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‘Fun in the sun’ photos are a dangerous distraction from the reality of climate breakdown | Saffron O'Neill
Think of the images that defined our understanding of war or protest. Similar ones can tell the truth about this disaster, says Saffron O’Neill, an associate professor in geography at Exeter University
www.theguardian.com
Our new research, led by the University of Exeter, highlights a distinct problem with how the European media visually represents news of extreme heat. We examined media coverage from the UK, the Netherlands, France and Germany during the summer of 2019. Importantly, we only included news stories that mentioned both the keywords “heatwave” and “climate change”, reasoning that if we were to see responsible and accurate reporting of heatwave risks, it would be in coverage that at least alluded to the increasing risk of heatwaves becoming longer, more frequent and more intense under climate breakdown.
We found two distinct themes in visual coverage. The first used images of “fun in the sun” that depicted heatwaves as something enjoyable. In all four countries, the majority of these images showed people having a good time in or by water. This was particularly prominent in the UK, perhaps saying something about how British culture narrates the experience of very hot weather in our historically mild climate.
That's right, the climate nuts are now warning that any periodical who posts pictures of fun happy people enjoying the sun are contributing to climate change because it distracts readers from "what's really going on."
It's a cult alright. And not just any cult, but an insane, totally dangerous one.