Conceptualizing global warming through metaphors in environmental discourse

Abstract

Language is a primary means by which humans comprehend global warming. This cognitive phenomenon employs metaphors, rhetoric, and other cognitive frameworks to facilitate reasoning. This study examines the role of metaphor in conceptualizing global warming in contemporary English environmental discourse, drawing on Conceptual Metaphor Theory, Critical Metaphor Analysis, and Framing Theory. 30 key environmental communication pieces and reports from BBC Environment, The Guardian, National Geographic, and NASA Climate News (2019–2024) were analyzed. With the Metaphor Identification Procedure, the qualitative analysis identified four metaphorical patterns: GLOBAL WARMING IS A DISEASE, WAR, FIRE, and MORAL PUNISHMENT. These metaphors affect people’s emotions, morality, and cognitive understanding of global warming. The study found that metaphorical framing can increase environmental awareness but also reinforce anthropocentric and crisis-based worldviews. The work enables cognitive linguistics, ecolinguistics, and environmental discourse research to collaborate through metaphor, which mediates knowledge and generates meaning in the context of global warming communication.