Rust's Essay, Hollywood And Climate Change

In his essay titled “Climate of Denial”, Al Gore, a well known environmental advocate and former vice president, verifies the reality of climate change and global warming. The piece is an attack on corrupt companies and news outlets that attempt to persuade the public that global warming is not a critical issue. Gore also earnestly conveys our environment’s current state and offers possible solutions that would increase awareness about global warming and begin to revert the planet back to a healthier, more sustainable state. The overarching purpose of Gore’s work is to call attention to the widespread climate change that is occurring. However, he also focuses on the corruption and bias within the media, and their attempts to conceal the truth about global warming. Writing to those who are conflicted about who to believe, he makes a valid argument that defends the beliefs of he and his fellow activists and encourages others to become more active in the climate change issue.

Media coverage of climate change has effects on public attitude on the issue, as it mediates scientific opinion on climate change. The media uses interactions between climate science, policy, statistical scientific texts, data, scientific language and the appearances of scientific personalities. Such as work and stories from scientists that are personally known. It is clear that science and policy shape media reporting and public understanding. Whether people believe in it or not is their

The Global Warming theory has become increasingly popular over the past few years. Citizens of the world are being encouraged to be more environmentally conscious by others including politicians, celebrities, and world organizations. The problem with the theory lies in the fact that it has become more and more controversial as it gains publicity and attention. The basic concept behind this theory is that the earth was made with a balance of “greenhouse gasses”. These gasses are naturally occurring within the atmosphere and they essentially make the planet habitable by keeping it warm.

Climate change has been a subject of discussion in the media for many years, supported with the use of arguments against oil polluting the environment and extreme scare tactics of Polar ice caps flooding civilians backyards. The issue has been ignored by the majority of lay people as seeming too complicated, and with all the conflicting information in the media in the past, who can blame them? However, scientifically, climate change and what perpetrates it is fairly simple to understand and society as a whole is beginning to come to a clear consensus on climate change. Thanks in part to more readily available forms of media and information, people have become cognizant of the fact that climate change is a legitimate problem which requires immediate amelioration. While this may seem melodramatic, society is realizing that climate change is an issue which can no longer be denied if the human race wishes to continue.

Climate change is the most significant, most revisited, most controversial, most discussed climate issue in modern history. Global warming serves as a glaring demerit on the lengthy list of accomplishments of mankind: a reminder that progress coupled with reckless abandon never has a good outcome. Though its presence in the national spotlight is a recent phenomenon, the early stages of global warming were detected centuries ago.

The film demonstrates how the earth is being affected by global warming by the simple fact the temperature has risen more now than in the past 10,000 years. They have also found hard evidence that the warming is not only real, its accelerating. Droughts are increasing in the American Southwest, sea levels are rising in places like Louisiana and Bangladesh, tropical diseases are spreading north, and there is an increased frequency of extreme weather from Florida to France. The climate

Amidst the melodramatic narratives and heightened realism of these cinematic texts, global warming becomes something that audiences can grasp onto and wonder if perhaps this is what their world might actually look like in the not-too-distant future. (Rust, 26)

Global Warming has changed American’s perspectives in many ways though-out the past centuries including: the way society views our environment, technology, cultural values, as well as expectations. According to Kerry Ferris and Jill Stein, The Real World; An Intro to Sociology; 4th Edition (pg.45), a paradigm shifts, “occur when new data force new ways of looking at the world”. In the 1950’s increased awareness was placed on global warming and the Green House Effect due to new technology showing that the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere were rising each year (Encyclopedia of Global Warming). As a result Americans were concerned with pollution for the first time in history; and in return, our cultures perspectives slowly started to change the way we look at the world.

