INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON CLIMATE CHANGE ...

Nigerian Journal of Agriculture, Food and Environment. 12(4):23-30

Ogunjinmi et al., 2016

Published December, 2016

INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON CLIMATE CHANGE KNOWLEDGE AND CONCERNS Ogunjinmi1*, A. A., Sunday1, O. R., Ogunjinmi2, K. O. and Adekoya1, O. E. ABSTRACT 1Department

of Ecotourism and Wildlife Management, School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology, Federal University of Technology, PMB 704, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. 2Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Federal University of Agriculture, PMB 2240, Abeokuta, Nigeria. [email protected], phone number: +2348077428332 This study was carried out in order to determine the influence of social media on climate change knowledge and concerns among the subscribers. The study was conducted at the Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria. Data were obtained with structured questionnaire administered on 10.4% (210) of the total number of academic and non-academic staff in the University in 2013. Data were analysed descriptively, with ANOVA and Pearson’s correlation. Findings showed that 98.3% of the respondents heard about climate change through social media while 48.6% discussed it with friends on their networks. Facebook had the largest subscription and dissemination of climate change information. Large majority (77.6%) associated climate change with global warming while burning of fossil fuels is regarded as the main contributor to climate change with 36.7% and 47.6% very concerned and moderately concerned about climate change respectively. In addition, lack of specific social media on climate change was viewed as the most constraint to respondents’ access to climate change information through social media. The findings suggest that social media influences climate change knowledge and concerns of subscribers. Government agencies and NGOs involved in climate change could benefit much through adoption of social media as part of the ongoing campaign on adaptation and mitigation measures for climate change in Nigeria. Keywords: Influence, social media, concern, climate change, knowledge

INTRODUCTION Climate change has been singled out as one of the most urgent global challenges (Hoornweg, 2011). The world today is estimated to be about 1°C warmer, on average, than it was in the 1950s, and the effects are being felt (Global Risks Report, 2016). From the evidence of science and the scenarios projected by the world climate experts and the community of scientists, it is acknowledged that Africa as a region will bear the greatest brunt and suffer the worst devastating effects from the virulent excesses caused by the world’s most gigantic externality (African Union, 2014). Increasing temperature, irregularities in rain, flood, drought, decreasing underground water levels, shorter or longer range of seasons, changing precipitation patterns, reducing snow cover, changing soil moisture, melting sea ice and glaciers, rising sea-water level, earlier flowering and ripening of flowers and fruits, and migration of plants and animals towards the poles, are the visual signs of global warming (Bates et al., 2008, Ulukan, 2009). One of the best ways of making people aware of climate change issues is the advanced features of social networking and communication technologies (Hasan and Mokter, 2012). Mass media representational practices have broadly affected translations between science and policy and have shaped perceptions of various issues of environment, technology and risk (Weingart et al., 2000). Zhao et al. (2011) found that attention to the sciencebased news has a positive effect on individual concern and knowledge about climate change. Reynolds et al. (2010) show that in recent years, there has been a significant increase in information available to the public about the topic. Social media connect people all across the globe - via networks of interest - who share messages with each other, joint comment, discuss, rate and create unique social content. They facilitate large-scale conversation and distributed problem solving; creating waves and endless possibilities for collective social action. Social media networks allow sharing of information and news at an incredible speed (Africa Adapt/International Livestock Research Institute, 2012). Social networking applications such as Facebook, twitter, hi5, and MySpace are emerging technologies that could be used to build many virtual societies. Social networking brings students and teachers of a school, or school district, together in order to share their perspectives about global warming, environmental pollution, and climate change (Hasan and Mokter, 2012). Much scientific research has been carried out on climate change in Africa and African communities possess rich experience and knowledge on adaptation to climate change. However, this local knowledge –i.e. generated by Africans or from an African perspective- is not so often available or accessible and therefore not taken into account (Africa Adapt/International Livestock Research Institute, 2012). This study aims to provide insights into influence of social media on climate change knowledge and concerns and assess potential constraints to access climate change information through social media. Studies of this nature are important in view of the role the social media is assuming in global development communication, in a way faster than the mainstream media. International development organizations such as CGIAR, UNEP and so on are keying into this uniqueness of social media within time and space to disseminate climate change information to the public in order to ensure

