Extreme weather and climate salience : the effects of the 2021 western heat dome on the salience of climate change

The risk of extreme weather events is expected to increase as global surface temperature rises in part due to lack of government actions to slow climate change. Extreme weather events are expected to close the temporal distance between the public and climate change and act as a focusing event which increases the salience of climate change for citizens. However, the current empirical evidence on the effects of extreme weather events on the salience of climate change is inconclusive, and no such research exists within a Canadian context. Using an OLS regression model, this study adds to the pre-existing literature by studying the effects of personally experiencing the 2021 Western Heat Dome on the salience of climate change in the Canadian public. The 2021 Western Heat Dome was an extreme and deadly heat event which caused the death of 619 individuals between June 25 and July 1, 2021, in British Columbia. Individuals who experienced the 2021 Western Heat Dome are expected to have a higher increase in the salience of climate change compared to individuals who did not personally experience this event. However, this study finds no evidence that the 2021 Western Heat Dome had an impact on the salience of climate change for individuals, including within partisan subgroups. The role of news media as a mediating factor between extreme weather events and climate salience is also examined, however this study finds no evidence that the media played a role in increasing the salience of climate change by conveying messages about the 2021 Western Heat Dome. Arts, Faculty ofPolitical Science, Department ofGraduat