Comparing the Effects of Information on Geoengineering Options Support Across Four Online Samples

Comparing the Effects of Information on Geoengineering Options Support Across Four Online Samples | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Comparing the Effects of Information on Geoengineering Options Support Across Four Online Samples Frederic Traylor, Steven Brechin, Rachael Shwom This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4838161/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 11 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in Climatic Change → Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Geoengineering represents a set of options to reduce the greenhouse effect that causes global climate change. While public support is necessary for effective governance and implementation, the lay public has low awareness of its existence, types, and mechanisms. Prior studies have found that providing information to the public can affect support, but there are conflicting results. This study examines to what extent these differences may be the result of survey sampling rather than the information itself. Survey respondents were randomly assigned to receive either basic or extensive information about five types of geoengineering: space mirrors, stratospheric aerosol injection, ocean fertilization, direct air capture, and afforestation. This design was replicated across four online survey samples gathered from address-based sampling, an opt-in online panel, Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), and a college classroom. Across analyses, there was general consistency of effects between the address-based sample, the opt-in sample, and the classroom sample, with limited exceptions. The MTurk sample, however, was overly noisy, even when filtering out responses that failed two attention checks. These findings suggest that sampling effects on previous studies are limited when proper samples are used, but MTurk samples remain nonrepresentative. geoengineering climate engineering survey research MTurk stratospheric aerosol injection direct air capture Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 11 Dec, 2025 Read the published version in Climatic Change → Version 1 posted Reviewers agreed at journal 28 Apr, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 28 Apr, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 22 Apr, 2025 First submitted to journal 18 Apr, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4838161","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":448914359,"identity":"cc3c1d10-1ff2-4f22-b6e9-249fbf988323","order_by":0,"name":"Frederic Traylor","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA1UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBAC9hlgygLIagDSBhaEtfDcYAZREkDWAZAWCVK0SCRAGQS1SPcf+/CzTULOfObzqxt+FEgw8Ld3J+DXInOYeWZvm4SxzO2csps9QIdJnDm7Aa8We4lkZgbeNonEGdI5aTd4gFoMJHLxa+EBamH8C9IieSbt5h9itTCDbZFgP3abWFuMmWXOSRhL8OSw3ZYxkOAh6BceicTHjG/KbOQk2I8/u/nmj40cf3svfi1gwMgG1m0AJgkrB4M/IIL9AZGqR8EoGAWjYKQBAF5HPk2Eb13yAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9842-6645","institution":"Rutgers The State University of New Jersey","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Frederic","middleName":"","lastName":"Traylor","suffix":""},{"id":448914360,"identity":"13adfb1f-5d69-4e04-bbd0-3e32a5f89fda","order_by":1,"name":"Steven Brechin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Rutgers The State University of New Jersey","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Steven","middleName":"","lastName":"Brechin","suffix":""},{"id":448914361,"identity":"0d2248b5-868b-4a2a-b79f-0f83530fc990","order_by":2,"name":"Rachael Shwom","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Rutgers The State University of New Jersey","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rachael","middleName":"","lastName":"Shwom","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-07-31 22:25:33","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4838161/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4838161/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-025-04029-9","type":"published","date":"2025-12-11T15:57:09+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":98244835,"identity":"8f84fb21-2c5e-42e0-875e-4d5bd6f077f9","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-12-15 16:15:32","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":363153,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"V2InfoExperimentclean.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4838161/v1_covered_9c178063-8a6d-453e-8c4f-7f7c8ddd0f03.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"","formattedTitle":"Comparing the Effects of Information on Geoengineering Options Support Across Four Online Samples","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":true,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"climatic-change","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"clim","sideBox":"Learn more about [Climatic Change](https://www.springer.com/journal/10584)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/clim/default.aspx","title":"Climatic Change","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"geoengineering, climate engineering, survey research, MTurk, stratospheric aerosol injection, direct air capture","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4838161/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4838161/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Geoengineering represents a set of options to reduce the greenhouse effect that causes global climate change. 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