Abstract

New media enables open communication about climate change and natural hazards due to its increasing and widespread usage among its users. This article aims to investigate the use of new media for information and communication about climate change and natural hazards and examine women’s perception of its role in creating awareness about climate change. Based on mixed methods, quantitative data was collected by administering 384 paper-based questionnaires to female university students in Pakistan. For qualitative data, in-depth interviews of experts in one or more of the relevant research areas were also conducted. The findings of the study reveal that new media is a widely used source by literate women to gather information. Reading online newspapers by the respondents for climate change and natural hazards ranked first, followed by social networking sites, YouTube, blogs, emails, and listening to podcast/online radio. Female respondents agreed that new media is playing a major role in providing updated information about climate change and its causes and consequences. The findings of the study also revealed that media is educating people in dealing with climate change. However, educating women was deemed lesser in importance than reporting on climate politics.