“Climate Change” or “Global Warming”? The (Un)Politicization of Climate in Chinese Social Media Platform
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21192592 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Yuhan Li (0009-0006-2037-751X, University of Michigan), Beichen Yu (0000-0002-3609-143X, Tsinghua University), Jia Dai (0000-0001-7676-6799, Tsinghua University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Pages | 927-944 |
| Publication date | 2024-10-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Environmental Communication (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1752-4032 • E-ISSN: 1752-4040 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17524032.2024.2327069 |
| OpenAlex | W4392817141 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 44 |
Though previous research shows the terminology and framing way that political elites choose can influence public climate attitudes, the association between term preferences and politicization of climate change is understudied. This study focuses on how different social groups in China use terminologies and frames and how the wording and framing choices affect public climate opinions. Using manual and computer-assisted content analysis of the highest viewed videos and users’ comments on Bilibili, we found government accounts tended to use climate change (CC) and associated climate problems with politics, while individuals were likely to use global warming (GW) and understood climate mainly from its potential impacts. Post-video comments under the CC-titled videos were about climate politics, while comments under the GW-titled videos focused on humanity and earth. Meanwhile, users’ comments to specific video frames had certain emotional patterns. We characterized the differences of CC- and GW-titled videos and comments as politicization and unpoliticization respectively. Our findings suggest that the preferences of terminologies and associated frames among different social groups can affect public opinions and facilitate (un)politicization of climate change in China. This study sheds light on how communication strategies could significantly spin public understanding of important public issues
Climate change · Climatology · Global warming · Political science · Social media · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Environmental Science · Media Studies and Communication · Sustainability and Climate Change Governance · Geology · Oceanography
Critical Political Ecology
The Mediating Role of Emotions
Environmental Activism, Social Networks and the Internet
Business and Climate Change
Engaging People on Climate Change
Counteracting the Politicization of Science
Public opinion and trust in scientists
Interactions between emotional and cognitive engagement with science on YouTube
How Culture Shapes the Climate Change Debate
The Social Amplification of Risk
Emotions, Partisanship, and Misperceptions
Why it Matters How We Frame the Environment
What's in a name? Commonalities and differences in public understanding of “climate change” and “global warming”
Constructing climate change
Living in Denial
Analysis of Ageism, Sexism, and Ableism in User Comments on YouTube Videos About Climate Activist Greta Thunberg
How Climate Movement Actors and News Media Frame Climate Change and Strike
Theory and language of climate change communication
The politicization of climate change
Framing action in a youth climate change filmmaking program
Politicization and Polarization in Climate Change News Content, 1985-2017
Polarized frames on “climate change” and “global warming” across countries and states
China’s viral villages
Communicating Climate Change
How Frames Can Undermine Support for Scientific Adaptations
Global warming" or "climate change
The Implications of Framing Effects for Citizen Competence
The Influence of Flooding Imagery and Party Cues on Perceived Threat, Collective Efficacy, and Intentions for Political Action to Address Climate Change
The Experience of Consensus
Framing Climate Change
Risk Communication, Public Engagement, and Climate Change
Mapping Cultural Schemas
The evolution of climate governance in China
Politicizing climate change in times of populism
The coming of environmental authoritarianism
The Politicization of Climate Change and Polarization in the American Public's Views of Global Warming, 2001-2010
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |