Human-induced global warming drives climate extremes across the entire globe. Thus, people need to understand the consequences of already accumulated CO2, and why reaching the net-zero CO2...Show moreHuman-induced global warming drives climate extremes across the entire globe. Thus, people need to understand the consequences of already accumulated CO2, and why reaching the net-zero CO2 emissions has to be achieved as soon as possible. A communication tool that has power to spread the environmental awareness is data visualisation. The current research aims to find empirical evidence for the effects of three design guidelines (shade, annotations, animation) applied to carbon emissions scenario figures on following outcome measures: climate change risk perception, climate beliefs, climate policy support and real-world action. By testing different ways of visualising the carbon emission figures, we investigated how best to visualise data to convey the message concerning the urgency of taking a climate action due to cumulative impact of CO2. We expected people exposed to visualisations including the most cognitive cues (e.g. annotations) to score highest on the outcome measures. The final sample consisted of 314 non-climate scientists, who were randomly assigned to eight experimental groups and one control group. Our results did not show any effects of the chosen design techniques on any of the outcome measures. The main limitation of this study is a small and homogenous sample. We also concluded that there is some vagueness in the literature concerning how data visualisation design guidelines should be applied. Future research should focus on specifying the data visualisation guidelines and their application, as well as investigating user-cantered and transdisciplinary approaches to improve climate data communication to all types of audiences.Show less
Agricultural open-air museums date back to the late 19th century, as it became fashionable to collect examples of local folklife. They collected historic, relocated buildings, furnished them with...Show moreAgricultural open-air museums date back to the late 19th century, as it became fashionable to collect examples of local folklife. They collected historic, relocated buildings, furnished them with original objects, and often enlivened the museum and building with plants, animals, and costumed interpreters. Archaeological open-air museums(AOAMs) were born out of an interest in reconstructing the archaeological past. The first AOAMs were based on pile dwellings discovered in Swiss and German lakes in the late 19th century. AOAMs are popular cultural destinations, but both AOAMs and agricultural open-air museums have faced the critique of inauthenticity. This study discusses how a concern over ‘authenticity’ could prevent different questions about AOAMs from being asked. For example, how can AOAMs engage with the past in a way that is relevant in the present, and for the future? One way to do this is to participate in climate change communication. Current media messaging is often overwhelming, or it presents climate change as contentious. Museums can be important locations for communicating climate change awareness and action in ways that do not centre fear or helplessness. A survey of the literature around climate change communication in museums shows that AOAMs are uniquely placed within museum archaeology to address many aspects of climate change engagement, using various themes and strategies. As museum spaces, they are friendly places to learn about complex issues. As places of archaeological interpretation, they can demonstrate time depth and tell local, personal stories with an affective component. As outdoor spaces, they offer immersive experiences and can facilitate a sense of connection with nature. They can engage visitors with themes of sustainability, biodiversity, and ancient plants, animals, and crafts, and show how these relate to the present. Through museum interpreters and other visitors, as well as narratives and interpretation, they can foster a sense of connection to other people both in the present and in the past. Using the case studies preHistorisch Dorp Eindhoven, Archäologisches Freilichtmuseum Oerlinghausen, and Pfahlbauten Unteruhldingen, this study discusses to what extent the museums are engaging in these themes and strategies, using an analytical framework that pays close attention to the use of various components of the museum – setting, space and layout, display types, subject and text, activities and educational programmes. The research shows that each museum emphasizes different themes and strategies. PreHistorisch Dorp focuses on creating immersive experiences by creating independent activity areas and telling personal stories of life in the past with fictional characters. Archäologisches Freilichtmuseum Oerlinghausen offers many organised events, activities and programmes, which focus mainly on ancient crafts and the connection between people and their environment. Pfahlbauten Unteruhldingen has the Steinzeitparcours, a park/garden area dedicated to encouraging a connection to nature through learning about the uses for various trees in the past. This research shows that there is room for AOAMs in the broader discussion around archaeological museums and climate change, and that they can bring a unique element of direct connection to the visitor experience.Show less
