"The Hate Raining on the Weather": Spain Sees Surge in Online Violence Against Climate Scientists. Now Politics Rushes to Respond

It starts with a photo swiped from a meteorologist's X profile: underneath, a string of comments accusing him of "fabricating" alerts or being part of a "chemtrails conspiracy". Someone vows "to come find him". This isn't a one-off—it's the new normal decried by Spanish scientists and communicators. In mere months, social feeds of climate messengers have flooded with hostility, denigrating memes, conspiratorial hints. So much so that Deputy PM and Ecological Transition Minister Sara Aagesen wrote to the hate crimes prosecutor's office, demanding priority on this "alarmingly rising" phenomenon that hits people and erodes collective trust in science.

What's Happening: Escalation in Numbers

Per the VI OCCC Report (Climate Change Communication Observatory), 2024 saw 49% of X climate talks laced with denialism among analyzed posts. Among hostile ones, 17.6% packed hate speech, personal attacks, or smears on pros sharing verified info—unprecedented rates in Spain.

A 2025 peer-reviewed study in Social Inclusion sifted ~half a million messages to state agency AEMET: ~25% showed "some hostility" toward the outfit and staff, fanned by geoengineering theories and chemtrails.

Global press amplified the alert: Spain logs "significant surges" in online attack intensity, frequency, violence against meteorologists, science spreaders, journos.

Behind stats: faces, voices. AEMET spokesman Rubén del Campo recounts constant vicious comments pairing his pic with fabricated quotes: "Seeing your photo slammed for made-up stuff makes you sick". It's the "background noise" of every public word. Some colleagues get outright threats.

Why Spain Means Business: Aagesen's Move, Institutional Backdrop

On Jan 9, 2026, MITECO (Ecological Transition Ministry) pledged a dossier to the hate crimes prosecutor's office with key academic studies, OCCC data, stressing science info protection. The forwarded letter highlights hostility's corrosive effect on info ecosystems: less trust in forecasters means ignored emergency warnings on heatwaves, floods, extremes.

This fits Spain's hate crime sensitivity. Recent years saw Fiscalía General beef up specialized units, appointing the first "Sala fiscal" for hate/discrimination, spiking prosecutions/convictions. Trends (beyond climate) show rising cases, spotlighting social media amplification turning polarization into targeted assaults.

Meanwhile, on climate policy, government pushed a State Pact on Climate Emergency and public dialogue with scientists, orgs, citizens—deeming info quality critical infrastructure for collective action.

European Angle: When Moderation Fails

Not Spain-only. EU's Digital Services Act (DSA) mandates Big Tech risk assessments, data access for research, swift illegal content takedowns incl. hate speech. EU Commission launched first formal action vs. X in Dec 2023; after 2 years, slapped a €120M fine in Dec 2025 for transparency breaches like misleading "blue checks", researcher data blocks. Core gripes: tech compliance—yet signal clear: curb misinfo superspread, enable independent checks.

Updated EU Code of Conduct on online hate binds platforms (X, Meta, YouTube etc.) to boost transparency, speed flagged removals via trusted flaggers. Pledges lag: Spanish data shows <10% removals often.

From Hostility to Disinfo: Hate Machine Fuel

Studies align: personal attacks + disinfo tandem. AEMET analysis flags conspiracy theories (geoengineering, chemtrails, weather control) sparking smear drives. Convos flare during/after extremes, when publics crave quick, emotive hits. Post-Valencia DANA (Oct 29, 2024) X flows tied disinfo to sadness/fear; TikTok to rage/disgust—emo hooks max virality, drop defenses.

Social backdrop: Spain's majority accepts climate crisis, but ~1 in 10 denies. Minority enough for echo chambers where bots, anon accounts, polarizers brew toxic narratives spilling mainstream.

Real Fallout: Scientist Health, Public Trust, Safety

For climate voices, pressure breeds stress, self-censorship, social exits. Beyond personal toll: AEMET study authors cite "chilling effect" curbing "accurate, quality public access". Social cost: less awareness, more risk exposure.

Public services: credibility loss = ops risk. Red alerts demand trust. Normalizing meteorologist hate—"messengers"—undermines response speed.

Democracy: polarization + fakes = "fertile ground" for violence, per gov observers, Fiscalía—hate probes up sharply, not always climate-linked.

Madrid's Actions (and Potentials)

Dossier to prosecutors, responsibility chain: Aagesen's prosecutorial tap aims ministry-judiciary-police sync on threats to broad manipulation ecosystems. No "thought police"—track, fight penal-threshold or "gray zone" stuff harming public safety, climate resilience.

Media literacy, research collab: VI OCCC + global studies push preventives: lit programs, swift fact-check campaigns, researcher data—for transparent systemic risk gauges. Under-tested frontier needs funding, continuity.

EU rules, platform pressure: Spain leverages DSA/EU codes for audits, ad transparency, firm removal timelines. X precedents (infringement probe, €120M fine) prove Brussels' teeth. Enforcement consistency key: sans data/oversight, hate lurks.

A Climate Democracy Needs Trust

Climate crisis here now: heat/drought yields to torrents like Oct 29 DANA. Science info = public good like dams, fire-managed woods. Hating its makers/spreaders isn't online "collateral"—it's structural risk we can't afford. Spain's play—prosecutor dossier, platform squeezes, comms skills investment—charts course. Now EU bodies, media, users must daily-ize it, so next weather warning gets trusted, grasped, heeded.