An iconic approach for representing climate change

O’Neill, Saffron; Hulme, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2009.07.004

Cited by 171 publications

(119 citation statements)

References 110 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

112

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In common with other studies (Leiserowitz, 2004;Lowe et al, 2006;O'Neill and Hulme, 2009), this research found evidence of increased concern as a result of the 'intervention' under examination, although there is an issue about the persistence of this effect. I also explored participants' sense of agency, which has been less extensively researched than concern about climate change, despite being an important factor in proenvironmental behaviour (though see Nicholson-Cole, 2005 for evidence about visualisations of climate change compared to self-efficacy).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…To discover the effects of the film on viewers' attitudes, the study utilised a 'pre/post-test' approach, as in similar research (Lowe at al., 2006;O'Neill and Hulme, 2009;Reusswig et al, 2004). The pre-test was a questionnaire to elicit respondents' views before seeing the film, thus providing a baseline for comparisons with two 'posttest' questionnaires, one completed immediately after seeing the film, the other a follow-up at 10-14 weeks.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Lights, camera … action? Altered attitudes and behaviour in response to the climate change film The Age of Stupid

Howell

2011

Global Environmental Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The film The Age of Stupid depicts the world in 2055 devastated by climate change, combining this with documentary footage which illustrates many facets of the problems of climate change and fossil-fuel dependency. This study investigates the effects of the film on UK viewers' attitudes and behaviour through a three-stage survey. Analysis of changes in attitudes focussed particularly on respondents' concern about climate change, motivation to act, fear about the potential for catastrophe, beliefs about responsibility for action, and sense of agency. The film increased concern about climate change, motivation to act, and viewers' sense of agency, although these effects had not persisted 10-14 weeks after seeing it. It was also successful in promoting some mitigation actions and behavioural change, although respondents reported barriers to further action, such as limited options for improving home energy efficiency among those in rented accommodation. However, filmgoers were atypical of the general public in that they exhibited very high levels of concern about climate change, knowledge about how to reduce their carbon emissions, and contact with organisations campaigning about climate change, before they saw the film. The paper considers how these factors may have enabled viewers to respond to the film as they did, as well as policy implications for those seeking to develop effective climate change communications.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lights, camera … action? Altered attitudes and behaviour in response to the climate change film The Age of Stupid

Howell

2011

Global Environmental Change

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Despite the frequent use of images in the mass media, even in relation to environmental concerns such as climate change and extreme weather (Nicholson-Cole, 2005;O'Neill and Hulme, 2009;Smith and Joffe, 2009;Doyle, 2011), a systematic study of their potential impact on societal understandings and representations of extreme weather, in particular, remains patchy (Domke et al, 2002). In recent years, however, there has been a marked increase in social science attention on the images used in the context of climate change and we shall draw on some of that literature, in particular the work of Hansen and Machin (2009) and Lester and Cottle (2009).…”

Section: Images Climate Change and Emotionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, in the past social scientists and media and communication analysts have mainly focused on studying how climate change is depicted in text (traditional media and social media). There is now growing recognition of the importance of investigating how climate change is conveyed in visual images (Nicholson-Cole, 2005;O'Neill and Hulme, 2009;Smith and Joffe, 2009;Doyle, 2011). This article sits at the intersection of these two trends.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Images of Extreme Weather: Symbolising Human Responses to Climate Change

Nerlich

Jaspal

2013

Science as Culture

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…While O'Neill and Hulme [27] point out that there is widespread recognition of the urgency of climate change, with -99% of citizens in the UK recognizing the terms ‗climate change', ‗greenhouse effect' or ‗global warming'‖, only a minority of citizens routinely undertake pro-environmental actions in their daily lives to enable substantial reductions in consumption and energy demand. The following section of the paper explores some of the issues which frame this debate through recent findings from 12 focus group discussions that formed part of three complementary research projects exploring viewpoints on people's everyday energy behaviour, attitudes towards the environment, sustainability issues and links among these topics.…”

Section: A Dilemma Between Citizenship and Behaviour Change?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Behaviour Change in the UK Climate Debate: An Assessment of Responsibility, Agency and Political Dimensions

Fudge

Peters

2011

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper explores the politics around the role of agency in the UK climate change debate. Government interventions on the demand side of consumption have increasingly involved attempts to obtain greater traction with the values, attitudes and beliefs of citizens in relation to climate change and also in terms of influencing consumer behaviour at an individual level. With figures showing that approximately 40% of the UK's carbon emissions are attributable to household and transport behaviour, policy initiatives have progressively focused on the facilitation of -sustainable behaviours‖. Evidence suggests however, that mobilisation of pro-environmental attitudes in addressing the perceived -value-action gap‖ has so far had limited success. Research in this field suggests that there is a more significant and nuanced -gap‖ between context and behaviour; a relationship that perhaps provides a more adroit reflection of reasons why people do not necessarily react in the way that policy-makers anticipate. Tracing the development of the UK Government's behaviour change agenda over the last decade, we posit that a core reason for the limitations of this programme relates to an excessively narrow focus on the individual. This has served to obscure some of the wider political and economic aspects of the debate in favour of a more simplified discussion. The second part of the paper reports findings from a series of focus groups exploring some of the wider political views that people hold around household energy habits, purchase and use of domestic appliances, and transport behaviour-and discusses these insights in relation to the literature on the agenda's apparent limitations. The paper concludes by considering whether the aims of the Big Society approach (recently established by the UK's Coalition Government) hold the OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2011, 3 790 potential to engage more directly with some of these issues or whether they merely constitute a -repackaging‖ of the individualism agenda.

show abstract

An iconic approach for representing climate change

Abstract: In order to meet the UK Government's 60% greenhouse gas emissions reduction target,

Cited by 171 publications

References 110 publications

Lights, camera … action? Altered attitudes and behaviour in response to the climate change film The Age of Stupid

Lights, camera … action? Altered attitudes and behaviour in response to the climate change film The Age of Stupid

Images of Extreme Weather: Symbolising Human Responses to Climate Change

Behaviour Change in the UK Climate Debate: An Assessment of Responsibility, Agency and Political Dimensions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About