The heat not only boils the water, but also the temper of Twitter users. This is what a study by the German Research Institute in Potsdam, published in The Lancet Planetary Healthhas been observed in the United States.
An artificial intelligence analyzed the content of more than 4 billion tweets between 2014 and 2021, from residents of 773 American cities. The researchers then compared the heat spikes to those of hateful tweets on the platform. They were able to observe with the lowest temperatures, around -4°C, a 12.5% increase in hateful tweets. When temperatures reached peaks, up to 45°C, the level of toxic content also increased by 22%.
Beyond the observed correlation, the authors particularly insist on the interrelationship between climate change, human behavior and mental health. “We find that outside of the 12-21°C feel-good window, online hate increases by 12% for lower temperatures and 22% for higher ones in the United States. These results indicate limits to adaptation to extreme temperatures and highlight a still underestimated societal impact of climate change: conflicts in the digital sphere, which have repercussions on social cohesion and mental health”says Annika Stechemesser, lead author of the study.
The fight against global warming does not have the sole objective of limiting the increase in extreme temperatures, but also presents a societal challenge. The human being, once pushed out of his comfort zone, has behaviors that can be destructive for himself and others: “For centuries, the scientific literature has addressed the question of how climatic conditions affect human behavior and the stability of society. Today, with ongoing climate change, this issue is more important than ever”warns Leonie Wenz, head of the Potsdam Institute working group, which participated in the study.