Climate Change and Global Warming: An American Perspective through the Lenses of Old and New Modes of Communication

Starting from the premise that climate change is a divisive issue in the United States, and that the phrases ‘climate change’ and ‘global warming’ have partisan significance, we compare the rhetoric U.S. presidents have used in their statements about the climate crisis in debates, interviews, and other contexts vis-à-vis what they have said/written in social media. We find more polarization in social media; ‘global warming’ seems to be more commonly associated with tweets that use a hoax frame, and is used more often by Republicans than Democrats. Thus, we find Donald Trump tweeting, “I don’t think science knows. This climate crisis is not only fake news but also fake science, bullshit, and an expensive hoax”, and Joe Biden arguing that “climate change is an existential threat, it’s already here, and we have to hurry, we have to act before it’s too late, because time is running out”.