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appropriate response at individual, community and national levels. With vast knowledge and awareness through social media, public understanding and actions towards climate change adaptation and mitigation could be positively enshrined. According to Nalewajek and Macik (2013), social networks have several advantages and possibilities allowing ideas to spread faster than in old-fashioned internet and the main mechanism working in social media is of viral nature. Public knowledge and awareness of climate change has the tendency of increasing concern and support for policies aimed at minimizing the impacts of climate change and its related disasters. To Shi et al. (2015), causal knowledge significantly increased concern about climate change and willingness to support climate – friendly policies.

MATERIALS AND METHODS The study area This study was carried out in Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. The University founded in 1981, is located in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State. Ondo State lies between latitude 5º 45' N and 7º 52' N and longitudes 4º 20' E and 6º 5' E. Its land area is about 15,000 square kilometres. Ondo State is bounded by Edo and Delta States on the east, on the North by Ekiti and Kogi State and to the South by the Bight of Benin and Atlantic Ocean. Data collection and analyses The population for the study was the academic and non-academic staff of Federal University of Technology, Akure. The statistical sample was selected using multi-stage random sampling technique. The sampling population was academic and non-academic staff in the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. A total number of 210 respondents representing 10.4% of the total number of staff in the University were selected for this study. The list of the staff was obtained from the Academic Planning Unit of the University. There was 2017 staff (academic and non-academic) in the University in 2013 when this study was conducted. Primary data were obtained using structured questionnaire administered on the respondents. The questionnaire was made up of socio-demographic characteristics of respondents and their social media subscription, their knowledge about climate change, and concerns towards climate change. The independent variables in this study were Departments/Units, grade level status, age, religion, residence, and wealth /class while the dependent variables were climate change concerns and knowledge and awareness about climate change. Data obtained were presented and analysed using descriptive statistics, one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson’s correlation analysis.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Socio-demographic characteristics of respondents The socio-demographic characteristics of respondents are shown in Table 1, Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. It shows that 74.3% of respondents were non-academic staff of the University, this study might be due to higher number of nonacademic staff in the employment of the University. The majority of the respondents were in the age group of 3645 years, an indication that majority of them were in their active age. Perrin (2015) reported that 90.0% of 18-29 years and 77.0% of 30-49 years among Americans adults use social media. In addition, 55.7% of the respondents were male, which might have emanated from larger number of male employees than female employees in the University. Approximately 63.3% of the respondents lived in suburban areas. Perrin (2015) also reported that 58.0% of rural residents, 68.0% of sub-urban residents and 64.0% of urban residents use social media among American adults. Approximately 84.3% reported that they were in average wealth class. This is not surprising since the respondents are Federal civil servants whose income might be higher than the country’s minimum wage. Of the respondents, 81.9% did not belong to environment-related NGOs, an indication that membership of environment-related NGOs by the respondents was low. Respondents’ subscription and frequency of interaction on social media All the respondents subscribed to at least one social media (Fig. 3). However, 80.5% subscribed to Facebook, followed by Yahoo messenger (48.6%), Whatsapp (42.8%), Twitter (42.4%), and Blackberry (40.0%) while the least social media subscribed to was TumbIr (2.4%). This is an indication that Facebook had the largest number of subscribers among the respondents. This is consistent with the findings by Duggan (2015) who reported that Facebook remains the most popular social media site with 72.0% of online adults, amounting to 62.0% of all American adults. Duggan and Brenner (2013) and SENSIS (2015) also revealed that Facebook was the social media platform mostly used by internet subscribers and that Tumblr was significantly less popular among internet users than the other social networking sites. Table 2 reveals that 48.6% and 51.4% of the respondents frequently and occasionally interact with friends on social media, an indication of average level of respondents’ engagement with others on social media.


