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Sinking islands?

Sinking islands?. Tuvalu and climate change in the Sydney Morning Herald. Carol Farbotko University of Tasmania Hobart, Australia. Structure. Part 1 - Tuvalu’s socioeconomic profile Part 2 - Tuvalu and climate change Part 3 – Media representation of Tuvalu and climate change.

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Sinking islands?

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  1. Sinking islands? Tuvalu and climate change in the Sydney Morning Herald Carol Farbotko University of Tasmania Hobart, Australia

  2. Structure Part 1 - Tuvalu’s socioeconomic profile Part 2 - Tuvalu and climate change Part 3 – Media representation of Tuvalu and climate change

  3. Source:http://www.sptc.gov.au/map.htm Part 1 – Tuvalu

  4. Source:http://www.tuvaluislands.com/maps/maps-index.htm Part 1 – Tuvalu

  5. Population statistics Source: 1 Secretariat of the Pacific Community: 2004 figures based on 2002 Census 2 United Nations Development Programme:1999 Part 1 – Tuvalu

  6. Projected adverse consequences of climate change in small island states Coastal erosion and land loss Flooding Soil salinisation and intrusion of salt water into groundwater aquifers Impacts on coral and fish stocks Impacts on agricultural production and human health Part 2 – Tuvalu and climate change

  7. Newspaper circulation Source: Herald Adcentre and Newsmedianet Part 3 – Media representation

  8. Sydney Morning Herald data Part 3 – Media representation

  9. Extract 1: Construction of sea level rise as a serious concern “Climate change” does not simply suggest the onset of cloudy weather to the 10,588 Tuvaluans; it is a matter of life and death. M. Riley ‘Tiny Islands Join UN with a Sinking Feeling’ SMH, 18th February 2000, p8. Part 3 – Media representation

  10. Extract 2: Construction of sea level rise as an inevitable event There is one pressing problem that no amount of money can solve. The nation’s highest point is a mere 4.5 metres above sea level. N. Korn ‘High Net Wealth’ SMH, 30th January 1999, Spectrum p7. Part 3 – Media representation

  11. Extract 3: Dramatisation and use of stereotype With a highest land point of 4.5 metres above sea level, this slice of Pacific paradise is in imminent peril of becoming a paradise lost to global warming. M. Riley ‘Tiny Islands Join UN with a Sinking Feeling’ SMH, 18th February 2000, p8. Part 3 – Media representation

  12. Extracts 4 and 5: Partial representation The Tuvaluan Government is considering abandoning the islands its people have lived on for thousands of years. D. Wroe ‘Australia refuses to throw lifeline to drowning Tuvalu’ SMH, 19th July 2001, p1. There is nowhere else on earth that can substitute for our God-given homeland in Tuvalu. Toaripi Lauti of Tuvalu’s Prime Ministerial Special Envoy On Climate Change UNFCCC COP 3 1997. Part 3 – Media representation

  13. Extract 6: Invoking voices of Tuvaluan leaders In an impassioned speech to the global warming conference in Buenos Aires late last year, the Prime Minister said: “We are…the most vulnerable of the most vulnerable of countries to the effect of sea-level rise.” N. Korn ‘High Net Wealth’ SMH, 30th January 1999, Spectrum p7. Part 3 – Media representation

  14. Media representation:conclusions Images of inundation contribute to compelling news stories Tuvalu is represented as a victim-state with a bleak future Emphasis on Tuvalu’s vulnerability tends to silence discourses of resilience

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