Subnational climate diplomacy is a concept that has been gaining attention in the field of International Relations in recent years. It refers to the way in which state and local governments are...Show moreSubnational climate diplomacy is a concept that has been gaining attention in the field of International Relations in recent years. It refers to the way in which state and local governments are increasingly taking part in international negotiations and cooperation to advance global climate objectives. This signifies a sizable shift in the traditional approach to state-to-state diplomacy. However, the value of subnational climate diplomacy to the global fight against climate change is currently almost exclusively measured in terms of clearly quantifiable outputs, which largely overlooks its less directly quantifiable contributions and broader social, economic and political impacts. Therefore, this thesis analyzes how subnational climate diplomacy can contribute to transformative change through more indirect impacts. The indirect impacts that are measured are ‘rescaling’ and ‘entrenchment,’ based on the frameworks developed by authors van der Ven, Bernstein and Hoffmann (2017) and Setzer (2017). These two concepts serve to guide the analysis undertaken in this thesis, which aims to answer the following research question: How can subnational climate diplomacy contribute to transformative change through rescaling and entrenchment? To answer this question, the thesis includes a detailed case study of the international climate agenda of the U.S. state of California. The analysis of California's international climate agenda shows how the state’s subnational climate diplomacy is contributing to a rescaling of climate governance. By establishing international linkages along both the vertical and the horizontal axis, California is triggering a rescaling of climate governance on the subnational, national and international/supranational level. Additionally, California’s subnational climate diplomacy is fostering entrenchment by generating effects in climate governance that are durable and difficult to reverse. Overall, this study emphasizes that subnational climate diplomacy can contribute to transformative change in global climate governance, not only through producing directly quantifiable emission reductions, but also through rescaling climate governance and entrenching durable change.Show less
The acknowledgement of climate change as a contemporary existential threat to humankind has been prompting scholarly debate on how it might influence the future of nation-states, nationalism, and...Show moreThe acknowledgement of climate change as a contemporary existential threat to humankind has been prompting scholarly debate on how it might influence the future of nation-states, nationalism, and their makings. This theoretical discussion has notably included the question of whether appealing to the emotions of nationalism could make national communities willing to make the effort and sacrifice needed to tackle climate change. It remains to be questioned, however, what are the implications of resorting to the affective blueprint provided by nationalism in the era of climate change in both scholarship and policymaking. By performing Qualitative Content Analysis and Emotional Discourse Analysis, this work aims to address this question by empirically mapping the narratives and emotions of the nationalist environmental rhetoric of President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration in Brazil, one that portrays climate change as a threat to the nation-state’s identity and sovereignty and yet explicitly advances climate denialism. The empirical results indicate three core problems with the emotions of nationalism in the era of climate change as they entail five distinct types of exclusions. It is hoped that this research can provide evidence of what the implications of resorting to nationalism may be as far-right nativist populism makes its way into global politics. Importantly, it also seeks to dialogue with attempts at creating typologies of national discourses engaging with climate change and with methodological efforts to systematically incorporate emotions as a promising level of analysis in International Relations research.Show less
Due to climate change and rising temperatures, the world is more often facing extreme weather conditions like drought. Such conditions of water scarcity especially cause problems in countries...Show moreDue to climate change and rising temperatures, the world is more often facing extreme weather conditions like drought. Such conditions of water scarcity especially cause problems in countries dependent on agriculture, where failed harvests can cause negative income shocks and grievance development, influencing conflict. Focusing on the relationship between conflict intensity and water scarcity, this research explores the case of the Syrian civil war from 2011-2017, finding that over-time differences in temperatures can explain monthly variations in number of deaths. This research thereby confirms the fact that rising temperatures can lead to more intense conflict and concludes with brief discussion of policy recommendations to tackle drought-related conflict.Show less
