FOR EVERY ACTION THEIR IS A REACTION

Anti-climate action groups tend to arise in countries with stronger climate change efforts

Study suggests counter climate groups emerge as a form of backlash to stronger environmental policies and institutions

PLOS

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

Map of countries in the world that have at least one counter climate change organization by 2018, by date the first organization is founded.

view more 

Credit: Hannah Trillo, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

A new study suggests that countries with stronger commitments to protect the natural environment—regardless of national oil dependence or other economic interests—are more likely to see the establishment of counter climate change groups that aim to obstruct climate change action. Jared Furuta and Patricia Bromley of Stanford University, U.S., present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on January 22, 2025.

Prior research has highlighted how the fossil fuel industry and conservative think tanks and philanthropists have stoked climate change skepticism in the U.S. in order to serve their economic and political interests. However, in the past several decades, the counter climate change movement has become international and now includes eclectic organizations whose views are not straightforwardly tied to economic or political self-interest.

To better understand the factors influencing the growing international counter climate change movement, Furuta and Bromley conducted a statistical analysis of data on more than 160 countries and hundreds of counter climate organizations around the world.

Their analysis suggests that counter climate organizations are more likely to arise in countries that have stronger policies and structures aimed at protecting the natural environment. Notably, factors related to a country’s economic interests—such as greenhouse gas emissions or reliance on oil resources—did not have a significant association with the development of counter climate change organizations. Nor did several other alternative factors also explored by the researchers, such as a country’s level of economic development, level of income inequality, its ties to the U.S., or the ideology of its political leadership.

These findings support the idea that reactionary and oppositional dynamics shape counter climate change movements as part of a process that is intertwined with the evolution of pro-environmental efforts.

On the basis of their findings, the researchers outline potential directions for future research and policymaking, suggesting, for instance, that climate change policymakers and environmental organizations might consider routinely investigating the ways in which their efforts could possibly trigger counterproductive reactionary movements, and adjust their efforts accordingly.

The authors add: “More than fifty countries around the world are now home to at least one counter climate change organization: nonprofits that work to undermine climate science and policy. These organizations have long been active in the US, but in recent years they have evolved to form a global movement; they arise especially in countries with the strongest environmental policies and institutions, rather than in countries with the highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions or industrial activity.”

 

 

In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS One: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0315012

Citation: Furuta J, Bromley P (2025) Globalizing opposition to pro-environmental institutions: The growth of counter climate change organizations around the world, 1990 to 2018. PLoS ONE 20(1): e0315012. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0315012

Author countries: U.S.

Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.

---

Journal

PLOS One

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0315012 

Method of Research

Computational simulation/modeling

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Globalizing opposition to pro-environmental institutions: The growth of counter climate change organizations around the world, 1990 to 2018

Article Publication Date

22-Jan-2025

Severe weather and major power outages increasingly coincide across the U.S.

Nationwide patterns of severe events provide crucial data for hazard response and mitigation

Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

An understanding of the relationship between severe weather and power outages in our changing climate will be critical for hazard response plans, according to a study led by a researcher at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. The study is published in the open-access journal PLOS Climate.

Throughout the U.S., large-scale power outages commonly occur alongside severe weather events. These combined events can be associated with major economic costs and health risks, as loss of power can disrupt medical equipment, heating or air conditioning, and other important systems. As severe weather events increase in severity and frequency due to climate change, understanding the patterns and distribution of these outages is critical for community preparation and resource allocation.

In this study, first author Vivian Do, a PhD candidate in environmental health sciences, and colleagues compiled data from 2018-2020 on severe weather events (including rain, snow, heat, cold, cyclones, and wildfire) and large-scale power outages lasting eight hours or more for over 1600 counties across the country. The data reveal that nearly 75 percent of these counties experienced major power outages alongside severe weather events during this three-year period, and over 50 percent of counties experienced outages alongside multiple simultaneous weather events.

Outages most commonly occurred alongside severe precipitation and heat, but the events are not distributed evenly, with precipitation-associated outages more common in the Northeast U.S. and heat-associated outages more common in the Southeast. This study also found that co-occurring outages and wildfires along the West Coast became increasingly common from 2018 to 2020.

