Newman.
Watching the ginormous tree fall made him question if he should be doing this.
"I was also thinking about my own traditional teachings around responsibility to future generations and started to wonder if I should be carving old growth anymore," said Newman.