Climate in the News: How Differences in Media Discourse Between the US and UK Reflect National Priorities

Studies dealing with media coverage of climate change have increased steadily over the last decade or so, alongside the media coverage of climate change itself. This article aims to contribute to this growing literature on two levels: to deepen understanding of distinctive patterns of language use across nations speaking a common language and to demonstrate the usefulness of a new approach for finding such patterns. Articles in The (London) Times and the New York Times, published between 2000 and 2009, were analyzed using methods related to computational linguistics. Results show that the US seemingly still constructs climate change as a problem, whereas the UK focuses on finding solutions for the (established) problem of climate change. This linguistic and conceptual gap may hamper mutual understanding and the crafting of global climate change mitigation policies.     

Reframing Ecotage as Ecoterrorism: News and the Discourse of Fear

This study examines how certain Western institutional discourses reproduce particular human relationships with nature. The analysis focuses upon the institutional setting of the zoo, examining long-standing multi-voiced debates about zoos and exploring the contemporary zoo's conservation discourses and cultural, lexical, and spatial elements of gaze and power. The author contextualizes zoo discourses within Western ideological environmental dialectics, including those of Mastery–Harmony, Othering–Connection, and Exploitation–Idealism. The author relates these discussions to her empirical observations of how certain discursive themes are reproduced and complicated within a leading American zoo. In the tradition of critical research that advocates for social change, the essay concludes with analysis-driven discussion about possibilities for zoos to transform their core configurations to more progressively work as agents for systemic cultural and environmental change.     

Fracking and Framing: A Comparative Analysis of Media Coverage of Hydraulic Fracturing in Canadian and US Newspapers

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a controversial but popular method of extracting oil and gas in North America. There are a myriad of completing claims about the economic benefits and the environmental costs of the technology. This paper examines news media coverage of fracking in four Canadian and four American newspapers over a five-year period. A comparison is made at the national level as well as at a paired subnational level between jurisdictions where fracking is embraced and where fracking is banned. The paper demonstrates that in both countries the main storyline is about water quality, but beyond that differences emerge as Americans focus more on wildlife and public health and Canadians focus more on moratoriums and energy independence. Moreover, while there were similarities in media coverage of fracking in pro-fracking and anti-fracking jurisdictions, there were notable differences in attention to the topics of public health and economic benefits.     

Rebirth,Devastation and Sickness: Analyzing the Role of Metaphor in Media Discourses of Nuclear Power

Nuclear power plays an important but controversial role in policies to ensure domestic energy security, fuel poverty reduction and the mitigation of climate change. Our article construes the problem of nuclear power in terms of social discourse, language and public choice; specifically examining the role that metaphors play in the policy domain. We empirically analyze metaphors as framing devices in nuclear energy policy debates in the UK between April 2009 and March 2013, thereby capturing the impact of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. We employ documentary analysis of major UK national broadsheet and tabloid newspapers, using electronic bibliographic tools to extract the metaphors. We then map these metaphors using a Type Hierarchy Analysis, which examines how elements of the target domain (energy technologies and policies) originate from a different source domain. Type hierarchies identify and categorize metaphors, defining the affectual and emotional responses associated with them, providing us with grounded insight into their role in shaping discourse and as a consequence influence public engagement with energy policy. Our analysis highlights three emergent domains of discourse metaphors and discusses the implications of their deployment. Metaphors were found to be classified into three different categories: Rebirth (Renaissance), Devastation (Apocalypse, Inferno, Genie and Bomb) and Sickness (Addiction and Smoking).     

Culture,Progress and the Media: The Shad as Synecdoche in Environmental News Coverage

This essay examined the use of synecdoche in newspaper coverage of a dispute over water rights between the Mattaponi Indians and the city of Newport News, Virginia. The Mattaponi used the shad as a rhetorical trope to explain the tribe's relationship to the river and their fears about the reservoir's impact. The reservoir proponents, however, treated the shad as a representation of the conflict surrounding the reservoir, and this construction was reflected in articles that appeared in The Daily Press, a local daily newspaper. This essay argued that, ultimately, the treatment of a single species as a synecdoche in environmental disputes undermined the Mattaponi's position. The media which are instrumental in defining environmental issues for the public, misinterpreted a rhetorical trope that was proffered as a representation for a complex set of values and instead focused attention on the species itself rather than the values that it represented.     