The researchers note that reliable data was not available for all U.S. counties, so information is limited in regions such as the Southwest and Mountain West. Do and colleagues suggest that further research providing additional data, along with simulations of severe weather combinations in different locations will be useful for developing mitigation and response tactics.

Do adds: “Power outages frequently co-occur with severe weather events like heavy precipitation, tropical cyclones, or multiple severe weather events simultaneously. Understanding patterns of where and when power outages and severe weather events co-occur is crucial for informing strategies to minimize societal consequences, especially as the electrical grid ages and climate change drives more severe weather events.”

This work was funded by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (ES009089, ES007322-22, ES007033), the National Institute on Aging (AG071024), the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute grant (HL172608). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Additional authors include Nina Flores and Heather McBrien at Columbia Mailman; Lauren B. Wilner and Joan A. Casey at the University of Washington, Seattle; and Alexander J. Northrop at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Ichan School of Medicine in New York.

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.  

This press release was adapted from one published by PLOS.

---

Journal

PLOS Climate

DOI

10.1371/journal.pclm.0000523 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Spatiotemporal patterns of individual and multiple simultaneous severe weather events co-occurring with power outages in the United States

Article Publication Date

22-Jan-2025

 

Float like a jellyfish: New coral mobility mechanisms uncovered

Queensland University of Technology

LinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

Orange Fungia

view more 

Credit: Dr Brett Lewis

When it comes time to migrate, QUT research has found how a free-living coral ignores the classic advice and goes straight towards the light.

The research – led by Dr Brett Lewis from the QUT School of Atmospheric and Earth Sciences and Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program, and published in PLOS One – investigated how the free-living mushroom coral Cycloseris cyclolites moves, navigates and responds to light in its natural environments.

“Not all corals are attached to the substrate; some are solitary and free-living, allowing them to migrate into preferred habitats,” Dr Lewis said. 

“However, the lifestyle of these mobile corals, including how they move and navigate for migration, remains largely obscure.”

Cycloseris cyclolites is an adorably small free-living species of mushroom coral capable of migrating to different reef habitats, often driven by the search for optimal light conditions.

Using high-resolution time-lapse imaging, the team identified that Cycloseris cyclolites was able to move via a mechanism known as pulsed inflation, a process where the coral inflates and deflates its tissue in rhythmic bursts to propel itself forward, like the movement seen in jellyfish.

The mechanism appears to be a widespread strategy for free-living corals, aiding in functions such as self-righting when turned upside down, sediment rejection when buried during storms and now phototaxis – behaviours that help the coral survive in complex environments.

 “Our findings suggest that pulsed inflation is not just a survival strategy but a critical mechanism for migration and navigation,” Dr Lewis said.

“The ability of Cycloseris cyclolites to move towards specific light sources is a fascinating parallel to other marine species like jellyfish, which suggests they are more neurologically sophisticated than previously thought.”

Cycloseris cyclolites was also shown to exhibit a strong preference for blue light, with 86.7 per cent of the corals moving towards blue light sources, compared to just 20 per cent for white light.

The ability of these migratory mushroom corals to distinguish between different wavelengths of light aligns with their preference for deeper water habitats, where blue wavelengths dominate, and could be crucial for their migration to optimal depths for survival, reproduction and dispersal.

Providing new insights into coral mobility mechanisms, the findings show just how closely related these corals are to jellyfish mechanisms which have been previously researched as a key point in the evolution of the centralised nervous system humans possess today.

“The findings also have important ecological implications,” Dr Lewis said.

“Understanding their movement strategies could help scientists predict how migratory corals might resist, survive or adapt to changes in environmental conditions such as sea surface changes caused by climate change, which can be reduced by the deeper waters these corals migrate to.

“With these climate-driven factors increasing, the faster the migration, the higher the chance of survival.”

Other QUT researchers involved in the study include Professor Peter Prentis, from the School of Biology and Environmental Science, and Dr Luke Nothdurft, from the School of Atmospheric and Earth Sciences.

S1 [VIDEO] | EurekAlert! Science News Releases

Super high-resolution time-lapse taken using Olympus Om-D E-M5 Mark II Camera with 60mm lens showing C. cyclolites tissue inflation, which reduces friction and increases buoyancy. This process allows local water currents to move the coral in the prevailing direction, facilitating passive locomotion.

