The Rise and (Relative) Decline of Global Warming as a Social Problem

Extends S. Hilgartner and C. Bosk's (1988) public arenas approach to social problems by examining changes in audience receptiveness to claims-making activities. Scientists' claims about global warming failed to attract much public attention until the drought of the summer of 1988 created a social scare. Environmental claims, like the nuclear threat, are most likely to be honored (and accelerate demands in the political arena) when they piggyback on dramatic real-world events. Audience receptiveness to claims-making activities diminishes as concern with the dramatic event attenuates. The dynamics of this social problem over time reveal that both the demand attenuation process and the issue redirection process have diminished global warming's standing as a "celebrity" social problem. Social scares hold potential importance for prospective social problems that revolve around new techniques.