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Climate Activist Scientists Get all Verklempt Their Echo Chamber No Longer Exists on Twitter, Throw Tantrums and Leave

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From Watts Up With That?

From France 24

Everything is hate and bots with these weak kneed crybullies.

Researchers have documented an explosion of hate and misinformation on Twitter since the Tesla billionaire took over in October 2022 — and now experts say communicating about climate science on the social network on which many of them rely is getting harder.

Policies aimed at curbing the deadly effects of climate change are accelerating, prompting a rise in what experts identify as organised resistance by opponents of climate reform.

Peter Gleick, a climate and water specialist with nearly 99,000 followers, announced on May 21 he would no longer post on the platform because it was amplifying racism and sexism.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230524-climate-scientists-flee-twitter-as-hostility-surges

For Background on Peter Gleick see these posts
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/02/20/breaking-gleick-confesses/
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/02/28/the-gleick-tragedy/

These comments in reaction to Gleick’s dramatic, pearl-clutching, announcement of his departure sums up reality rather well.

Now that Twitter content moderators and healthy conversation enforcers are not amplifying climate activists nor suppressing dissenting voices it’s disheartening for those that believed everyone agrees with them.

Robert Rohde, a physicist and lead scientist at the non-profit environmental data analysis group Berkeley Earth, analysed activity on hundreds of accounts of widely followed specialists posting about climate science before and after the takeover.

He found climate scientists’ tweets were losing impact. The average number of likes they received was down 38 percent and average retweets fell 40 percent.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230524-climate-scientists-flee-twitter-as-hostility-surges

Deer in the headlights – Dessler is taking his ball and going home.

Andrew Dessler, professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University, said he was moving most of his climate communication to Substack, a newsletter platform.

“Climate communications on Twitter are less useful (now) given that I can see that my tweets are getting less engagement,” he said.

“In response to almost any tweet concerning climate change, I find my notifications inundated with replies from verified accounts making misleading or misguided claims.”

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230524-climate-scientists-flee-twitter-as-hostility-surges

The time record holder for cry-bullying, Katherine Hayhoe, is discussed in the article as well. Last time we interacted she called me a white supremacist or something.

Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe said replies from apparent trolls or bots had shot up 

And of course Mann’s always complaining about organized conspiracies.

Michael Mann, a prominent climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania and a regular target for abuse by deniers of climate change, said he believed the rise in misinformation was “organised and orchestrated” by opponents of climate reforms.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230524-climate-scientists-flee-twitter-as-hostility-surges