There have been plenty of disputes regarding the infamous topic global warming, despite the fact that there is a unanimous scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change. A history professor at UCSD, Naomi Oreskes, discusses this in her article, “The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change”. She begins her investigation by researching credible experts and environmental organizations, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the National Academy of Sciences, and several others. By utilizing these various sources as evidence it strengthens her argument about the scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change. In this case, Oreskes audience consists of

Often, the public and “political debate over what to do about global warming is far different from the scientific debate surrounding the issue” (Taylor) as the media publishes discourse relating to global warming which asserts a rhetorical influence through the ideological screen by which such information is subjectively presented to the public. In the example of a New York Times article on the topic of climate change, the author’s decision to discerningly highlight the fact “that concentrations of major greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continue to increase to record levels […] [and] that Arctic sea ice remain[s] at very low levels” (Chan) reflects a selective rhetorical emphasis and dissemination of information that does not include or illuminate other data suggesting a contrary or skeptical perception of global warming. As such, the public depends primarily on the media’s capricious determination of salience and rhetorical delivery to inform personal understanding and opinion regarding the validity and imminence of climate

Due to modern-day industrial activities, environmental issues continue to occur including, accelerated sea level rise and longer, more intense heat waves. Unfortunately, however, for the past decade scientists have been warning the public of climate change but have hardly made any progress to express the urgency of the matter, all of which was discussed in the 2006 documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth.” Subsequently, the world has fallen short on implementing serious industrial change. On the contrary, the trailer for “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power”, published by Paramount Pictures under the direction of Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, effectively convinces its audience to watch the documentary by conveying the devastating effects of

First, he develops ethos by building credibility and trustworthiness. Not only is he an environmental activist, but an award winning actor as well. The notable man’s success helps appeal to audiences, because if people admire his work in the film industry, then they’ll potentially become more fascinated in his work dedicated to preserving biodiversity and supporting renewable energy. DiCaprio’s ethos is established by demonstrating that he hopes to make a difference. Additionally, he uses logical reasoning in order to appeal to logos. Quoting Abraham Lincoln in the beginning and end of his speech signifies how critical climate change is, because he makes an allusion to the Civil War. DiCaprio incorporates personal experiences into his speech as well, including impressions from some of the countries he visited. While comparing today’s struggle to those of the 19th century, the environmental activist brings to light the importance of protecting this planet. Moreover, an appeal to pathos is created by the use of vivid, emotional evidence. The audience feels sympathy and fear due to the detailed descriptions of the industrial pollution in China, the deforestation of Canada, the glaciers melting in Greenland, the flooding throughout India, and the droughts raging across the United

It has never been difficult to see that Fox News has a conservative bias. And while they are not the only news network that has a political leaning, they have one of the strongest. In this paper, I will show how Fox News’s conservative identity prevents the network from appropriately reporting on climate change. To do this, I must start by asserting that, yes, climate change is very real, it is human caused and it is only going to get worse if nothing is done to slow its progress (Climate change: How do we know?). This is the conclusion that the majority of the scientific community has come to, and most of the world has accepted it as fact. In the United States, however, climate change is still

Science fiction movies often depict the consequences of failing to slow the damage to the environment in the science fiction movie, The Day After Tomorrow, the weather on earth begins to do strange things. The ice caps start to melt and break, tornados rip through Hollywood, and tsunamis flood the coast. Jack Hall, a climatologist, explains global warming and the melting of the ice caps is to blame for this weather. He predicts the North Atlantic current will shut down, and the northern states will see the next ice age. The vice president dismisses his claims until his predictions come true in the following days. Eventually, the air in the north gets so cold that people seem to freeze within seconds resulting in a nearly unsurvivable ice age where people in the north must stay inside near a fire to survive. The dystopian future depicted in the movie The Day After Tomorrow reflect societal anxieties about earth’s changing climate.

Many believe there’s a controversy among scientists over the cause of the climate crisis we’ve been undergoing for the last 50 years, but that’s not actually the case. In the film An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore sets out to inform individuals that the increase in greenhouse gas emission, in which causes global warming, is a direct result of the habits we possess as individuals, nations, and planet as a whole. Throughout the film, viewers are introduced to a variety of characters who possess motivations relative to the issue, along with many tropes, images, and schemes impacting the way in which the information is presented. We’re also going to analyze mode of audience and the theme relative to characters, events, and setting.