PARIS: Scientists suffering from insults and mass spam are leaving Twitter for alternative social networks as hostile climate change denialism grows on the platform after Elon Musk took over. Researchers have documented an explosion of hate and misinformation on Twitter since the Tesla billionaire took over in October 2022 — and now experts say it is becoming increasingly difficult to communicate about climate science on the social network that many of them rely on. Policies aimed at limiting the deadly effects of climate change are accelerating, leading to a rise in what experts describe as an organized backlash from opponents of climate reform. Peter Gleick, a climate and water specialist with nearly 99,000 followers, announced on Sunday (May 21) that he would no longer post on the platform because it was amplifying racism and sexism. While he is used to "offensive, personal ad hominem attacks, including direct physical threats," he told AFP, "in recent months, since the takeover and changes at Twitter, the amount, malice and intensity of abuse has skyrocketed." CLIMATE TWEETS ARE FALLING. Robert Rohde, a physicist and senior scientist at the nonprofit environmental data analysis group Berkeley Earth, analyzed activity on hundreds of accounts of widely followed experts who posted about climate science before and after the takeover. He found that climate scientists' tweets were losing influence. The average number of likes they received fell by 38 percent, and the average number of retweets fell by 40 percent. (ChannelNewsAsia)