Worlds apart, drawn together: Bears, penguins and biodiversity in climate change cartoons

Abstract

This study shows how cartoonists use iconic and stereotypical animals in their works to reflect society’s knowledge about the effects of climate change. Studying 1022 climate change cartoons including depictions of animals, we noticed that there is very little biodiversity depicted in cartoons. Cartoonists generally avoid using animals indigenous to their own countries; this point is especially true regarding the low presence of insects and other invertebrates. This text also encourages cartoonists to adhere to some recommendations to improve climate change communication. These guidelines are (1) using indigenous wildlife, (2) depicting invertebrate wildlife, (3) improving their knowledge about the biogeographical distribution of each species to avoid spreading misconceptions and (4) developing climate change communication from a positive point of view, appealing to potential improvements against the climate crisis, both for humans and for the rest of the species.