Seeing is believing. And nowadays, most people’s window into the real world is through their  screens. 

With the (seemingly endless) Zoom, Google Meet, and Facetime calls that have been a substitute for in person communication during the covid-19 pandemic, people of all ages are becoming more and more comfortable with finding connection and information online. Though there has been an increase in internet use, our reliance on technology is nothing new. Since its creation, the internet has been used as a tool to help individuals stay connected across distances and be informed about friends, strangers, and the world. The addition of visuals offer viewers an exciting window into these faraway places. However, this reliance on online sources of information calls into question how our perceptions of and interactions with the environment around us is impacted by what we see and how it is represented.

Photography is a fantastic communication tool, allowing an exact moment in time to be captured, preserved, and shared. Yet, no matter how realistic, it’s important to remember that photographs can be just as biased as any form of communication or art. 

The framing of visual information has significant implications on how American society views anthropogenic climate change and its impact on the world. How people react to natural disasters, climate refugees, and other issues related to climate justice is colored by their prior perception of the climate crisis. 

All that we know is what we’ve experienced and what we’ve been exposed to. 

Oftentimes, images representing the climate crisis can be overwhelming and scary. Though these visuals are helpful in terms of awareness, they can also lead to feelings of hopelessness and fear, also known as climate anxiety. These emotions can result in a lack of action, particularly when there is little direction given on what steps can be taken by individuals to mitigate climate change.  Evaluating how, what, and why climate visualizations are disseminated online is crucial to understanding how individuals view the climate crisis. A better understanding of what emotions and reactions are evoked by images of climate change will help in bridging the gap between reality and people’s perceptions.

The representation of the environment in media is a broad, multifaceted topic. For my beat this semester, I hope to focus on how climate change is visually portrayed in the news. How does what people see affect how they perceive ongoing events? How much does the method and medium in which we receive information affect our opinion of it? How can we educate individuals on the climate crisis in a way that is meaningful and lasting via a medium (the internet) that promotes shorter attention spans and clickbait?