Disinformation on the causes and impacts of climate change is rampant, but the problem can be countered through strategic communication. That was the consensus of climate experts who came together in Washington, D.C., this week.

The Our Planet, Our Health: 2025 Climate Action Convention — organized by APHA and a host of partners, including the National Academy of Science, American Lung Association and ecoAmerica — brought together hundreds of professionals March 2-4 for discussions and advocacy. False information that is deliberately used to mislead people — also known as disinformation — was at the forefront of many discussions.

Three types of disinformation are commonly used about climate change: denial it is happening, selectively choosing facts to tell a big lie, and “greenwashing,” when false solutions are presented as valid strategies, according to Philip Newell, MA, communications co-chair of Climate Action Against Disinformation.

“Disinformation doesn't spring up organically from the earth like a disease might,” Newell said. “It’s spread very intentionally by an entire industry. It looks like it’s grassroots, but it’s really AstroTurf.”

Effective ways to counter disinformation include writing op-eds and letters, posting FAQs online, buying ad or PSA space, and advocating to policymakers.
Nowadays, most media consumption in the U.S. occurs online, according to convention speaker Mario Alejandro Ariza, an investigative reporter with Floodlight News.

Most people now get their information from their smartphone or other digital devices, while the second most popular method is television, a study by the Pew Research Center found. Younger generations get news mostly from social media apps, like TikTok, or podcasters and other influencers.

Many social media sites lack the vetting process of established media, which tend to abide by strict journalistic standards, Ariza said. Meanwhile, local newspapers and news sites are disappearing, resulting in “more lies and fewer journalists” to investigate and debunk false claims.

In Wisconsin, disinformation about the health effects of wind turbines was spread via advertisements funded by the fossil fuel industry, whose profits would be hurt by wind-power generated electricity.

Opponents "are tapping into the fears of local communities, particularly in the rural space,” said Elizabeth White, MD, a family medicine physician who works with Health Climate Wisconsin. “(These campaigns) are popping up all over rural Wisconsin and rural America.”

Wind turbines could be useful in rural Wisconsin, as rural communities account for 36% of emissions in the U.S., even though only 18% of the nation’s population lives in those areas, White said. Residents of rural America also spend 25% more on their residential energy needs than their suburban and urban counterparts.

“We all care about our health, we all want to thrive economically, and clean energy is safe and can benefit everyone’s health,” White said. “Yet there are people who are working against us and have spent decades developing a system to tell us a whole bunch of lies, to influence our decisions and to take the power out of our hands.”

Photo by Sam Foson via Pexels