Public engagement with climate imagery in a changing digital landscape

Abstract

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

Visualiseringens roller i klimatkommunikation – ett mottagarperspektiv

“…These impacts seemed structured around abstract terms such as the greenhouse effect and recurrent references to the Arctic, polar bears and melting ice, with only few mentions of locally relevant impacts that could directly affect the participants' lives in Sweden. These connotations are consistent with iconography that have been found to represent public perceptions of climate change, including polar bears, melting ice and globes (Doyle 2007;Smith & Joffe 2009;Manzo 2010b;Wang 2018). Focusing on climate impacts in geographically distant locations suggests that the participants -both in the individual mind map exercise and in the focus group discussions -reinforced the construction of climate change as a distant phenomenon, which is consistent with several studies on public perceptions of climate change (e.g.…”

“…Climate change communication is a rapidly expanding research field, in which the majority of studies seek to identify effective ways to communicate climate change with lay audiences, among others, and to understand public perceptions of climate change (Wibeck 2014a;Wang et al 2018). Nevertheless, as Moser & Dilling (2007, 3) pointed out a decade ago when contemplating the question of how communication about climate change can facilitate social change: "The science of global warming is clear -why are they not listening?…”

“…While previous research on climate change communication has predominantly focused on examining or mapping the general public's perceptions of and attitudes towards climate change along with identifying challenges to climate change communication, calls have been made for more case-and audience-specific research that takes into consideration the context-dependent nature of communication (Moser 2010;Whitmarsh & Lorenzoni 2010;Wibeck 2014a). In addition, several studies point to a gap in the climate change communication literature concerning analyses of audiences' interpretations and perceptions of different forms of visual communication (Shaw et al 2009;Sheppard et al 2011;Hansen & Machin 2013;Wibeck et al 2013;Wibeck 2014a;Hansen 2015a;Lovett et al 2015;Hart & Feldman 2016;Metag et al 2016;Neset et al 2016b;Wang et al 2018).…”

Terror Management Theory and mortality awareness: A missing link in climate response studies?

“…The climate change communication field contributes fundamental insights on whether and how climate change messages' imaging and delivery can be used to enhance action (Brügger et al, ; Moser, ; Wang, Corner, Chapman, & Markowitz, ). TMT complements this discussion and offers insights on how implicit/explicit mortality threats trigger defenses and influence the measures' adoption across different worldviews and/or identities.…”

Visualizing the Paris Climate Talks on Twitter: Media and Climate Stakeholder Visual Social Media During COP21

“…Past scholarship has mostly dealt with textual representations of climate issues on social media. Wang and colleagues note that there is a lack of published research on climate visuals found in social media (Wang, Corner, Chapman, & Markowitz, 2018). We developed a sampling frame of Twitter users representing key climate stakeholder groups (e.g., climate activist organizations and individuals, multinational institutions and individual representatives, mainstream and alternative media).…”