Swedish election: Why this viral image is not proof of “climate hysteria”
A misleading image has falsely claimed to show evidence of “climate hysteria” in Sweden ahead of the country’s general election.
Users have alleged that a Swedish TV company has changed the design and colors of the weather map to exaggerate global warming.
The claim was also reinforced on Twitter by Lars Beckman, Member of Parliament for the right-wing party Moderates.
The Cube, Euronews’ social media news desk, has fact-checked the claims.
The viral image claims to show two weather forecasts allegedly shared by the same news channel in 1986 and 2022.
Using open source tools, Euronews found that the images were shared by two different broadcasters to show weather patterns and temperature.
The weather map image on the left was first shown in July 2016by the state-controlled television broadcaster SVT.
The second image – showing an orange map and ground temperature readings – was taken from another the television network, TV4, in August 2021.
Not only were the images marked with incorrect dates, but they were also shared by different broadcasters, who use different graphics to display weather and temperature forecasts.
The misleading picture has previously gone viral in Sweden and was further shared on Facebook before the summer the election on 11 September.
Election campaigns often provide fertile ground for misinformation to spread online because of the emotions attached to them.