Images of Extreme Weather: Symbolising Human Responses to Climate Change

Nerlich, Brigitte; Jaspal, Rusi

doi:10.1080/09505431.2013.846311

Cited by 44 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…As Linder (2006) described in his study of climate change advertising, visual synecdoches may also become subject to parody, inverting and challenging the original reading of the visual. Here, visual synecdoches were identified both through a bottom-up process, examining the dataset for frequently used imagery that was not directly associated with the manifest content of the text, and top-down, examining the dataset for iconic climate change imagery as identified in previous studies (including Smith and Joffe 2009, DiFrancesco and Young 2011, O'Neill 2013, León and Erviti 2013, Nerlich and Jaspal 2014, Rebich-Hespanha et al 2015, Wozniak et al 2015and Born 2018. Notable visual synecdoches arising within this dataset are ice imagery and polar bears, smokestacks and wind turbines (Fig.…”

Section: Iconic Imagery and Climate Synecdochesmentioning

confidence: 99%

More than meets the eye: a longitudinal analysis of climate change imagery in the print media

O’Neill

2019

Climatic Change

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Images are ubiquitous in everyday life. They are a key part of the communication process, shaping peoples' attitudes and policy preferences on climate change. Images which have come to dominate visual portrayals of climate change (and conversely, those that are marginalised or excluded) influence how we interact with climate change in our everyday lives. This paper presents the first in-depth, cross-cultural and longitudinal study of climate change visual discourse. It examines over a thousand images associated with articles about climate change in UK and US newspapers between 2001 and 2009, a pivotal decade for climate change engagement. Content, frame and iconographic analyses reveal a remarkably consistent visual discourse in the UK and US newspapers. The longitudinal analysis shows how the visual representation of climate changed mid-decade. Before 2005, a distancing frame was common. Imagery of polar landscapes acted as a visual synecdoche for distant climate risk. After 2005, there was a rapid increase in visual coverage, an increase in use of the contested visual frame, alongside an increase in climate cartoons, protest imagery and visual synecdoches. These synecdoches began to be subverted and parodied, particularly in the right-leaning press. These results illustrate the rise of climate change scepticism during the mid-2000s. This study has implications for public engagement with climate change. It shows that the contested and distancing visual frames are deeply and historically embedded in the meaning-making of climate change. Additionally, it showcases the importance of visual synecdoches, used by newspapers in particular circumstances to engage particular audiences. Knowing and understanding visual use is imperative to enable an evidence-based approach to climate engagement endeavours.

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Section: Iconic Imagery and Climate Synecdochesmentioning

confidence: 99%

More than meets the eye: a longitudinal analysis of climate change imagery in the print media

O’Neill

2019

Climatic Change

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“…Perhaps surprisingly given the complex and global nature of the issue, a rather limited set of images has come to represent climate change in the public discourse. The typical iconography includes polar bears and other animals (Doyle, ; Leon & Erviti, ; O'Neill & Nicholson‐Cole, ; Smith & Joffe, ; Yusoff & Gabrys, ), melting ice and glaciers (Brönnimann, ; Doyle, ; Leon & Erviti, ; Manzo, ; Smith & Leiserowitz, ; Smith & Joffe, ), extreme weather (Smith & Joffe, ; Rebich‐Hespanha et al, ; Metag, Schäfer, Füchslin, Barsuhn, & Kleinen‐von Königslöw, ; Nerlich & Jaspal, ; Ahchong & Dodds, ; Grittmann, ), globes (Doyle, ; Manzo, ), and politicians (Metag et al, ; Smith & Joffe, ). Many of these image tropes have been summarized in a recent overview of the field (O'Neill, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Public engagement with climate imagery in a changing digital landscape

Wang

Corner

Chapman

et al. 2018

WIREs Climate Change

100

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Despite extensive exploration into the use of language in climate change communication, our understanding of the use of visual images, and how they relate to public perceptions of climate change, is less developed. A limited set of images have come to represent climate change, but rapid changes in the digital landscape, in the way media and information are created, conveyed, and consumed has changed the way climate change is visualized. We review the use of climate imagery in digital media (news and social media, art, video and visualizations), and synthesize public perceptions research on factors that are important for engaging with climate imagery. We then compare how key research findings and recommendations align with the practical strategies of campaigners and communicators, highlighting opportunities for greater congruence. Finally, we outline key challenges and recommendations for future directions in research. The increasingly image‐focused digital landscape signals that images of climate change have a pivotal role in building public engagement, both now, and in future. A better understanding of how these images are being used and understood by the public is crucial for communicating climate change in an engaging way. This article is categorized under: Perceptions, Behavior, and Communication of Climate Change > Perceptions of Climate Change

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“…Accordingly, the approach can help to identify messages, symbols and meanings, including emotive meanings, conveyed by the cartoons submitted to the contest. This approach has been referred to as visual thematic analysis (Nerlich and Jaspal 2014). Thematic analysis was deemed to be advantageous because it can allow the analyst to integrate the micro and macro levels of analysis.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%