A critical analysis of Global Warning coverage in the National Geographic (2000-2010)
- Authors: Apostolis, Juanita Joleen
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: National geographic magazine , Global warming , Climatic changes -- Environmental aspects , Global warming -- Political aspects , Discourse analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8381 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1607 , National geographic magazine , Global warming , Climatic changes -- Environmental aspects , Global warming -- Political aspects , Discourse analysis
- Description: National Geographic is a magazine that inspires people to care about the planet through its articles of exploration, education, and conservation. Magazines are a significant source of knowledge and compete with a variety of other media, constantly rethinking where they can improve in comparison to other media. Research in this dissertation shows that some magazines offer high quality imagery for artwork, photos and advertisements, which remains critical for industries and readers. They often offer greater depth than radio, TV, or even newspapers, so that people interested in an analysis of news and events still depend on magazines for informative and general news. People often turn to media—such as television, newspapers, magazines, radio, and Internet—to help them make sense of the many complexities relating to environmental science and governance that (un)consciously shape our lives. Global warming, as a subject, demands both political and personal responses in all parts of the world, and effective decision making at both scales depends on timely, accurate information, according to Shanahan (2009:145). The quality and quantity of journalism about climate change will therefore be key in the coming years. National Geographic comprises a variety of themes, such as environment, science, wildlife, travel and photography. This study is an analysis of the writing and photography related to one theme - global warming. It provides a critical analysis of the coverage of the global warming discourse in one magazine, examined over an eleven-year period from 2000 to 2010. This theme is powerful in that it represents ethical responsibility and concern for nature and our world and the analysis attempts to define the objects of discourse within the coverage, thus, evaluating if the format of the coverage informs and educates the audience about global warming.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Apostolis, Juanita Joleen
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: National geographic magazine , Global warming , Climatic changes -- Environmental aspects , Global warming -- Political aspects , Discourse analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:8381 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1607 , National geographic magazine , Global warming , Climatic changes -- Environmental aspects , Global warming -- Political aspects , Discourse analysis
- Description: National Geographic is a magazine that inspires people to care about the planet through its articles of exploration, education, and conservation. Magazines are a significant source of knowledge and compete with a variety of other media, constantly rethinking where they can improve in comparison to other media. Research in this dissertation shows that some magazines offer high quality imagery for artwork, photos and advertisements, which remains critical for industries and readers. They often offer greater depth than radio, TV, or even newspapers, so that people interested in an analysis of news and events still depend on magazines for informative and general news. People often turn to media—such as television, newspapers, magazines, radio, and Internet—to help them make sense of the many complexities relating to environmental science and governance that (un)consciously shape our lives. Global warming, as a subject, demands both political and personal responses in all parts of the world, and effective decision making at both scales depends on timely, accurate information, according to Shanahan (2009:145). The quality and quantity of journalism about climate change will therefore be key in the coming years. National Geographic comprises a variety of themes, such as environment, science, wildlife, travel and photography. This study is an analysis of the writing and photography related to one theme - global warming. It provides a critical analysis of the coverage of the global warming discourse in one magazine, examined over an eleven-year period from 2000 to 2010. This theme is powerful in that it represents ethical responsibility and concern for nature and our world and the analysis attempts to define the objects of discourse within the coverage, thus, evaluating if the format of the coverage informs and educates the audience about global warming.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
Climate smart soil management: a win-win response to climate change and food security challenges
- Authors: Mnkeni, Pearson
- Subjects: Food security , Population growth , Soil degration , Climate change , Global warming , Conservation agriculture , Organic materials
- Language: English
- Type: Inaugural lecture
- Identifier: vital:11980 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1011255 , Food security , Population growth , Soil degration , Climate change , Global warming , Conservation agriculture , Organic materials
- Description: Sub-Saharan Africa faces a major food security challenge as a result of projected fast increases in population growth and continuing declining per capita food availability. This calls for accelerated increases in productivity to meet expected increases in food demand. However, the soils from which the extra production is to come from are highly degraded, especially in South Africa where a large proportion of the land is ranked as having high degradation potential. This is compounded by the increasing climate change challenge which will render more land unfavourable for production. The climate change is mainly caused by global warming believed to be a result of increasing greenhouse gas emissions. The link between soil carbon, food security, and climate change will be explained in this paper. It will be shown that the high degradation status of South African soils is related to their low organic carbon contents. Efforts to restore their productivity must include strategies to minimize further loss of organic matter and encouraging carbon sequestration. Some interventions investigated with the help of my students and collaborators are presented. They include use of farmer available organic materials that can be applied to soils to improve soil carbon sequestration and fertility status; use of cyanobacteria to improve soil carbon sequestration and soil biogeochemical performance; and the adoption of conservation agriculture.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Mnkeni, Pearson
- Subjects: Food security , Population growth , Soil degration , Climate change , Global warming , Conservation agriculture , Organic materials
- Language: English
- Type: Inaugural lecture
- Identifier: vital:11980 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/d1011255 , Food security , Population growth , Soil degration , Climate change , Global warming , Conservation agriculture , Organic materials
- Description: Sub-Saharan Africa faces a major food security challenge as a result of projected fast increases in population growth and continuing declining per capita food availability. This calls for accelerated increases in productivity to meet expected increases in food demand. However, the soils from which the extra production is to come from are highly degraded, especially in South Africa where a large proportion of the land is ranked as having high degradation potential. This is compounded by the increasing climate change challenge which will render more land unfavourable for production. The climate change is mainly caused by global warming believed to be a result of increasing greenhouse gas emissions. The link between soil carbon, food security, and climate change will be explained in this paper. It will be shown that the high degradation status of South African soils is related to their low organic carbon contents. Efforts to restore their productivity must include strategies to minimize further loss of organic matter and encouraging carbon sequestration. Some interventions investigated with the help of my students and collaborators are presented. They include use of farmer available organic materials that can be applied to soils to improve soil carbon sequestration and fertility status; use of cyanobacteria to improve soil carbon sequestration and soil biogeochemical performance; and the adoption of conservation agriculture.
- Full Text:
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