Climate science through the lens of culture: a symbolic-ethical typology of communication research

Background: In recent decades, climate has become one of the most hotly contested is-sues in relation to the ecological crisis. It encompasses challenges of such magnitude that "climate change" on its own has almost come to constitute a multidisciplinary area of re-search where scholarly and popular discourses interact forcefully. Analysis: This article uses both symbolic-religious and ethical frameworks to describe a sample of scientific articles on climate change. It focuses on the Canadian context and favours a communicational perspective. Also, it symmetrically applies to scholarly dis -course categories that are usually reserved for popular discourse. In doing so, it proposes an explanation of the ethical, symbolic and religious perspectives through which the works in our discipline address climate change. Conclusion and implication: This article's originality lies in its analysis of how cultural categories influence communication about the environment. Through this approach, it highlights the connections between popular and scholarly discourses on climate.