Abstract
<jats:p>Media Global Warming: Environmental Communication in Mass Media The study of environmental and climate change communication is a relatively young but dynamically developing research field. Global warming, environmental pollution and the devastation of nature are critical and current topics reflected in the broadly understood media, including literature, music, film, video games and mass media, i.e. in communication collectively referred to as environmental communication. The theoretical analysis of this type of communication is the primary goal of this book. Many publications &ndash; not only in literature reviews and meta-analyses &ndash; include the postulate of increasing the internationalization of research, greater geographical diversification of the analyzed media messages, and especially &ndash; balancing the currently existing advantage of research in Englishlanguage media. Journalistic and research activity in environmental and climate change communication originates from the United States. Hence, American centrism is visible in the literature on the subject, including in this text. In Polish literature, no study so far has presented environmental and climate change communication as a research subject. The intention of writing Media Climate Warming (Medialne ocieplenie klimatu) was to fill this gap, at least partially. This book is structured into three comprehensive parts, each serving as a guide to different aspects of environmental and climate change communication. The first part delves into the history of reporting on environmental issues in the mass media, the second part addresses theoretical issues of environmental communication, and the third part focuses on research on climate change communication. The introductory chapter describes the four cornerstones of environmental journalism. Selected events have been chosen that not only left their mark on the media of their time but are also most frequently cited, even today: the campaign for Central Park in New York, led by William Cullen Bryant in the &ldquo;New York Evening Post&rdquo;, John Muir&rsquo;s articles in &ldquo;The Century Magazine&rdquo; about Yosemite National Park, campaign of the editorial staff of the &ldquo;St. Louis Post-Dispatch&rdquo; for air quality in St. Louis, and a series of articles in &ldquo;The New Yorker&rdquo; and a book on the harmfulness of pesticides, written by Rachel Carson.In this chapter, to the extent possible, an attempt was made to include source materials that had not been previously published in Polish-language publications. The second part attempts to operationalize the concept of environmental communication. It presents the social context and development of research on environmental communication, an analysis of the definition of this phenomenon, theoretical paradigms, approaches and methodologies used in research on this type of communication and the subject matter of these analyses. The third chapter is devoted to research on climate change communication, which is currently the most dynamically developing part of environmental communication analyses. It presents the state of research in this field, various media studies &ndash; in the broad sense of the term, perspectives on climate change and the main topics that climate change communication researchers deal with: research and establishing media frames, scientific communication and presentations of scientific consensus, disinformation and catastrophe narrative. Historical findings and conclusions from current research and the latest theoretical proposals are cited in all these parts. Media Climate Warming shows how heterogeneous, rich and diverse environmental communication is. Environmental communication, particularly climate change communication, will become increasingly ubiquitous due to the ongoing global warming and the increasing awareness that people are also part of the environment and feel the effects of its changes. Both researchers and media creators see the need to use a paradigm that emphasizes ethical and moral issues in communicating the natural environment. Approaches that take ecology into account are used in economics, management, and pedagogy. Effective communication is needed in all of these areas. However, to learn about it, decipher it, and influence its improvement, extensive research is necessary, which would go beyond the circle of English-language analyses. Media Climate Warming can provide a theoretical basis for further studies on the practical application of environmental communication. The author continues to research environmental communication in Polish-language media, and the findings will be published.</jats:p>