ABSTRACT
The climate change “debate” on a global level has been partly twisted into a distorted representation by journalists operating within norms of objectivity, broad political and economic contexts and institutional restraints. To the extent that our primary sources of information are the mainstream media, such skewed representations lead not only to a grossly problematic understanding of climate change in the public realm, but to public policies premised upon misinformed decision-making and, ultimately, to increased risks for our collective future. Mediated pro and con arguments have planted doubts and uncertainties in our minds over decades. Meanwhile, climate change has remained on the world political agenda and thus in the news, with ups and downs. Or is it the other way around: because it has been on the news, climate change has been on the world political and social agenda? There is clearly a feedback loop between the two and the dynamics are complex. What we know with certainty, however, is the fact that the planet is warming and that
human activities are the primary reason. The Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovern - mental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), released in September 2014 in Stockholm, confirmed that scientific fact with certainty. The report further stressed that only with radical cuts in emissions can we have influence on the ever-worsening progress of climate change’s effects. Yet, based on what we see in the media, we know that even at this point in time, the political will to tackle this planetary problem that threatens our future is unlikely to be forthcoming. The Arctic is clearly at the center of these developments. The IPCC report emphasized
that the Arctic sea-ice cover is very likely to continue to follow a downward slide. The Arctic
sea ice has already decreased significantly, both in thickness and extent, hitting a record low of 24 percent Arctic Ocean coverage in 2012-after the record low of 29 percent in 2007, which made the headlines. The 2007 coverage was 39 percent below the 1979-2000 average, and the media started to incorporate increasingly more dramatic imagery and narratives such as starving polar bears, disappearing local cultures and global disasters. As the Yale Forum on Climate Change and the Media note in relation to the latest storms in Great Britain, “historic” and “epic” are terms commonly being used to describe what the BBC has called “weeks and weeks and weeks” of continuous furious rains and flooding. There is no doubt that the Arctic of today, both in the mediated public and political
realms, has gained new meaning and significance. It is the bellwether of climate change, an ever-changing present showcase for ominous future scenarios. It is also a region potent with commercial possibilities, and thus a hotbed of contested interests. Rich resources becoming available, new shipping routes and opportunities arising, and questions related to sovereignty and rights have all become part of the media discourse. Media stories have pointed to the Northern Sea Route, which connects Asia and Europe by way of the northern Russian coast, as the “New Panama Canal”, with the North Pole at the center of this New World. In 2012 we witnessed the deliberately spectacular voyage of the Chinese icebreaker, Snow Dragon, from Akureyri, Iceland, across the Arctic Ocean to Shanghai. Through such narratives and debates, the northern polar region has morphed into occupying a status of center from formerly being on the planetary margins. A new Arctic cartography, illustrated in photograph-like images originating from satellite data, has entered our social imaginary. The Arctic sea-ice minima of 2007 and 2012, combined with alarming messages from the
IPCC, have made it clear that a fundamental change in our public understanding of climate change is necessary. Due to variability, the rate of change follows slower pace at times. Yet, at other times, the change can be fast and furious, catching us inadequately prepared to handle its consequences. 2013 did not bring yet another Arctic sea-ice minimum, and fed into denials of global climate change as well as the credibility of climate science and scientists. However, for the Arctic, the record sea-ice lows in 2007 and 2012 also have brought a shift in our understanding: continued shrinkage is seen as inevitable, and so are major regional and global transformations. In that sense, Arctic climate change has become a meta-event of the evolving global climate. As we will explore below, our society is a media-centric one where policy, politics, culture,
economics and science-to name but a few areas-are interlinked through the media. The constant co-production of media and society means that media are both produced by and producing society and social norms. Arrows of simple cause and effect are not particularly interesting to draw. However, this does not make it less interesting to study, just more complex.
