COVID-19, climate change, and the finite pool of worry in 2019 to 2021 Twitter discussions

Effects of extreme temperatures on public sentiment in 49 Chinese cities

The rising sentiment challenges of the metropolitan residents may be attributed to the extreme temperatures. However, nationwide real-time empirical studies that examine this claim are rare. In this research, we construct a daily extreme temperature index and sentiment metric using geotagged posts on one of China's largest social media sites, Weibo, to verify this hypothesis. We find that extreme temperatures causally decrease individuals' sentiment, and extremely low temperature may decrease more than extremely high temperature. Heterogeneity analyses reveal that individuals living in high levels of PM2.5, existing new COVID-19 diagnoses and low-disposable income cities on workdays are more vulnerable to the impact of extreme temperatures on sentiment. More importantly, the results also demonstrate that the adverse effects of extremely low temperatures on sentiment are more minor for people living in northern cities with breezes. Finally, we estimate that with a one-standard increase of extremely high (low) temperature, the sentiment decreases by approximately 0.161 (0.272) units. Employing social media to monitor public sentiment can assist policymakers in developing data-driven and evidence-based policies to alleviate the adverse impacts of extreme temperatures.

Progress with the Learning Health System 2.0: a rapid review of Learning Health Systems' responses to pandemics and climate change

BACKGROUND

Pandemics and climate change each challenge health systems through increasing numbers and new types of patients. To adapt to these challenges, leading health systems have embraced a Learning Health System (LHS) approach, aiming to increase the efficiency with which data is translated into actionable knowledge. This rapid review sought to determine how these health systems have used LHS frameworks to both address the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, and to prepare for future disturbances, and thus transition towards the LHS2.0.

METHODS

Three databases (Embase, Scopus, and PubMed) were searched for peer-reviewed literature published in English in the five years to March 2023. Publications were included if they described a real-world LHS's response to one or more of the following: the COVID-19 pandemic, future pandemics, current climate events, future climate change events. Data were extracted and thematically analyzed using the five dimensions of the Institute of Medicine/Zurynski-Braithwaite's LHS framework: Science and Informatics, Patient-Clinician Partnerships, Continuous Learning Culture, Incentives, and Structure and Governance.

RESULTS

The search yielded 182 unique publications, four of which reported on LHSs and climate change. Backward citation tracking yielded 13 additional pandemic-related publications. None of the climate change-related papers met the inclusion criteria. Thirty-two publications were included after full-text review. Most were case studies (n = 12, 38%), narrative descriptions (n = 9, 28%) or empirical studies (n = 9, 28%). Science and Informatics (n = 31, 97%), Continuous Learning Culture (n = 26, 81%), Structure and Governance (n = 23, 72%) were the most frequently discussed LHS dimensions. Incentives (n = 21, 66%) and Patient-Clinician Partnerships (n = 18, 56%) received less attention. Twenty-nine papers (91%) discussed benefits or opportunities created by pandemics to furthering the development of an LHS, compared to 22 papers (69%) that discussed challenges.

CONCLUSIONS

An LHS 2.0 approach appears well-suited to responding to the rapidly changing and uncertain conditions of a pandemic, and, by extension, to preparing health systems for the effects of climate change. LHSs that embrace a continuous learning culture can inform patient care, public policy, and public messaging, and those that wisely use IT systems for decision-making can more readily enact surveillance systems for future pandemics and climate change-related events.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

PROSPERO pre-registration: CRD42023408896.

Unveiling the global nexus: Pandemic fear, government responses, and climate change-an empirical study

This study examined the relationships between pandemic fear, government responses, and climate change using a time-series dataset from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020. By employing an auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach, the results revealed that pandemic fear significantly impacts climate change, while government responses to COVID-19 negatively influence climate change in the long run. Climate change and government responses significantly positively affect pandemic fear in the long run. Moreover, we found a bidirectional causality between government responses and climate change, unidirectional causality from government responses to pandemic fear, and no Granger causality between pandemic fear and climate change. Our findings have some important policy implications. Governments must encourage coordination, enhance crisis responses, and consider revising economic metrics to maintain environmental sustainability. The COVID-19 experience can inform strategies for reducing CO2 emissions and investing in green economies and healthcare to prepare for future challenges.

Attention, sentiments and emotions towards emerging climate technologies on Twitter

Public perception of emerging climate technologies, such as greenhouse gas removal (GGR) and solar radiation management (SRM), will strongly influence their future development and deployment. Studying perceptions of these technologies with traditional survey methods is challenging, because they are largely unknown to the public. Social media data provides a complementary line of evidence by allowing for retrospective analysis of how individuals share their unsolicited opinions. Our large-scale, comparative study of 1.5 million tweets covers 16 GGR and SRM technologies and uses state-of-the-art deep learning models to show how attention, and expressions of sentiment and emotion developed between 2006 and 2021. We find that in recent years, attention has shifted from general geoengineering themes to specific GGR methods. On the other hand, there is little attention to specific SRM technologies and they often coincide with conspiracy narratives. Sentiments and emotions in GGR tweets tend to be more positive, particularly for methods perceived to be natural, but are more negative when framed in the geoengineering context.

War and pandemic do not jeopardize Germans' willingness to support climate measures

How do the impacts of acute crises influence citizens' willingness to support different types of climate measures? An acute crisis can be understood either as an impediment or as an opportunity for climate change mitigation. In the first perspective, crisis impacts would create negative spill-overs and dampen citizens' willingness to support climate action, while in the second perspective, the opposite would occur. Based on a survey experiment fielded in Germany in 2022 (n = 5438), we find that the economic implications of the Russo-Ukrainian War do not decrease behavioral willingness, while restrictions of civil liberties to combat the COVID-19 pandemic lead to higher climate support, underpinning the crisis-as-opportunity perspective. Willingness to support climate measures is strongest among (1) those most concerned about climate change, and (2) those who trust the government. We conclude that individuals do not wish climate change mitigation to be deprioritized on the back of other crises.

COVID-19 response in Africa: impacts and lessons for environmental management and climate change adaptation

The COVID-19 pandemic adds pressure on Africa; the most vulnerable continent to climate change impacts, threatening the realization of most Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The continent is witnessing an increase in intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, and environmental change. The COVID-19 was managed relatively well across in the continent, providing lessons and impetus for environmental management and addressing climate change. This work examines the possible impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the environment and climate change, analyses its management and draws lessons from it for climate change response in Africa. The data, findings and lessons are drawn from peer reviewed articles and credible grey literature on COVID-19 in Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic spread quickly, causing loss of lives and stagnation of the global economy, overshadowing the current climate crisis. The pandemic was managed through swift response by the top political leadership, research and innovations across Africa providing possible solutions to COVID-19 challenges, and redirection of funds to manage the pandemic. The well-coordinated COVID-19 containment strategy under the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention increased sharing of resources including data was a success in limiting the spread of the virus. These strategies, among others, proved effective in limiting the spread and impact of COVID-19. The findings provide lessons that stakeholders and policy-makers can leverage in the management of the environment and address climate change. These approaches require solid commitment and practical-oriented leadership.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10668-023-02956-0.