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Table 1: Socio-demographic characteristics of respondents Variables Frequency Status Academic 54 Non-academic 156 Sex Male 117 Female 93 Religion Islam 30 Christianity 180 Residence Urban centre 77 Sub-urban centre 133 Membership of environment-related NGOs Yes 38 No 172

Percentage 25.7 74.3 55.7 44.3 14.3 85.7 36.7 63.3

Table 2: Level of interaction on social media Variables Rate of use Frequently Occasionally

Frequency

Percentage

102 108

48.6 51.4

Table 3: Climate change knowledge and awareness through social media Variables Heard on social media Discussion on social media Rate of reception of information Frequently Occasionally Not at all Effective source of information

Frequency 197 102

Percentage 93.8 48.6

44 103 60 120

21.0 49.0 28.6 57.1

18.1 81.9

49.0% 50.00%

10.50% 5.20%

40.00% 30.00%

High Average Low

25.2% 19.5% 84.30%

20.00% 6.3%

10.00% 0.00% 26-35 36-45 46-55

>55

Fig. 1: Respondents’ percentage age group (years)

Fig 2: Respondents’ reported wealth class Socila Media Subscription

Fig. 3: Level of subscription to social media by respondents Climate change knowledge and awareness through social media The study reveals that 93.8% of the respondents heard about climate change on social media while 48.6% discussed climate change with their friends on social media. Pew Global Attitudes Project (2006) however found that large majorities of respondents from developed countries had heard of global warming, while awareness remained quite low in several developing countries such as Pakistan, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Egypt. Also, 21.0% and 49.0% frequently and occasionally received climate change information on social media respectively. Maynard and Bontcheva (2015) found a large number of climate change related retweets, which is an indication


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of a high level of engagement on climate change. Among the respondents, 57.1% viewed social media as an effective source of climate change information (Table 3). This is in contrast to Piccolo and Alani (2015) that reported that social media is not yet considered as a strong channel of information on climate change. However, Grasso et al. (2016) opined that social media have become a primary source of information during emergencies where emergency managers, authorities and citizens may interact with each other, providing and receiving useful information as the event unfold. According to Vieweg et al. (2010), information shared on social media may improve situational awareness and help people to collect useful information for decision making. Schroeder et al. (2013) opined that through the use of social media networks such as Facebook or Twitter, information can be disseminated to vast networks quickly and across governance scales. Dissemination of climate change information through social media Majority of the respondents reported that Facebook disseminate the highest information on climate change related news and information on climate change induced disasters. However, least information was disseminated through Twoo, Mixit and Instagram (Fig. 4). This may be because Facebook is the most used social media platform (SENSIS, 2015).

Blackberry messenger Facebook Twitter Youtube Whatsapp 2go Badoo Two Eskimi Myspace Mixit Skype Google+ Google talk Yahoo messenger Tumblr LinkedIn Others

Climate change related news Climate change induced disaster

Fig. 4: Level of dissemination of climate change information through social media Respondents’ association of disasters with climate change In Table 4, respondents’ association of disasters with climate change is presented. It reveals that 77.6% of the respondents associated global warming with climate change, this was followed flood (66.2%), increase in air and sea temperature (61.0%), increase in greenhouse gases and climate variability (60.5%), ozone hole problem (55.7%), earthquake (53.8%), drought (53.3%), sea level rise (52.9%) and hurricane (51.9%). United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR, 2012) reported flood, storm, drought and extreme temperature as climate-related disasters around the world from 1980-2011. Perceived causes of climate change according to respondents Table 5 reveals that 77.1% of the respondents viewed burning of fossil fuels as the highest cause of climate change, followed by poor industrial practices (73.8%), land clearing (i.e. deforestation) (73.3%) and transportation (72.40%). According to United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR, 2008), expression of climate change for most people means alteration of the world’s climate that we humans are causing, through fossil fuel burning, clearing forests and other practices that increase the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Climate change concerns of the respondents The result showed that 36.7% and 47.6% of the respondents were very concerned and moderately concerned about climate change (Table 6). In their studies on the role of social media on perceptions and behaviour towards climate change, Piccolo and Alani (2015) observed that 36.8% and 35.4% of their respondents were in the higher levels of concerns while 7.5% were in the maximum level of concern in a scale of 1-5. Furthermore, in studies conducted in Europe, De Rose and Testa (2015) found a high level of heterogeneity in people’s concerns about climate change. INRA (1992) found that 89.0% in the EC-12 were very/somewhat worried about the greenhouse effects, of these, 62.0% were very worried. INRA-ECO (1995) also reported that 84.0% of the public declared themselves to be very/quite worried about climate change as a global environmental threat. However, EORG (2002) reported that concern about climate change might be declining among the European with only 39.0% found to be very worried. According to Pew Research Center (2015), research shows that Latin America and Africa were more concerned about climate change compared with other regions.