The ratification of the Paris Agreement by the European Union has determined its trajectory and set in motion the green transition of the European economy. Even though the European climate...Show moreThe ratification of the Paris Agreement by the European Union has determined its trajectory and set in motion the green transition of the European economy. Even though the European climate ambitions seem political of nature, the European Central Bank has recently shown its willingness to support the Union’s climate ambitions within its institutional capacity. European policy research organisations put forward new ideas on greening policy instruments, which also touch upon other institutional characteristics of the ECB. However, the monetary authority is de jure independent of exogenous actors in determining its policies and strategy. Recently though, under Lagarde's presidency, the ECB has for the first time opened up to ideas from civil society, think tanks and academia when defining its new long-term "green" strategy. While the new strategy is still on the drawing board, theories from discursive institutionalism assert that ideas resonate the ECB’s communication strategy, through discourse. When juxtaposing and comparing the results from two qualitative research methods, the study concluded that specific, programmatic ideas are not significantly represented in the ECB's discourse. Instead, more a general and normative ideational shift has taken place where a stronger and more decisive change in tone has become visible in the ECB’s discourse on its green strategy that can rather be explained by other exogenous events and factors.Show less
The objective of this research is to create an overview of the frameworks the EU has in place to protect climate change migrants and to argue why the EU Member States hold a responsibility in...Show moreThe objective of this research is to create an overview of the frameworks the EU has in place to protect climate change migrants and to argue why the EU Member States hold a responsibility in protecting victims of climate change hazards. An overview of different international instruments makes clear what the current protective framework for climate change migrants is within the EU. Furthermore, the research provides legal arguments that add to the importance of improved efforts on climate change mitigation and may provide a positive obligation for EU Member States to grant international protection to climate change migrants. Moral arguments on their turn create an argument to answer why the EU Member States hold a responsibility in protecting victims of climate change. The EU’s responsibility for the protection of climate change migrants as well as its responsibility to improve efforts on climate change mitigation is mainly based on an argument on the disproportionality that can be found within the climate crisis, namely: the overrepresentation of the ‘Global North’ amongst the main contributors and the overrepresentation of the ‘Global South’ amongst the main victims. Current frameworks as the Temporary Protection Directive and the UN Guiding Principles are not able to fulfil the EU’s role as a protector of climate change migrants. The precautionary principle, the principle of common but differentiated responsibility, and the principle of non-refoulement may be a guide to better tools to fulfil this role.Show less
The year 2020 has not evolved as many had expected. The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic has put almost all parts of the societies all over the globe on halt. Besides impacting human health, the...Show moreThe year 2020 has not evolved as many had expected. The outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic has put almost all parts of the societies all over the globe on halt. Besides impacting human health, the fastest and the most severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been on the economic and financial sectors. The global health crisis has occurred at the time when the world is already in a major crisis, the climate crisis or green crisis. In spite of all the austere consequences of green crisis, the actions taken to lessen the green crisis are nowhere near the efforts required to meet the Paris agreement goal of keeping the global temperature well below 2°C and preferably 1.5 °C. Many started viewing the already existing green crisis and the newly emerged Covid-19 crisis as part of the same battle and they envisioned an opportunity in response to Covid-19 crisis to address the green crisis as well and they strived to attach green conditions to the Covid-19 recovery until they reached the green recovery agreement which not only helps in the recovery from the ramifications of the Covid-19 crisis but also addresses the green crisis. This research has sought to find out how a devastating crisis has opened up the window of opportunity for another destructive crisis. A small-N, Within-Case analysis approach is used to study the intervening variables on causal path from the Covid-19 crisis to the opening up of the window of opportunity for green crisis recovery. Moreover, theory-testing process tracing was applied on the case of EU to find out whether Advocacy Coalition Framework helps to comprehend the puzzle and answer the research question. The result of the research revealed that actors in coalitions made extensive use of frames and changed the policy image as well as used expertise to dominate the decisions, resulting in the Covid-19 recovery plan with green strings attached to it to also address the green crisis.Show less
