Environmental Research Letters (Jan 2025)
Gaps in public trust between scientists and climate scientists: a 68 country study
- Omid Ghasemi,
- Viktoria Cologna,
- Niels G Mede,
- Samantha K Stanley,
- Noel Strahm,
- Robert Ross,
- Mark Alfano,
- John R Kerr,
- Mathew D Marques,
- Sebastian Berger,
- John C Besley,
- Cameron Brick,
- Marina Joubert,
- Edward Maibach,
- Sabina Mihelj,
- Ben R Newell,
- Naomi Oreskes,
- Mike S Schäfer
Affiliations
- Omid Ghasemi
- ORCiD
- UNSW Institute for Climate Risk & Response , University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; School of Psychology, University of New South Wales , Sydney, Australia
- Viktoria Cologna
- ORCiD
- Collegium Helveticum , ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Niels G Mede
- ORCiD
- Department of Communication and Media Research, University of Zurich , Zurich, Switzerland
- Samantha K Stanley
- ORCiD
- UNSW Institute for Climate Risk & Response , University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; School of Psychology, University of New South Wales , Sydney, Australia
- Noel Strahm
- ORCiD
- Department of Sociology, University of Bern , Bern, Switzerland
- Robert Ross
- ORCiD
- Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University , Sydney, Australia
- Mark Alfano
- ORCiD
- Department of Philosophy, Macquarie University , Sydney, Australia
- John R Kerr
- ORCiD
- Department of Public Health, University of Otago , Wellington, New Zealand
- Mathew D Marques
- ORCiD
- School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University , Melbourne, Australia
- Sebastian Berger
- ORCiD
- Department of Sociology, University of Bern , Bern, Switzerland
- John C Besley
- ORCiD
- Department of Advertising + Public Relations, Michigan State University , East Lansing, United States of America
- Cameron Brick
- ORCiD
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam , Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Marina Joubert
- ORCiD
- Centre for Research on Evaluation , Science and Technology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
- Edward Maibach
- ORCiD
- George Mason University Center for Climate Change Communication , Fairfax, VA, United States of America
- Sabina Mihelj
- ORCiD
- Centre for Research in Communication and Culture, Department of Communication and Media, Loughborough University , Loughborough, United Kingdom
- Ben R Newell
- ORCiD
- UNSW Institute for Climate Risk & Response , University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; School of Psychology, University of New South Wales , Sydney, Australia
- Naomi Oreskes
- ORCiD
- Department of the History of Science, Harvard University , Cambridge, MA, United States of America
- Mike S Schäfer
- ORCiD
- Department of Communication and Media Research, University of Zurich , Zurich, Switzerland
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/add1f9
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 20,
no. 6
p. 061002
Abstract
This study compares public trust in climate scientists and scientists in general across 68 countries ( N = 69,534). On average, participants reported moderately high levels of trust in climate scientists, with trust levels being slightly lower than trust in scientists in general. Overall, this trust gap was larger among participants who identified as politically conservative or right-leaning, but there was considerable variation across countries.
Keywords