Spreading the News on Carbon Capture and Storage: A State-Level Comparison of US Media

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has received abundant federal support in the USA as an energy technology to mitigate climate change, yet its position within the energy system remains uncertain. Because media play a significant role in shaping public conversations about science and technology, we analyzed media portrayal of CCS in newspapers from four strategically selected states. We grounded the analysis in Luhmann's theory of social functions, operationalized through the socio-political evaluation of energy deployment (SPEED) framework. Coverage emphasized economic, political/legal, and technical functions and focused on benefits, rather than risks of adoption. Although news coverage connected CCS with climate change, the connection was constrained by political/legal functions. Media responses to this constraint indicate how communication across multiple social functions may influence deployment of energy technologies.     

Merging Duke Energy and Progress Energy: Online Public Discourse,Post-Fukushima Reactions,and the Absence of Environmental Communication

This article examines online discourse in 2011 surrounding the proposed Duke Energy and Progress Energy merger in the Carolinas. It explores how issues pertaining to the merger, including constructing new nuclear plants, are discussed in media coverage and by citizens using social media. Overall, we find that the merger discourse focuses on economic concerns rather than the environmental concerns we had anticipated. However, post-Fukushima discourse appears to have become more inclusive of environmental concerns. We conclude that environmental discussions and efforts are likely to be globally informed andlocally situated, discussing the implications for environmental communication research exploring online discourses, specifically through social media. Future research must address how to locate and delineate constellations of locally situated discourse to provide a clearer picture of environmentally focused social media communication.     

Fort McMurray and the Canadian Oil Sands: Local Coverage of National Importance

Understanding resource-based communities (RBCs) as potential casualties of Canada's economic proclivity towards resource extraction projects may help us to generate political support for these communities at both local and national scales. The media has a critical role to play in promoting the development of this type of political discourse. This study examines how traditional print media coverage affects Canadians' perceptions of the Athabasca oil sands. A quantitative media analysis examines scope and thematic content of articles appearing in major Canadian newspapers between 2003 and 2013. We find that most coverage concerning the Athabasca oil sands over this period appears predominantly in western Canadian newspapers, with coverage primarily focusing on specific events. We argue that this geographic disparity in coverage does not provide Canadians with the adequate coverage necessary to develop an informed opinion on what the implications of ongoing oil sands development are at both a local and a national scale.     

Between Guilt and Obligation: Debating the Responsibility for Climate Change and Climate Politics in the Media

ABSTRACT

The “common but differentiated responsibility” of developed and developing countries to mitigate climate change is a core principle of international climate politics—but there is disagreement about what this “differentiated responsibility” amounts to. We investigate how newspapers in developed countries (Australia, Germany, United States) and emerging economies (Brazil, India) covered this debate during the UN climate summits in 2004, 2009, and 2014. Newspapers in both types of countries attributed more responsibility to developed than to developing countries. In line with social identity theory, however, media in developed countries attributed less causal responsibility (blame) to other developed countries than media in emerging economies. The latter countries’ media, in turn, attributed less responsibility to other developing countries than media in developed countries. At the same time, in line with the “differentiated responsibility”, media in developed countries attributed more responsibility to their own countries than media in emerging economies.     

Portraying the Perils to Polar Bears: The Role of Empathic and Objective Perspective-taking Toward Animals in Climate Change Communication

Images of animals, particularly polar bears, harmed by climate change are often used in environmental campaigns, despite warnings of potential reactance and resultant perceived distance from the issue. As an alternative to these emotional appeals, environmental campaigns could encourage an objective (i.e., emotionally detached) perspective on climate change impacts. The present research tests the effects of a message that encourage empathic vs. objective perspectives toward polar bears harmed by climate change on emotions and subsequent support for climate change activism among 241 American adults through an online survey. Contrary to popular warnings, the present research found no reactance toward portraying harm to polar bears from climate change and no benefits of taking an objective perspective toward the polar bears. Instead, portrayals of polar bears harmed by climate change motivated both environmentalists and non-environmentalists to donate money to environmental activist groups when they took an empathic perspective toward the animals. Empathy and hope explain effects for environmentalists and empathy, hope, worry, personal guilt, and boredom explain effects for non-environmentalists.     