The effects of global climate change are causing new patterns of human migration, which arises questions about decision-making in climate migration. This thesis analyses the influence of distance...Show moreThe effects of global climate change are causing new patterns of human migration, which arises questions about decision-making in climate migration. This thesis analyses the influence of distance to the host country in migration decision-making through the perceptions of Marshallese and I-Kiribati. In 32 surveys and 12 in-depth interviews among these Pacific islanders, this study finds that the reason for migration – more climate security – shapes migration motivations significantly. It therefore argues that climate change should be included as a factor in research on migration distances. In addition, it uncovers that that distance is not perceived solely geographical, but that the islanders also discern sociocultural, economic, climatic and political distance. This research therefore suggests that the definition of distance will be expanded to fit it into this multi-dimensional character.Show less
It is undeniable that the current ecological crisis could significantly deepen global political and social inequalities, bringing tangible effects on the size of the world population, food...Show moreIt is undeniable that the current ecological crisis could significantly deepen global political and social inequalities, bringing tangible effects on the size of the world population, food abundance, and the occurrence of extreme natural events. To avoid such catastrophic scenarios, our singular individual actions (such as our consumption choices) are seen as too negligible and inconsequential to address the problem at a global level. In this way, the moral gap between our scattered actions and the resulting environmental harm they produce remains intact. Deontological and consequentialist approaches, although dominant throughout the history of western moral philosophy, are not sufficient to tackle the significance of the environmental crisis, especially in its collective-action problems form. In my thesis, I am going to argue for the viability of a third approach to environmental ethical questions, i.e. virtue ethics. In particular, I will explore how a virtue-ethical approach relates to collective action environmental problems such as climate change.Show less
The present environmental crisis has put the public war between current right-wing authoritarian governs and whoever in the world is concerned about the environment in the international spotlight....Show moreThe present environmental crisis has put the public war between current right-wing authoritarian governs and whoever in the world is concerned about the environment in the international spotlight. Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord, on June 1, 2017 and the recent refusal of Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro to stop the exploitation of Amazon illustrate the emergence of a situation in which the notions of territory and nation-state no longer sustain the reality of our shared planet. The more climate change, global warming and the environmental degradation haunt the Earth’s inhabitants, the more it seems that we break apart the world as if boundaries of exclusion could prevent what is inside from perishing. In this thesis, I argue that, in the core of this issue, dwell precisely our ‘notions’ and ‘concepts’—enclosed in the huge monolith of Western modern thinking. To confront the planetary crisis, one needs a new strategy to access these problems—that would not consist in simply applying a dialectical method of discussion, but instead deploying a multidimensional approach, capable of penetrating that Western bloc from all sides. By taking on the notion of networks—whether informatic, political and biological—I critically analyse this concept and introduce the framework of the ‘swarm’ that I used in my own artistic practice as a way to allow a multiplicity of viewpoints. The art project Game of Swarms, which explores mainly the fact that the individuals of swarms work together without a locus of control, provokes the audience to rethink our current political structures and use the narrative of the game to imagine new forms of making politics and a new way to think our relation to the world. The biological self-organised model of swarms comes as a tool to create new narratives to face today’s planetary crisis and foster a more sustainable way of thinking.Show less
Climate change is a scientific discipline that received extensive attention from both specialists and general public. This puts additional pressure on scientific writers in this domain to use...Show moreClimate change is a scientific discipline that received extensive attention from both specialists and general public. This puts additional pressure on scientific writers in this domain to use language means successfully to render their ideas to such a wide readership. Manty studies have researched the use of rhetorical moves and metaphors in scientific writing, but never in climate change writing and never in interrelation. This thesis, therefore, aims at bridging this gap and studies rhetorical moves, metaphors and the ways they may be interrelated in abstracts of climate change research articles in high-impact journals Science Advances and Nature Climate Change. It has been found that many abstracts in the data favor the Introduction-Purpose-Product-Conclusion structure, and overall the Product move is obligatory for all abstracts. However, Science data showed more variation both in the use of moves and in the usage of metaphors. The results of this study could be a starting point for a more in-depth research in the area, as well as of use to those studying scientific discourse for academic or practical reasons.Show less
