The videos the group cited come from a variety of sources, including pundits, podcasters and advocacy groups.

They also included industry giants like Exxon Mobil, which has been accused of “greenwashing” its contribution to carbon emissions, though its videos did not explicitly violate YouTube’s policies; and mainstream conservative media like Fox News, whose videos sometimes did. (In one, Fox’s recently fired anchor Tucker Carlson dismissed the fight against climate change as “a coordinated effort by the government of China to hobble the U.S. and the West and take its place as the leader of the world.”)

Exxon Mobil and Fox did not immediately respond to a request for comment

Almost all the videos featured ads, the researchers found, which meant YouTube was generating revenue from the content and, in some instances, may have paid creators for the videos. The placement of ads is an automated process. The platform’s videos are often targeted for particular viewers, meaning that different users will see different commercials before the same video plays.

Creators can receive compensation from YouTube as members of the company’s partner program, after they accumulate 1,000 subscribers and users watch 4,000 hours of their videos. It was unclear how many videos featuring climate misinformation were from creators in the program.