Tipping Points and Climate Change: Metaphor Between Science and the Media

Figures & data

Figure 1. Number of articles published between 2005 and 2014 in major world newspapers (grey) and academic journals (black).

Table 1. Overview of the main results.

Episodes	Linguistic	Discursive	Theoretical interpretation
Scientists introduce metaphor to the public (2005 onwards)	Draws attention to the source domain of the tipping point in terms of motion in space (nearing, but has not passed, beyond)	Warning the public of abrupt, dangerous and potentially irreversible climate change	Exegetical (pedagogical) metaphor
Attention in news media (2005 onwards)	Use of adverted commas; spatial language to talk about change over time; passive object (we, us, humanity)	Explaining complex phenomenon to the public; conveying scientific warning	Boundary object
Mainstream of climate science (2007 onwards)	Synonym for threshold, but focus on the moment of change (tipping); language is ambiguous between deliberately and non-deliberately metaphorical	Conceptually charged technical term; considered part of “mainstream” climate science	Theory-constitutive metaphor
Renewed/on-going media attention (2011 onwards)	Use of adverted commas; specific location as object (forest; artic sea ice); no longer drawing attention to the metaphorical status of the phrase	Metaphor picked up by other actors (e.g. politicians); reference to specific locations and events; linking climate change and human action	Discourse metaphor