The Importance Of Climate Change

Climate change is a worldwide issue that has been raised for decades but which is yet often relegated to a position of secondary importance. However, the attention given to the politics of climate change has been increasing over time, as the consequences of decades of inaction are about to be experienced. Nevertheless, for many, politicians and the media have failed to underline concretely the importance of addressing climate change. It is not the case of numerous novels, films and plays, as well as photographs and other art forms, that have aimed to depict global warming. This cultural approach of the politics of climate change appears to help people better understand what ‘climate change’ refers to and why it needs to be taken into account

The second part analyses how many, although not all, adopt dramatic plotlines that seem to be playing with the public’s fear. In a third part, it will be argued that cinema, novels and other cultural text are not as efficient as traditional media in helping us understand the politics of climate change, especially since for many they disconnect the issue of climate change from reality.

Environment and climate change have become a matter of great importance in recent years, even though the issue has first been raised about four decades ago . Numerous ‘entertainment media’ have attempted to depict the politics of climate change to help us better understand the causes, effects and consequences, as well as to inform a broader range of people than the ones targeted by traditional media, and finally to denounce

However, she notes that it can involve picturing something invisible –pollution of water, in the case of her study-, meaning that it is particularly challenging to produce information. For Mick Smith, photographs of nature enable “ecological politics […] to emerge through facing up to and recognizing our potentially infinite ethical responsibilities for other beings”