Cartographic content analysis of compelling climate change communication

Abstract

ABSTRACT Maps are a key way to communicate climate change. The goal of these maps is to make climate change relatable, tangible, and understandable. However, little research has assessed the content of these maps and the aspects of these maps which attract readers, reduce complexity, and make climate change tangible. One way to evaluate maps of climate change is through the concept of vividness, a term from the communication literature. This article examines the content and vividness of maps of climate change to answer the following: which media organizations publish these maps? What is the design and content of these maps? Did these maps convey climate change vividly? Using content analysis and multidimensional scaling (nMDS) this research showed that producers of climate change maps are often not the publishers of this same content. These maps primarily showed topics which were relevant to audiences in the United States. There was a wide variety of different cartographic designs used. And finally, maps were vivid when they employed the eight aspects of vividness presented in this paper: legend design, symbolization, layout, projections which were appropriate for the data, visual salience, visible change over time, color use which aligned with color connotations, and novel design styles.