C75. Rice, R. E.,
Hespanha, S. R.,
& Zhu, H. (2019). Communicating
about climate change through art and
science. In
J. Pinto, R. E. Gutsche, Jr., & P. Prado (Eds.), Climate
change, media & culture: Critical issues in global environmental
communication (pp. 131–156).
Bingley, West Yorkshire, England: Emerald Publishing Limited.
The
chapter reviews recent evidence of, and debates about, the integration
of art,
entertainment, and media in media portrayals (e.g., movies,
photographs,
theater, music, performance art, museums, story-telling, modifications
of an
environmental space, social media, painting, comics, dance, videogames,
etc.)
of climate change based on three sources of data: 1) articles listed in
academic reference databases and Google Scholar, 2) online sites, and
3)
climate change news images. 1) Retrieved articles discuss both the
potential
and challenges of communicating about climate change through art,
entertainment, and media. However, research is inconsistent on and in
some
cases is critical of the nature and extent of effects of art-based
climate
communication. 2) The Internet is a rich and diverse source of websites
and
videos about climate change. We analyzed 49 sites based on the art
medium or
form discussed, the primary content related to climate change, and the
apparent
goal of the site or video. The most frequent goals were promote action,
collaboration, raise awareness, climate change communication,
discussion,
empowerment, reshape public perception, and engagement. 3) Based on the
major
themes and frames identified through content and cluster analysis of
350 images
associated with 200 news articles from 11 US newspaper and magazine
sources
through late 2009, we summarize the theme of art and mass media
representations
of the environment, and how those are associated with the other major
themes. We
conclude by suggesting promising areas for future research on the
intersection
of art and science in communicating about climate change.
Click
here for PDF copy of publication