S2 [VIDEO] | EurekAlert! Science News Releases

Super high-resoution time-lapse, captured using an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II camera with a 60mm lens, showing passive mobility in C. cyclolites. As opposed to S1, the local water currents cause the coral to roll over the substrate instead of slide.Credit

S3 [VIDEO] | EurekAlert! Science News Releases

Time-lapse video demonstrating the biomechanics of pulsed inflation mobility in C. cyclolites. The video integrates footage from an iPad (inset) capturing the topside view and a Dino-Lite Edge Series microscope recording the underside. This combined perspective highlights the coordinated inflation and contraction of coral tissues, driving active locomotion by shifting surface contact via pedal structures and generating forward movement through lateral tissue contractions.

S4 [VIDEO] | EurekAlert! Science News Releases

High-resolution time-lapse (4K), captured using an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III with a 60mm lens, demonstrating the detailed biomechanics of pulsed inflation mobility in C. cyclolites. The video shows the inflation of peripheral tissues and the twisting and contraction of lateral tissues, which collectively drive the coral's forward movement in a manner similar to jellyfish swimming.

Dr Brett Lewis

Journal

PLOS One

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0315623 

Article Title

Walking coral: Complex phototactic mobility in the free-living coral Cycloseris cyclolites

Article Publication Date

22-Jan-2025

Some coral "walk" towards blue or white light, using rolling, sliding or pulsing movements to migrate, per experiments with free-living mushroom coral Cycloseris cyclolites

PLOS

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

High-definition macro DSLR images documenting the complex tissue behavior as C. cyclolites moves toward the blue source light (480nm). 

view more 

Credit: Lewis et al., 2025, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

 

 

Article URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0315623

Article title: Walking coral: Complex phototactic mobility in the free-living coral Cycloseris cyclolites

Author countries: Australia, Saudi Arabia

Funding: The authors declare the research was funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project (DP1096184). APC support was received by QUT to aid in publication. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Walking coral: Complex photota [VIDEO 1] | EurekAlert! Science News Releases

Super high-resolution time-lapse, captured using an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II camera with a 60mm lens, showing passive mobility in C. cyclolites. The local water currents cause the coral to roll over the substrate.

Walking coral: Complex photota [VIDEO 2] | EurekAlert! Science News Releases

High-resolution time-lapse (4K), captured using an Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III with a 60mm lens, demonstrating the detailed biomechanics of pulsed inflation mobility in C. cyclolites. The video shows the inflation of peripheral tissues and the twisting and contraction of lateral tissues, which collectively drive the coral’s forward movement in a manner similar to jellyfish swimming.

Credit

Lewis et al., 2025, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

---

Journal

PLOS One

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0315623 

Article Title

Walking coral: Complex phototactic mobility in the free-living coral Cycloseris cyclolites

Article Publication Date

22-Jan-2025

 

UMaine-led team develops more holistic way to monitor lobster industry

University of Maine

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

Theresa Burnham poses for a photo along Maine's working waterfront. Burnham co-led the effort to develop new socioeconomic indicators for monitoring the resiliance of Maine's lobster industry.  

view more 

Credit: Photo courtesy of Theresa Burnham

Maine’s lobster fishery — one that supports thousands of jobs statewide — is extensively monitored. Management efforts are informed by biological monitoring surveys observing changes in abundance and distribution of the lobster population, and dealer and harvester reporting from the industry. Yet these statistics don't tell the whole story of an industry shaken by supply and market disruptions and geopolitical conflict, or the welfare of the people and communities that rely on it. 

Since the annual commercial lobster landings have declined 27% from 2016-2022, the Maine Lobsterman Association sought new ways to monitor the socioeconomic resilience of the industry and better position its leaders to respond to social, economic, environmental and regulatory changes. 

After two years of data collection, quantitative and qualitative analyses, meetings and interviews with lobstermen and other stakeholders, a University of Maine-led team of researchers devised new indicators to holistically monitor the industry’s resilience. These metrics have the potential to offer greater insight into the well-being of fishermen and their families, haulers, processors, restaurateurs, other businesses and the communities in which they all reside. 

