Alexandra O’Keefe

9/13/19

English 110

Professor Creaney

                    The Impact of Climate Change: Rhetorical Analysis

Climate change is a very serious issue that is currently harming our planet. Many scientists have expressed their concern about the impact climate change will take on life on Earth. If we do not make changes to reduce our carbon footprint soon, there may be no way to reverse the effects of climate change. Currently there is a lot of conflict around the topic of climate change. Many people believe that it is a hoax and do not believe that making a change is necessary to save the planet. One reason why people do not want to make changes to their lives is that they are not properly informed on the severity of climate change. Luckily, there are some articles that have been published to address this problem. In this essay we will explore four articles that inform the public about the climate crisis we are facing.

According to the Guardian’s Article, “Record heatwave ‘made much more likely’ by human impact on climate,” the planet is reaching record breaking temperatures. July had a devastating heatwave that affected most of Europe. The author, Johnathan Watts, is informing the readers about the effect’s climate change is making around the globe. His audience is people who want to learn more about the harmful effects of climate change and who are passionate about the issue. People who are more passionate about global warming are more likely to read about it, and current events surrounding this topic will likely grasp their attention. The fact that Watts put “climate” in his title shows he wanted to attract people who wanted to read and learn about climate change. Judging by the language, this piece was written for the general public to understand. The author avoids complicated terms and provides links to data along with climate events to help general readers understand the issue better. For example, in the fourth paragraph Watts mentions that the extreme heat in Europe is especially strange since it is not an El Niño year. He provides an easy to access link that provides the reader with more information on what an El Niño is. His purpose is obviously to inform and warn his audience about the severity of this global crisis. By Watts using data and statistics collected from reliable sources, it is clear that he wants to provide sufficient evidence as to why climate change is important. For example, he states in the sixth paragraph “In the UK, which set a record of 38.7C on 25 July, the human impact on the climate made the high temperatures at least two to three times more probable”. This shows his knowledge on the situation, which also helps establish himself as a credible source of information. Watts takes a serious and passionate tone to address the serious situation our planet is in. He wants to be seen as sincere and believable to his readers. This is shown in his writing, especially in the first sentence. “The record-breaking heatwave that roasted Europe last month was a one-in-a-thousand-year event made up to 100 times more likely by human-driven climate change, scientists have calculated.”. This introductory sentence shows the serious tone the author depicts by his use of exaggeratory terms such as “roasted Europe” and “one-in-a-thousand-year event”, by showing the severity of the issue at hand. This also shows that he cares about climate change and wants his audience to understand the effects climate changes is making to our planet. This shows that Watts has clearly chosen to take a stance supporting groups that inform the public about the threat of climate change. These organizations are mentioned throughout the report such as the WMO, Oxford University, and the UN. He uses the facts to put a negative spin on the situation to spread concern to his audience and mention human activity as a cause of climate change. For example, his last paragraph has a quote from the WMO part of which states “devastating once pristine forests which used to absorb carbon dioxide and instead turning them into fiery sources of greenhouse gases”. This shows a negative viewpoint on climate change. This tactic shows his serious tone and that he believes climate change is not a hoax and that it is our responsibility to fix it. The genre of this article is a persuasive report. The article has a lot of facts from reputable sources, but the author’s bias is clearly shown, and he has a clear motive to persuade the audience that climate change is an important, human caused issue that needs to be dealt with. The medium of the report is an online newspaper, the Guardian. (Watts)

In TIME Magazine’s article “Climate Change Is Likely to Devastate the Global Food Supply. But There’s Still Reason to Be Hopeful”, we see the effects of climate change on the food industry. The author, Amanda Little, explores how rising temperatures are destroying crops around the world, limiting the global food supply. As the climate worsens and the population rises, this issue will just get worse. The author’s purpose for writing this article is to show the impact climate change will make on all individuals on a personal level by showing how it will affect their meals. Food affects everyone making it a relatable topic to most people. This shows that the audience for this article is anyone who is willing to learn more about the effects of climate change. Since the purpose is serious, the tone has to be as well to properly convey her message. She is writing to inform her audience about a crisis that is not meant to be taken lightly. At the end of the first paragraph, Little reports that due to the effects from climate change, IPCC predicts that global crop yields will drop two to six percent every ten years. Her warning the readers about what the future may hold if changes aren’t made not only depicts a serious tone but also manages to show her stance on the topic. Little’s stance shows she believes climate change is a serious issue that needs to be dealt with, similar to Johnathan Watts’s stance in the article mentioned previously. However, Little shows slight hope in the food industry towards the end of the article. The last sentence of the article states, “I learned through research in more than a dozen countries and as many states that human innovation, which marries new and old approaches to food production and land management”, showing the author’s faith in humanity’s ability to fix the issues in the food industry. Therefore, Little decides to take a very passionate and opinionated stance, but with more hope than seen before. Since the author is a journalist writing for a magazine, Little is using journalism language. The writing is informative and professional but also shares her point of view. She uses the word “I” towards the end of the article which makes it more personal and less formal. Since her audience is the general public, she doesn’t use complex language because it needs to be readable for most people, including those who do not know the scientific language around climate change. The genre of this article is an informative article. The author provides facts for her audience about the article from various sources. This article also shows bias in her views about climate change but seem less persuasive than the previous article. She mentions how the food industry is hurting our planet and how they can improve their methods rather than attempting to persuade the general population to make more environmentally friendly choices. The medium being used is a magazine, in this case it is the online version of TIME magazine. (Little)

