Jennie King, ISD’s Director of Climate Disinformation Research and Policy, spoke to the New York Times about the surge in climate-related conspiracy theories surrounding Hurricanes Helene and Milton, the risk for offline harms and why people are drawn to it.

“It helps them to regain some measure of control and sense of order at a time when everything feels quite bleak and hopeless,” she said.

When conspiracies “erode people’s trust in institutions and the whole idea of government coordination, then suddenly people either ignore or actively refute the instructions that they’re being given. There has just been this complete breakdown in those channels of communication.”

Jennie’s commentary on this issue is also available in CBS News.