New paper out: Climate change as a risk multiplier

A huge congratulations to Dr. Deidra Miniard, now Research Associate with the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

Miniard, D., Attari, S.Z. Connecting climate change to important issues increases perception of climate change as a risk multiplier. Climatic Change 178, 197 (2025). https://doi-org.proxyiub.uits.iu.edu/10.1007/s10584-025-04034-y

Here is the paper.

Abstract: Climate change exacerbates many existing challenges such as economic issues and public health, yet the public struggles to connect climate change to other issues they care about. Research on climate change communication suggests that framing messages to align with people's existing priorities and concerns can increase engagement, though evidence on the effectiveness of different frames remains mixed. Our study tested whether connecting climate change to salient issues influences participant perceptions of climate change as a risk multiplier, their systems thinking, their policy support, and their ability to connect climate change to other issues. An online experiment (N = 2,165) randomly assigned participants to one of five conditions: (1) immigration, (2) inflation, (3) racial justice, (4) messaging matching the participants’ most important issue out of the three, and (5) a no-information control. Those exposed to vignettes were more likely to agree that climate change will exacerbate existing issues, but this did not improve systems thinking or increase policy support, except for a climate-refugee resettlement policy in the immigration condition.

New paper out: Combining personal and political action most popular climate solution narrative

A wide variety of existing narratives describe how we might address climate change. Which of these approaches is popular among the American public? Do the general public and their elected officials accurately perceive which climate solutions are popular? We assess personal endorsement and perceptions of public support in national representative samples of the U.S. public (N = 1500) and local-level U.S. policymakers (N = 500). Proactive narratives, like ones advocating for both personal behavior and policy action, are widely endorsed, but both the public and policymakers greatly underestimate their popularity (a case of pluralistic ignorance), especially for narratives calling for systemic change. Greater endorsement of these narratives corresponded to greater willingness to take personal and political actions and support climate policy. We also find experimental exposure to some climate narratives (N = 2060) may increase participants’ behavioral intentions and policy support, suggesting which narratives are spread in popular media is important to help address climate change.

Alternate dimension mill

The latest project from MDWST Fable, Alternate Dimension Mill will explore more positive ways to imagine our collective future via talks and performances from other dimensions.

Join us for a playful and speculative excursion into alternate dimensions organized around five sets of guests reflecting on topics essential to our lives in this dimension: climate (IU scholar Shahzeen Attari), war (engineer Sami Koutsares), art (artist Jon Vickers, poet Terry Sloan, and musician Jason Fickel), music (saxophonist and bandleader Peyton Womock), and the spirit of the city (local politics expert Steve Volan), what makes our town our town.

These guests will appear on April 19, 2025 at the Monroe County Public Library Auditorium at 3:30 PM. Admission is free, though audience members should be aware that a short questionnaire may be required for entry. Portal visualizations will be provided by NYC video artist Daniel McKleinfeld. 

“[T]he main goal of the Alternate Dimension Mill is to suggest that nothing has to be the way it is,” notes Rice. “We could have a shared future we love, no matter what dimension we find ourselves in. Dystopia isn’t the only option,” adds Newyear.