More than a third of people who believe that climate change is primarily caused by humans agree at least somewhat with the idea that natural disaster victims who do not accept climate science get what they deserve when they’re hit by climate-caused disasters. The overwhelming majority (68 percent) of these people were Democrats, although some Republicans (22 percent) and independents (10 percent) held these feelings as well.

Further, we find evidence consistent with the idea that this schadenfreude is fueled by partisan teamsmanship.

The biggest politically motivated predictor of thinking that climate deniers deserve to be hit by natural disasters was whether someone identifies as an ideological liberal. In fact, among Democrats, identifying as a liberal is associated with approximately a 38 percent greater likelihood of believing that climate-change deniers get what they deserve if their region is devastated by a hurricane.