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Table 4: Respondents’ association of disasters with climate change Variables Earthquake Hurricane Increase greenhouse gases Land slides Volcanoes Floods Global warming Drought Fish kill Sea level rise Increase in temperature More intense storm surges Health epidemics Coral reef bleaching Climate variability Ozone hole problem El nino No specific association

Frequency 113 109 127 99 99 139 163 112 76 111 128 104 90 74 127 117 59 44

Table 5: Perceived causes of climate change according to respondents

Percentage Variables Frequency Percentage Burning fossil fuels 162 77.1 53.8 Transportation (car, bus, boat etc.) 152 72.4 51.9 Land clearing 154 73.3 60.5 Poor agricultural practices 124 59.0 47.1 Poor industrial practices 155 73.8 47.1 Electric generation 101 48.1 66.2 Improper refuse disposal 142 67.6 77.6 Sea level rise 94 44.8 53.3 Coral reef bleaching 76 36.2 36.2 52.9 Table 6: Climate change concerns of the respondents 61.0 49.5 Variables Frequency Percentage 42.9 Concerned about climate change 35.2 Very concerned 77 36.7 60.5 Moderately concerned 100 47.6 55.7 Not concerned 23 11.0 28.1 Don’t know/Not sure 10 4.8 21.0

Respondents’ rating of means of dealing with climate change Large percentage rated increase in public awareness of climate change issues (56.7%) and disasters’ management plans (56.2%) as the most effective means of dealing with climate change (Table 7). This suggests that the respondents viewed public awareness on climate change and disaster management plans as effective measures for combating climate change. Public awareness on climate change can engender appropriate behaviours towards reduction in the human activities that are precursors of climate change. Disaster management plans as obtained in many western countries can lessen the magnitude of impacts of climate change induced disasters. Majority of the respondents agreed that pollution of the environment is the activity that can worsen climate change, followed by deforestation and improper waste disposal, poor soil conservation practices and car emission respectively (Fig. 5). Table 7: Respondents’ rating of means of dealing with climate change Variables Disaster management plans Increased public awareness of climate change issues Flooding warning systems Public education on health related impact of climate change Increased research and development of renewable energy technologies

Frequency 118 119 99 204 98

Percentage 56.2 56.7 47.1 49.5 46.7

Constraints to climate change information access through social media Lack of specific social media on climate change and poor access to internet were regarded as the most constraints to the respondents’ accessibility to climate change information (Table 8). Most social media are not climate change specific and thus low level of specific climate change information on the sites when required. In most developing countries, access to internet is a problem and access is also limited by cost and unreliability of internet services from network providers particularly through the global system of mobile communication (GSM). These factors may inhibit the frequency of use and climate change information dissemination through social media. Socio-demographic differences in respondents’ climate change knowledge and awareness One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test shows that there was no significant difference in respondents' knowledge and awareness of climate change based on respondents' age, religion, residence, and wealth class (p>0.05). However, there was significant difference in respondents' knowledge and awareness of climate change based on respondents' department/unit (F=3.86, p