“For far too long, fishery managers have lacked the data needed to consider the social and economic impacts of regulations on Maine’s lobster industry. This study provides a suite of indicators to fill that gap so that future regulations may address sustaining the resource, lobstermen and Maine’s coastal communities,” said Patrice McCarron, executive director for the Maine Lobstermen's Association.

Published in the academic journal Marine Policy, the team identified eight socioeconomic indicators: coastal accessibility, operational condition, business investments, community composition, financial health, risk taking, personal spending and physical and mental health. Coastal accessibility is the availability and affordability of waterfront housing; operational condition equates to business expenses and cost proxies; and community composition means demographic information. 

Each indicator is backed by secondary data from state and federal agencies, as well as publicly available information from certain businesses and organizations. For example, the operational condition indicator uses landing, trip, crew and gear data from the Maine Department of Marine Resources; while coastal accessibility uses inventory, price and demographic data from the Maine Housing Authority, Realtor.com and Airbnb.com. 

“These indicators define important socioeconomic components of the fishery that lobstermen have been describing for many years. Quantifying the indicators provides an opportunity for fishermen, local communities and managers to identify and quickly respond to changes in socioeconomic condition of the fleet,” said Theresa Burnham, a research associate with the UMaine School of Marine Sciences. Burnham co-led the study conducted to create these socioeconomic indicators with Joshua Stoll, associate professor of marine policy. 

Diving into the data 

When examining coastal accessibility, one of the team’s findings was that waterfront housing statewide is unaffordable for median income earners. Coupled with a spike in short-term rentals, the data confirms that coastal accessibility has decreased since 2016 statewide. 

“The declines we are seeing in affordability of coastal housing can mean that lobstermen must travel further to the waterfront where they work, and may also be a barrier to people looking for seasonal work on lobster boats,” Burnham said.  

Data and interviews also highlighted the regional differences in the lobster industry. Operational condition, a proxy for lobstermens’ costs and earnings, increased in eastern Maine — Washington and Hancock counties — but decreased in southern Maine — York and Cumberland counties, and the midcoast. Interviews and data also indicated that communities in southern Maine are the least dependent on the lobster industry for their socioeconomic well-being.

The development of these indicators lays the foundation for enhanced monitoring of the state's lobster industry, but researchers are seeking more data to better utilize the indicators. While the coastal accessibility and operational condition indicators were deemed data rich, personal spending and physical and mental health were deemed data poor due to a lack of public, varied and no-cost data. Metrics with varied but insufficient statistics that were deemed data-limited include business investments, community composition, financial health and risk-taking. 

Additional data sharing with private businesses and government agencies will improve the utility of several socioeconomic indicators and expand insight into the well-being of the industry and communities it supports. Future research can also reveal additional ways to use the indicators, including serving as a model to monitor other fisheries, such as clam and cod. 

“This research will provide valuable data to help researchers and regulators understand the connection between the biological status of the resource and the socioeconomic wellbeing of the industry and the communities it serves,” said Kathleen Reardon, study co-author and senior lobster biologist at the Maine Department of Marine Resources. 

Organizations interested in sharing data or collaborating with researchers on enhancing these metrics can contact Theresa Burnham (theresa.burnham@maine.edu) or Joshua Stoll (joshua.stoll@maine.edu). Non-confidential data that was used in the study can be found online. 

In addition to Reardon and Burnham, the study was co-authored by Joelle Kilchenmann, a UMaine marine policy master’s student; Carla Guenther chief scientist, for the Maine Center for Coastal Fisheries; and Maggie O’Shea; a Dartmouth College Ph.D. student. 

This study is the latest example of how UMaine students and faculty are preserving and propelling the state’s blue economy, industries that use ocean resources for economic growth without jeopardizing the environment. 

Through innovation and workforce development, the university broadens insight into ecological and socioeconomic changes that affect the state’s coastal communities and businesses. Its faculty and students are also exploring opportunities for new sectors and markets and investigating potential resources to mitigate the ramifications of climate change. 

Bolstering these efforts is the UMaine Marine Aligned Research, Innovation, and Nationally-recognized Education (MARINE) Initiative, which fosters collaboration and synergy among researchers, industry, government and communities. Together, they integrate and innovate transdisciplinary marine research, education and outreach to enhance the socioeconomic well-being of people in Maine and beyond.  

---

Journal

Marine Policy

DOI

10.1016/j.marpol.2024.106543