Climate Change Literacy among the Social Media Users of Pakistan: A Quantitative Analysis

Abstract

Climate change is one the most crucial issues of modern times grappling with the harms for instance rising temperatures, unpredictable weather patterns and glacier melting. It is calling for an immediate action to mitigate its harmful impacts to humanity and planet earth. The segregation of awareness between global north and global south regarding the climate related issues is clear and loud. The media plays a vital role in creating awareness regarding contemporary issues including climate change and the environment. Social media being the most modern tool of creating a social change in terms of behaviors and attitudes of consumers can be significantly used to evaluate climate literacy in the global south mainly in Pakistan. The objective of this study is to analyze the climate change awareness, perception and attitude of social media consumers of Pakistan. By using a quantitative survey method, the responses of sample population aging from 18 to 55+ years are analyzed through SPSS statistics. Purposive sampling technique has been used. The mediatization theory is used to analyze the linkage between media and society. How modern media influence its consumers is also studied in the framework of this research. The findings of this research strongly emphasize the importance of mass media consumption in climate literacy in the global south. It also addresses the need of improving climate change communication to enhance the environmental knowledge of audiences. The results of this study will also help policy makers and media professionals in effective climate change communication.