The New York Times published an article titled “From Shore to Forest, Projecting Effects of Climate Change”, written by Leslie Kaufman. This article was written in 2011 after Hurricane Irene and is about the threat climate change opposes to New York State. The author’s purpose for writing this piece is to inform her audience how climate change will worsen over time and how it will specifically affect New Yorkers. The audience being targeted are New York State residents. This article only applies to people who live in the state because the author doesn’t talk about climate change affecting any other areas. This is all shown with the following quote, “Fir and spruce trees are expected to die out in the Catskills, and New York City’s backup drinking water supply may well be contaminated as a result of seawater making its way farther up the Hudson River”. This quote shows that the article is centralized around New York, targeting state residents. It also shows the outcomes predicted in result from global warming. The threat opposed to New York is serious as seen above which shows that the tone in this article must be serious as well. It provides facts from many different reports and warns the audience about the future of the planet. The stance taken is clearly biased and advocates against climate change. She lists what New York needs to do to prevent climate change’s effects from going further. By doing this it is clear that Kaufman is opinionated and biased about the subject. The language used is formal. The language used when describing the statistics is also a way the author is using human emotions and pathos to her benefit. She is attempting to cause some worry and panic to make the readers more attentive and convince them that climate change is something to be feared. The genre of this article is an informative and persuasive news article. The article gives a lot of facts to the audience about climate change in New York, but the facts are used in a way to be convinced that climate change is an important issue to be concerned about. The medium of this is a newspaper which in this case is the New York Times.(Kaufman)

The final article we will be analyzing is a scholarly article titled “Planning for the Effects of Climate Change”. This article has many authors and their names are as follows: Janet Miles, Ed Means, Lloyd Dixon, Terry Brueck, Alan Manning and Roger Patrick. The authors of this article explore how the water industry needs to deal with climate change. The purpose is to inform the audience about how climate change affects water and how to manage these issues in the water industry. The audience is intended to be people who work in the water industry. In the first paragraph the article mentions that it is part of a series on a project called “A Strategic Assessment of the Future of Water Utilities”. This shows it is directed towards the water utility companies. The tone and language used is very formal, scholarly and more advanced than in previous articles. The article is broken up into different sections, some of which have graphs and images that can be used as data to enhance the report. This format shows a more sophisticated style. This suggests that the audience the article is intended for is not the general public. Some of the terms and ideas mentioned are harder to understand and meant for someone truly knowledgeable and interested on the topic. For example, on page two of the journal, the authors write about salinity and how climate change is affecting it. This concept is much more understandable to someone in the water industry but harder for the general public to grasp showing it is meant for professionals. The stance the authors take is to fight against climate change, to acknowledge the effect climate change is making on water and to persuade the water industry to make a difference. In the summary this is shown when the authors write “it is practical and prudent to be aware of these changes and their relative effects related to both the quantity and quality of water”(page 3). This shows they believe climate change is changing the industry and that it is important to take note of these changes. The genre of this article is a journal article as mentioned in the source because it is part of a journal series. The medium used is an academic database, Jstor.(Miles)

After looking at these four articles, it is clear that there are many aspects they share in common. All the articles share the purpose of trying to inform an audience about the harm climate change is causing to the planet. All of the articles use facts and credible sources to make readers think and worry about the effects of global warming. All of the articles take similar stances on wanting to fight climate change. However, all the articles have vastly different topics within climate change. Some are more generalized while others are more specific with the problem the author wants to focus on. Some authors used more persuasive and biased methods while some stayed more factual. Despite these differences, the articles all served the same purpose to spread awareness about climate change in different ways. Hopefully the articles fulfilled their purposes and educated citizens on the severity of this global crisis. Hopefully with this new knowledge people will decide to make a difference.

Works Cited

Kaufman, Leslie. “From Shore to Forest, Projecting Effects of Climate Change.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 17 Nov. 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/nyregion/climate-change-to-affect-new-york-state-in-many-ways-study-says.html.

Little, Amanda. “What Climate Change Will Do to the Global Food Supply.” Time, Time, time.com/5663621/climate-change-food-supply/.

Miles, Janet, et al. “Planning for the Effects of Climate Change.” Vol. 93, no. 10, 2001, pp. 38–40. JSTOR, www.jstor.org.ccny-proxy1.libr.ccny.cuny.edu/stable/41297847.  Accessed 13 Sept. 2019.

Watts, Jonathan. “Record Heatwave ‘Made Much More Likely’ by Human Impact on Climate.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 2 Aug. 2019, www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/02/record-heatwave-made-much-more-likely-by-human-impact-on-climate.