Sustainable Health Risk Management and the Role of Cross-Disciplinary Professionals in Developing Countries: Mexican Experience

The paper argues health risk management in Developing Countries cannot be sustainable unless it is conceived, planned, implemented and maintained by community-led multi-stakeholder groups using an integrated capacity building process with five components: (1) education and awareness raising; (2) strengthening information resources and decision making; (3) strengthening regulations and compliance; (4) improving basic sanitation infrastructure; and (5) stimulating the market for support products and services for health and environment sectors. Occupational and environmental health professionals with cross-disciplinary understanding are uniquely qualified to build much-needed bridges between stakeholders, risk science and policy. They should adopt a cost-effective mentality, adapting models/methods used in developed countries to developing country contexts, negotiating political obstacles and understanding cultural differences in risk sources, exposures and perceptions. Stakeholders – health professionals, community representatives, officials, NGOs/advocacy groups, industries, and providers of products/services – collaborate to detect needs, mobilize resources, design, develop, implement, consolidate and maintain interventions to priority problems. Field experience in Mexico supports the argument. This sustainability process is adaptable to other keystone development sectors like soil and water resources stewardship, biodiversity conservation, agriculture and energy.     

Theoretical and exploratory research on sustainability mental model of the public in China: based on a typical survey in Guangdong province

This article aims to investigate the public’s sustainability mental model (SMM), which can reveal the sustainability dilemma from the public respective, other than enterprise or government. In this article, SMM is defined as one’s cognitive structure, thinking mode, and behavior tendency when someone deals with sustainability issues. After theoretical analysis, the authors developed reliable and valid measures systematically and conducted a typical survey with 581 participants from college students’ families in Guangdong province in China. Based on those samples, the author used the exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to construct a measurement model of SMM, which includes three dimensions, i.e. sustainable cognition, sustainable thinking, and sustainable behavior intention. According to SMM survey and clustering analysis, the results indicate that SMM of those participants is inactive. Even though those samples do not represent the whole country comprehensively, but this survey was sampled typically and they came from around China. So, the authors consider the SMM scores can reflect Chinese people to some extent, leading to the assumption that SMM of Chinese people is not active presently.     

Solid partitioning and solid-liquid distribution of Po and Pb in marine anoxic sediments: roads of Cherbourg at the northwestern France

A sequential extraction protocol has been used to determine the solid-phase partition of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb in anoxic marine sediment from the roads of Cherbourg (France) in the central English Channel. Measurements were also obtained in pore waters, in which ²¹⁰Po activities range between 1 and 20 mBq L⁻¹ and ²¹⁰Pb activities between 2.4 and 3.8 mBq L⁻¹, with highest activities in the topmost layer. These activities are higher than in seawater, suggesting that sediment act as a source of both ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb for overlying water. The ²¹⁰Po profile in the pore waters is apparently correlated with those obtained for Fe, Mn and SO₄²⁻, suggesting an influence of early diagenetic processes on the ²¹⁰Po solid-liquid distribution. In the sediment, ²¹⁰Po is predominantly bound to organic matter or chromium reducible sulphides, and residuals (clay minerals and refractory oxides). Our results indicate that ²¹⁰Po is not significantly bound to AVS, i.e. acid volatile sulphides: bioturbation could play a role by the early redistribution of ²¹⁰Po bound to acid volatile sulphides in the sediment. ²¹⁰Po, ²¹⁰Pb and Pb exhibit differences in terms of distribution, probably due to a different mode of penetration in the sediment. This work provides information on solid and liquid distribution of ²¹⁰Po and ²¹⁰Pb in marine sediment. These data are very scarce in the litterature.     

中国城镇建设用地经济密度的区位差异及影响因素——基于273个地级及以上城市的分析

以全国地级及以上城市中的273个样本城市为研究对象,分别从全国、沿海地区、内陆地区三个层次考察了样本城市城镇建设用地经济密度的区位差异。根据柯布-道格拉斯生产函数的理论与分析方法建立模型,分析了资本、劳动力、土地三大投入要素和城市全要素生产率等对城镇建设用地的影响,并在控制以上变量的条件下侧重考察了城市区位差异的影响。发现我国城镇建设用地经济密度的区位差异明显,具有区位优势的城市土地效益平均高于缺乏区位优势的城市;沿海水陆口岸的区位优势十分显著,建设用地经济密度相对较高,而内陆地区水陆口岸的区位优势有待发掘;航空口岸对提高城镇建设用地经济密度未发挥积极作用。分析结果表明,生产要素投入、科技水平、市场环境和城市发展阶段是影响土地效益的主要因素,但不同区位条件下城镇建设用地经济密度的影响因素有所不同,为提高城镇建设用地经济密度,不同区位条件的城市着力点应各有侧重。     

Effect of water pH and total dissolved solids on the species diversity of pelagic zooplankton in lakes: A statistical analysis

Statistical analysis of the combined influence of lake surface area (S), water pH, and total dissolved solids (TDS) on the formation of zooplankton communities in lakes has been made on the basis of available data on the number of species (N _sp ) of pelagic zooplankton in 256 lakes of the temperate zone of Europe, Asia, and North America. Graphic analysis and analysis of variance have shown that extremely high or extremely low values of pH and TDS inhibit lake zooplankton. If the value of one of these factors is extremely high, any increase in the other factor is favorable for the inhibited zooplankton, and this second factor determines the value of N _sp .     

