Journal article
Visual Representations of Climate Change - A Case Study of Canada
Journal of Environmental and Social Sciences, Vol.6(1), 139
2019
Abstract
Understanding how environmental problems, including Climate Change (CC), are visualized by the public and the media is crucial to developing effective communications strategies aimed at encouraging mitigation and adaptation behaviors. In this study, we sought to understand how Canadians visualize CC, the affective response elicited by CC images, and what factors predict the representativeness of photographs depicting CC. A representative sample of Canadian adult Anglophones (n = 618) completed an online survey that assessed responses to CC imagery and corresponding affective content (PANAS). Measures of demographics, CC beliefs/knowledge, and environmental values (NEP) were also collected. Content analysis showed Canadians mainly associate CC with ice melt, temperature, pollution, and flooding imagery. Logistic regression showed that CC representativeness of several photos is predicted by pro-environmental values, belief in the causes of CC, and political affiliation. Images generally elicited negative affect, particularly those depicting anthropogenic causes of CC, where feelings of distress and upset were strong. Importantly, CC images identified by participants differ from those commonly used in the Canadian news media. These findings will aid communicators in optimizing the use of visuals in CC messaging, and offer some guidance for more effective communication within the challenging Canadian context.
Details
- Title
- Visual Representations of Climate Change - A Case Study of Canada
- Authors
- S Morris (Author) - Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, CanadaGary J Pickering (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
- Publication details
- Journal of Environmental and Social Sciences, Vol.6(1), 139; 11
- Publisher
- Open Science Publications
- Date published
- 2019
- ISSN
- 2454-5953; 2454-5953
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2019 Morris S, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Sustainability Research Cluster
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99450998002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
- Research Statement
- false
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