Rutgers and Yale Study Finds Positive Heat Wave Images Can Undermine Climate Risk Messages
A Rutgers and Yale study examining the impact of imagery in shaping public perceptions of heat waves and climate risks found that positive images, such as people enjoying themselves at the beach or pool during a heat wave, can weaken the impact of messages about extreme heat. In contrast, the same message paired with neutral or negative images made people more worried about heat waves and strengthened their belief that climate change is making heat waves more frequent and severe.
“The positive, negative, or neutral impact of images is a critical but understudied factor in environmental communication,” said lead author Afrooz Mosallaei Ph.D.’26, a research associate at the Center for News, Technology & Innovation (CNTI). “Emotions shape risk perception, information processing, and policy support, yet no studies have examined how the emotional framing of heat wave-related news imagery influences public responses.
"This study fills this gap by experimentally testing the impact of positive, negative, or neutral images in social media-based news about heat waves. Addressing this gap can refine climate communication strategies and improve public understanding and responsiveness to heat wave threats.”
The study, “Positive Images of Heat Waves Reduce the Effects of Messages about Extreme Heat Among US Adults” was published in the journal Environmental Communication. Mosallaei’s co-authors include Laura Thomas-Walters, Matthew H. Goldberg, Seth A. Rosenthal, and Anthony Leiserowitz of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, Yale University.
As climate change increases the frequency and intensity of heat waves, both globally and in the United States, improving news media coverage and visual representation of heat-related risks is critical for raising public awareness, enhancing preparedness, and building policy support, the researchers said.
While most previous research on climate communication has focused on text rather than visuals, the authors noted that studies examining visuals have found that images “actively shape how such risks are perceived and remembered.”
Additionally, the authors said, few climate communication studies have specifically addressed heat waves, and this study also examined the role that digital and social media play in climate communication as Americans increasingly find news on those platforms.
To gather the data, Mosallaei said she and her coauthors conducted a preregistered online experiment with 3,960 U.S. adults. Participants were randomly assigned to view a mock Instagram news post that contained the same text about extreme heat, but was paired with either a negative, neutral, or positive image.
The positive images in our study, such as people beating the heat by relaxing by the pool or ocean, may have counteracted the impact of the accompanying text about extreme heat risks.
Afrooz Mosallaei
They tested whether negative, neutral, or positive images affect how worried people become about heat waves, whether they believe climate change is making heat waves worse, and how likely they are to share that information with others, Mosallaei said, adding that they also wanted to know whether these effects differ depending on people’s experiences, political affiliation, or health status.
Within each treatment condition, participants were randomly exposed to one of three images (three images each for negative, neutral, and positive valence). To make sure the results were really about emotional tone—and not caused by one specific photo, facial expression, or color scheme—they used several different images in each category.
The researchers found that messages about heat waves accompanied by a negative or neutral image significantly increased worry about heat waves and strengthened the belief that climate change is making heat waves worse.
On the other hand, when the message was accompanied by a positive image, it had no significant impact on worry about heat waves.
“The positive images in our study, such as people beating the heat by relaxing by the pool or ocean, may have counteracted the impact of the accompanying text about extreme heat risks,” Mosallaei said.
Further findings from the study showed:
- Not all images within the same category worked the same way. Some negative images were much more effective than others, showing that researchers and communicators shouldn’t assume one image represents an entire type of visual.
- Their emotional response to images did not affect whether people said they would share the message on social media.
- People who had not personally experienced a heat wave were more influenced by the images than those who had.
- The study found no meaningful differences in how people responded based on political affiliation, media exposure, or chronic health conditions.
These findings offer several important insights for climate change communication practice, Mosallaei said. “If communicators, including news organizations, public health agencies, or policymakers, use upbeat images of people enjoying hot weather alongside warnings about dangerous heat, they may unintentionally reduce the message’s impact. Choosing visuals that match the seriousness of the message can help people better understand the risks of extreme heat and support more effective climate and public health communication.”
Image: Pexels