老年人旅游消费与影响因素关联度分析——基于京津冀地区2006-2013年面板数据

我国现阶段65岁以上老年人享有较好的社会保障体系,具有一定的物质基础和精神需求,对出行旅游具有强烈的欲望.在我国人口老龄化趋势逐渐加重的驱使下,刺激老年人出行旅游能够极大的促进消费,带动内需增长.为了科学制定拉动老年人旅游的政策措施,本文从《中国统计年鉴》(2006-2013年)中选取65岁以上人口比、老年抚养比、城镇人口比重、城镇基本养老保险基金支出、文盲人口占15岁及以上人口、接受高等教育人数、以及地区最终消费支出作为主要的比较指标;从《中国旅游统计年鉴》(2006-2013年)中选取65岁以上旅游人数比与65岁以上人口旅游消费支出作为主要参考指标,分别对相关数据进行了灰色关联分析.分析结果显示,选取的比较指标与参考指标之间呈现了中等以上强度的关联性,关联度均在0.6以上,65岁以上人口、老年抚养比、城镇人口比重相对2个参考指标关联度最强,城镇人口数量与受教育情况业是影响65岁以上旅游人数的重要因素,分析结论可以作为国家和地方政府在制定养老产业相关政策时的重要参考.本研究的最后,提出了完善社会福利保障体系和旅游业法律法规,提高养老保险水平,保障老年人旅游市场安全及制定差异化价格战略等措施.     

Analysis of the toxicogenomic effects of exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in Slovakian girls: correlations between gene expression and disease risk

The chemical composition of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the environment is not uniform throughout the world, and these contaminants contain many structurally different lipophilic compounds. In a well-defined study cohort in the Slovak Republic, the POP chemicals present in the peripheral blood of exposed children were chemically analyzed. The chemical analysis data revealed that the relative concentration and profile of structurally different organic pollutants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 2,2′-bis(4-chlorophenyl)-1,1-dichloroethylene (p,p′-DDE), 2,2′-bis(4-chlorophenyl)-1,1,1-trichloro-ethane (p,p′-DDT), hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and β-hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH), may vary from individual to individual, even within the same exposure area. These chemicals can be broadly classified into two groups. The first group, the PCB congeners, primarily originated from industrial compounds and their byproducts. The second group of compounds originated from or was commonly used in the agricultural sector (e.g., DDT, HCB). The objective of this study was to examine the effects of the two POP exposure profiles on gene expression. For the study population, we selected pre-pubertal girls (mean age of 46.2 ± 1.4 months) with high POP concentrations in their blood (> 75% tile of total POP) and classified them in the high ‘PCB’ group when the total PCB concentration was significantly higher than the total concentration of other POP components and in the ‘Other Than PCB’ (OTP) group, when the total PCB concentration was significantly lower than the concentration of the other major POP constituents. A matched control group of girls (< 25% tile of total POP) was selected for comparison purpose (n = 5 per group). Our aims were to determine whether there were any common effects of high POP exposure at a toxicogenomic level and to investigate how exposure may affect physiological functions of the children in two different exposure scenarios. Global gene expression analysis using a microarray (Affymetrix Gene Chip Human genome U133 Plus 2.0 Array) platform was conducted on the total RNA of peripheral blood mononuclear cells from the girls. The results were analyzed by Partek GS, Louis, MI, which identified twelve genes (ATAD2B, BIVM, CD96, CXorf39, CYTH1 ETNK1, FAM13A, HIRA, INO80B, ODG1, RAD23B, and TSGA14) and two unidentified probe sets, as regulated differentially in both the PCB and OTP groups against the control group. The qRT-PCR method was used to validate the microarray results. The Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) software package identified the possible molecular impairments and disease risks associated with each gene set. Connective tissue disorders, genetic disorders, skeletal muscular disorders and neurological diseases were associated with the 12 common genes. The data therefore identified the potential molecular effects of POP exposure on a genomic level. This report underscores the importance of further study to validate the results in a random population and to evaluate the use of the identified genes as biomarkers for POP exposure.