The weather has been cancelled —the cultural modelling ofclimate/weather relationships.

While climate change is often portrayed in meteorological data, people primarily connect to their climate culturally: through habits, clothing, language, religion and art. Similarly, people love to talk about the weather, but have difficulty speaking about climate change. The perceived asymmetry between climate and weather may seem like a barrier, but in reality it creates an opportunity to a better understanding of climate change: by departing from the immediate, the tangible, and the emotionally resonant, a bridge is build to the abstract and the systemic.

In my project I view climate/weather relationships through the framework of cultural modelling by using two angles: 1) How does online culture ‘model’ climate change? 2) How to deliberately engineer a cultural model of climate change to enhance public engagement and comprehension? Throughout the thesis, I employ a combination of methods, including quantitative data analysis, artistic research, and conceptual analysis.

Jasmijn Visser is a Ph.D. student at the Rachel Carson Center, LMU Munich. Contact: jasmijn.visser@lmu.de Website: jasmijnvisser.com