Representation of climate change and global warming in comics: From apocalyptic fiction to educational tool

Abstract

Comics have been cultural and artistic artefacts throughout their history, providing documentary and testimonial representations of their times, stemming from the deep connection between contemporary authors and the society they live in. Climate change and global warming, as the main challenges facing humanity in the 21st century, have also been depicted in comics, allowing for a chronological evolutionary analysis of the perception of climate change in comics and their cultural impact. Furthermore, their educational potential can be harnessed to convey rigorous information to the public about the causes and action that must be taken to tackle it. The introduction of non-fiction in comics allows for an analysis from two perspectives: fiction, which provides thematic reading through the reflection inspired by plots that often stem from dystopia as a warning of the future; and non-fiction, which allows for a reflection based on explanation from the scientific world adapted to every type of reader by leveraging comics’ language capabilities. This corpus of works provides a space for addressing challenges in reader education, whose essential aim is to train competent, critical readers, as well as in scientific education by transmitting scientific knowledge in an accessible way to foster ecological awareness through culture.