Between Moral and Climate Crisis

2022 ◽  
pp. 727-745
Author(s):  
Maria Laura Ruiu ◽  
Massimo Ragnedda
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Moral Panics ◽  
Media Communication ◽  
Interesting Object ◽  
Attributional Model ◽  
And Control ◽  
Climate Crisis

This chapter identifies four main themes in the literature on media communication of climate change, which represent an interesting object of analysis for scholars who focus on moral panics' application. The combination of both the processual model and the attributional model to interpret the results of this literature review shows that during its emergence, climate change was polarised between “advocates” and “deniers” of both its existence and anthropogenic causes. This division has progressively shifted towards the consequences of climate change and need for action against it. Two distinct moral panics are identified. One is rooted in sceptical arguments and seems to work “in reverse” by emphasising the “uncertainty” around the phenomenon and its impacts. A second one is triggered by climate change supporters, who emphasise that climate change threatens life on the planet and that the current social practices need regulation and control.

scholarly journals The European Media Portrayal of Climate Change: Implications for the Social Mobilization towards Climate Action

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 8300
Author(s):  
Alexandre O. Tavares ◽  
Neide P. Areia ◽  
Sinead Mellett ◽  
Julia James ◽  
Diego S. Intrigliolo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Media Communication ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Narratives ◽  
Media Portrayal ◽  
Climate Action ◽  
The Media ◽  
Climate Crisis

Beyond other social actors, such as policymakers and scholars, common citizens are also expected to actively engage with climate change, by adopting sustainable actions and supporting environmental policies. However, and despite the actual growing of environment-related social movements, a kind of inertia still prevails in the social climate of our society. The media should play a key role in promoting, among common individuals, the adoption of new and more sustainable practices. However, it is argued that the media seems to be failing to effectively address the climate crisis. As such, this study aims to identify the main weaknesses of climate change media communication to further discuss possible opportunities of communication improvements. For that, 1609 news articles published between 2017 and 2018 in five European countries were analyzed in-depth, through quantitative content analysis. The news’ general characteristics, specifically reported themes, and the specificities of actors’ discourses were taken into account for the analysis. It was verified that the European media tends to report climate change by using distant (e.g., future-focused) and outcome (e.g., threatening messages) framings, based on non-resilient, scientific, and political narratives, whilst overlooking the role of civil society on adapting to climate change. These results demonstrate that instead of promoting society’s climate action, the media may be contributing to a widespread social apathy about the climate and the disengagement of individuals regarding environment-related matters. Evidence-based forms of improving the media’s communication on climate change will be further discussed.

scholarly journals Climate Change and the Surge for Pandemics

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 138
Author(s):  
Durr e Shehvaar ◽  
Wardah Idris ◽  
Mubashira Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Research Problem ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Corporate Goals ◽  
Climate Crisis

The pandemic of the century has caused great concern about the global environmental crisis. The article outlines the various aspects of the surge of pandemic its link to climate change along with the prospects for the nation-states and how they have seen it as a challenge as it is being seen as taking thousands of lives. In the literature review, the research problem that has been tailored is if the pandemic can create a common awareness about the global climate crisis that has destructive projections for the globe itself. A causal link between the surge of pandemics and climate change that helps spread the viruses has been created. In addition to this, we further argue that the nation-states and their exploitative corporate goals that are manipulating the environment should be curbed through decisive steps.

scholarly journals The Media Construction of Climate Change Quiescence: Veiling the Visibility of a Super Emitter

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Environmental Problem ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Social Practices ◽  
Media Communication ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Media Construction ◽  
The Media

Castells hypothesized two possibilities concerning global warming: i) a world awakening to the danger with policies to reverse it, or ii) the defense of productivism at all costs. Canada is presently pursuing economic benefits of a fossil-fuel superexporter, which makes it a superemitter. By focusing on the discursive legitimation of practices that cause anthropogenic climate change, this article shows how communication power in the Canadian mass media veils the adverse consequences of extracting oil from bituminous sand. It demonstrates how concern about emissions is dampened and quiescence socially constructed. The mediation between scientific warnings of danger and polluting social practices by media communication power constitutes an important element explaining why Canada’s emissions are increasing. It also explains why science, an institution claimed to be particularly influential in reflexive, cosmopolitan modernization, is having little influence in societies like Canada when it brings troubling news. The article shows how a scientifically documented environmental problem becomes a societal non-problem.

