Published: 2025-05-12

As climate change and environmental degradation accelerate, several faculty members at the School of Communication are turning their focus to environmental communication research. Their goal is to bridge the gap between scientific findings and public awareness, equipping communities and policymakers with the knowledge needed to tackle the planet’s most pressing ecological challenges. By contributing to global efforts to mitigate climate change, new studies by these scholars aim to transform scientific insights into impactful action.

Understanding Climate Change Narratives in Polarized Systems

Despite growing global attention to ecological challenges, discussions on climate change remain deeply divided among policy circles, political arenas, environmental advocacy groups, and the general public. There are conflicting views about the reality of global warming, its causes, the extent of environmental shifts, and the exact influence of human activities on climate change. These differing perspectives and interests continue to shape the debates, influencing policy decisions and public engagement.

Nick Zhang

Nick Zhang and Sheng Zou, Assistant Professors in the Department of Journalism are interested in understanding the complex strategies that political actors employ to discuss climate change issues and how these strategies shape public opinion and policy. In their co-authored paper titled “Bridging Ideologies: Analyzing the use of Moral Language and Framing in Social Media Discourse on Climate Change by U.S. Congress Members through Computational Approaches” published in Climatic Change, they argued that the ethical frameworks and the language used to frame environmental issues along moral lines significantly impact people’s emotional responses, moral judgements, personal decisions, and environmental choices.

Sheng Zou

Zhang, Zou, and their collaborators from HKUST and Cornell University in the USA, investigated this phenomenon among American policymakers by analysing the persuasive strategies of the tweets made by United States Congress members on X about climate change and environmental issues. They observed that the Congress members converge in their moral values regarding climate change, although they primarily frame their positions to align with their political parties’ ideologies. Democratic congressmen often use language that highlights the vices of climate issues to amplify moral outrage, while their Republican counterparts mostly emphasize the virtues of climate policies.

The scholars surmised that the convergence in ethical understanding of climate issues and the polarization of the narrative format used by these policy makers underscore the importance of encouraging bipartisan dialogues about contentious issues like climate change.

Cross-Media Differences in Environment Communication

A major consequence of the polarized climate change discourse among political elites and in the media is its varied impact on people’s understanding of climate issues and their attitudes towards environmental policies. For instance, individuals constantly exposed to the rhetoric that claims climate change is a hoax may be more reluctant to adopt pro-environmental policies than those with a clear understanding of the threats to the planet’s sustainability. Jolie Shi, Associate Professor in the Department of Interactive Media, asserts that environmental communication is crucial in this context, adding that it plays a fundamental role in increasing people’s awareness of ecological issues.

Jolie Shi

Shi’s recent research explores how exposure to climate-related news on Chinese media platforms influences public knowledge and perceived familiarity with climate change. In her paper, ‘A Longitudinal Process from Media to Climate Change Knowledge: A Multigroup Comparison of Cognitive Mediation Model Based on Risk Perception’ published in Journal of Risk Research, Shi and her co-author argued that media audience are a diverse and fragmented group whose cognitive responses to media messages might vary based on specific socio-cultural dynamics. Their study offers insights into how direct and indirect media effects vary among individuals with different levels of risk perception.

Their study found that individuals who engage with climate change content on social media and websites tend to critically evaluate the information and interpret them through the lens of their existing knowledge and perspectives. In contrast, they observed that exposure to climate change coverage in print media does not elicit the same level of analytical reflection. Shi and her co-author attribute this to the frequent use of political framing in climate reporting and the limited diversity of viewpoints in Chinese newspapers, which, they noted, may hinder deeper audience engagement and critical thinking. The authors surmised that media platforms play a key role in embedding cues within their messages to facilitate knowledge acquisition and stimulate deeper cognitive engagement among the audience.

Shi further highlighted the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence in environmental communication. In her editorial, ‘Communication Technology and Environmental Communication: Challenges, Opportunities, and Emerging Agendas’ published in Environmental Communication, she emphasized the need for different stakeholders to leverage AI technologies to foster collaborative communication strategies and innovative governance solutions. Shi pointed out that governments can utilize AI to refine environmental communication and policy development by modelling policy impacts, while media organizations can leverage AI to customize content and generate timely reports on environmental issues. Additionally, social media platforms can employ AI to recommend educational materials and create immersive experiences that promote environmental sustainability.

These studies explore the interplay between academia, policy, and public discourse in tackling ecological challenges. The scholars emphasize the need for strategic messaging, targeted media outreach, and active community engagement to convey the urgency of climate change, drive sustainable solutions, and support policy advocacy on environmental issues.

 Related Publications

Song, Y., Schuldt, J. P., Zhang, Y., Wang, Z., Yuan, Y. C., Zou, S., & Li, J. (2025). Bridging ideologies: analyzing the use of moral language and framing in social media discourse on climate change by U.S. congress members through computational approaches. Climatic Change, 178(3), Article 56. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-025-03898-4

Tang, H., Fu, L., Chen, L., & Shi, J. J. (2025). A longitudinal process from media to climate change knowledge: a multigroup comparison of cognitive mediation model based on risk perception. Journal of Risk Research, 1-17. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2024.2447260

Chen, L., & Shi, J. (2024). Communication Technology and Environmental Communication: Challenges, Opportunities, and Emerging Agendas. Environmental Communication, 18(5), 519-524. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2024.2382476