Research master thesis | Linguistics (research) (MA)
open access
This thesis analyzed a corpus of speeches of world leaders held at the COP conferences to the UNFCCC in the years 2013 until 2017, using a combination of the tool presented by Steen et al. (2010)...Show moreThis thesis analyzed a corpus of speeches of world leaders held at the COP conferences to the UNFCCC in the years 2013 until 2017, using a combination of the tool presented by Steen et al. (2010) for linguistic metaphor analysis, the MIPVU, and qualitative thematic analysis as described by Braun and Clarke (2006). The metaphors and themes found reflect a dichotomous discourse: from their speeches emerges either a scenario of great danger and threat or a scenario of a harmonious transition, allowing for the continuation of existing norms. Neither seem to incite a good incentive for action. This impacted/non-impacted dichotomy fit in a target approach of the climate change problem, with the two-degree line being the concrete realization of this target. The danger lies on the other side of this line, where climate change becomes a threat. Removing this threat will allow the world to return to a stable and balanced norm, which will be achieved through a quiet transition to a clean energy economy and sustainable development.Show less
Fossil fuel industry giants in the United States like ExxonMobil sponsor contrarian science to distort the public image of the (virtually non-existing) debate on whether anthropogenic global...Show moreFossil fuel industry giants in the United States like ExxonMobil sponsor contrarian science to distort the public image of the (virtually non-existing) debate on whether anthropogenic global warming exists. The efforts of this so-called ―Denial Machine‖ seem to bear fruit: despite scientific consensus, Americans remain divided on the issue of anthropogenic climate change. Liberal Democrats are more likely to follow the consensus view (79% believes the planet is warming mostly due to human activity), whereas only 15% of the Conservative Republicans supposes this to be the case. Dunlap and McCright argue that conservative media outlets function as an echo chamber for the contrarian voices of this Denial Machine. Liisa Antilla argues that the conservative media is not the only side responsible for this echoing—in their quest for ―journalistic balance,‖ mainstream and progressive news outlets (including the New York Times) have also presented contrarian voices as ―experts‖ in the past. With these insights in mind, this study maps the climate change discourses and source-use of two opposing poles in the U.S. media landscape in the months prior to Trump‘s election: the New York Times on the Liberal Democrat side; news weblog Breitbart on the Conservative Republican side. The results show that these opposing poles conduct their climate change reporting on completely different levels: while the conservative Breitbart seems stuck in denial, hence condemned to the debate-level, the liberal Times has passed this level by accepting consensus and focusing its reporting on the consequences of climate change. In addition, this study also concludes that the Times no longer functions as an echo chamber for contrarian voices for the sake of journalistic balance, while Breitbart, by giving pseudo scientists space to directly publish on their platform regularly, not only functions as echo chamber, but also as the vocal cords of contrarian voices.Show less
Research on ecosystem resilience and climate-ecosystem interactions is extremely complex due to the large variety of factors that play a role. This research aimed at determining which factors are...Show moreResearch on ecosystem resilience and climate-ecosystem interactions is extremely complex due to the large variety of factors that play a role. This research aimed at determining which factors are involved in ecosystem resilience, which methods are needed to research this, and how archaeology can contribute to such research. The influence of the 8.2 ka climate event on the natural environment of Tell Sabi Abyad served as a case study for larger-scale research on ecosystem resilience. This study presents critical notes to the assumption that the changes which took place in Tell Sabi Abyad at the timing of the 8.2 event were a consequence of climate change. First, the timing of the changes in Tell Sabi Abyad is earlier than the timing of the expected impact of the 8.2 event. In addition, the botanical records of Tell Sabi Abyad do not indicate a climate deterioration. As no direct influences of the 8.2 event have been observed, it is likely that the natural environment of Tell Sabi Abyad had a level of resilience that was high enough to cope with the sudden effects of the 8.2 climate perturbation. Possibly other factors, like anthropogenic influences or cultural development, account for the changes observed in the archaeological material of Tell Sabi Abyad. Furthermore, this study shows that archaeology can form a valuable contribution to research on ecosystem resilience if future research would focus on wild plant and animal species and long term ecosystem changes. This would enable research on the direct effects of climate change. By combining the archaeological results found in such research, a dataset can be made with information on the characteristics of ecosystems with different levels of resilience and different levels of environmental impact.Show less