What we can learn from the parallels between the COVID-19 and the future climate change crises

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rubén D. Manzanedo ◽  
Peter Manning
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Substantial Portion ◽  
Preventative Measures ◽  
The Future ◽  
Behavioral Norm ◽  
Climate Crisis ◽  
Global Population

The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak pandemic is now a global crisis. It has caused 1.6+ million confirmed cases and 100 000+ deaths at the time of writing and triggered unprecedented preventative measures that have put a substantial portion of the global population under confinement, imposed isolation, and established ‘social distancing’ as a new global behavioral norm. The COVID-19 crisis has affected all aspects of everyday life and work, while also threatening the health of the global economy. This crisis offers also an unprecedented view of what the global climate crisis may look like. In fact, some of the parallels between the COVID-19 crisis and what we expect from the looming global climate emergency are remarkable. Reflecting upon the most challenging aspects of today’s crisis and how they compare with those expected from the climate change emergency may help us better prepare for the future.

scholarly journals Analysis of Pneumonia Occurrence in Relation to Climate Change in Tanga, Tanzania

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 4731
Author(s):  
Samweli Faraja Miyayo ◽  
Patrick Opiyo Owili ◽  
Miriam Adoyo Muga ◽  
Tang-Huang Lin
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Negative Binomial ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Severe Pneumonia ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Negative Binomial Regression ◽  
Health Management Information System ◽  
Cold Temperatures ◽  
Climate Indicators ◽  
And Control

In 2018, 70% of global fatalities due to pneumonia occurred in about fifteen countries, with Tanzania being among the top eight countries contributing to these deaths. Environmental and individual factors contributing to these deaths may be multifaceted, but they have not yet been explored in Tanzania. Therefore, in this study, we explore the association between climate change and the occurrence of pneumonia in the Tanga Region, Tanzania. A time series study design was employed using meteorological and health data of the Tanga Region collected from January 2016 to December 2018 from the Tanzania Meteorological Authority and Health Management Information System, respectively. The generalized negative binomial regression technique was used to explore the associations between climate indicators (i.e., precipitation, humidity, and temperature) and the occurrence of pneumonia. There were trend differences in climate indicators and the occurrence of pneumonia between the Tanga and Handeni districts. We found a positive association between humidity and increased rates of non-severe pneumonia (incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.01; 95% CI: 1.01–1.02; p ≤ 0.05) and severe pneumonia (IRR = 1.02; 95% CI: 1.01–1.03; p ≤ 0.05). There was also a significant association between cold temperatures and the rate of severe pneumonia in Tanga (IRR = 1.21; 95% CI: 1.11–1.33; p ≤ 0.001). Other factors that were associated with pneumonia included age and district of residence. We found a positive relationship between humidity, temperature, and incidence of pneumonia in the Tanga Region. Policies focusing on prevention and control, as well as promotion strategies relating to climate change-related health effects should be developed and implemented.

“Famous, Beloved, Reviled, Respected, Feared, Celebrated:” Media Construction of Greta Thunberg

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily D Ryalls ◽  
Sharon R Mazzarella
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Time Magazine ◽  
Alternative Construction ◽  
Media Construction ◽  
Climate Crisis

Abstract In the 16 months before TIME magazine naming Greta Thunberg its Person of the Year, as her influence grew, so too did the news media’s attempts to make sense of her. This project analyzes profiles of Greta Thunberg to understand how journalists constructed the persona that has become “Greta.” We argue the paradoxical framing of Thunberg as exceptional and fierce and childlike contributes to an alternative construction of girlhood grounded in the positive portrayal of her Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis. While featuring ASD as her “superpower” is potentially progressive, we argue foregrounding Thunberg’s whiteness and age cements her construction as the iconic voice of the climate crisis movement, potentially downplaying the need for collective action to end climate change.

scholarly journals Are there similarities between the Corona and the climate crisis?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert C. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Decision Procedures ◽  
Free Rider ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Short Paper ◽  
Political Decision ◽  
Look Back ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
Climate Crisis

AbstractIn this short paper, I look back at the early stages of the Corona crisis, around early February 2020, and compare the situation with the climate crisis. Although these two problems unfold on a completely different timescale (weeks in the case of Corona, decades in the case of climate change), I find some rather striking similarities between these two problems, related with issues such as uncertainty, free-rider incentives, and disincentives of politicians to adequately address the respective issue with early, farsighted and possibly harsh policy measures. I then argue that for complex problems with certain characteristics, it may be necessary to establish novel political decision procedures that sidestep the normal, day-to-day political proceedings. These would be procedures that actively involve experts, and lower the involvement of political parties as far as possible to minimize the decision-makers’ disincentives.

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