Here’s a political cartoon I drew. More to come.
A Cartoon
Here’s a political cartoon I drew. More to come.
ClimateSight
Climate science from the inside
Here’s a political cartoon I drew. More to come.
ClimateSight 
I like the cartoons. I think many scientists remain kids at heart, even when the cartoon has a hard message.
I think the last one speaks nicely to probability. The truck’s path might deviate a little, but the likelihood is high that both stick men will be schmucked by the truck. The probability of bad things caused by AGW is what seems to drive some of the so-called AGW ‘debate’, often labelled uncertainty. Insurance companies are very good at assessing the likelihood that they may have to pay out on particular events, such as floods and other extreme weather events. No one should attribute a single weather event to climate change. Weather and climate are not the same thing, although weather is clearly a function of climate. But I find it telling that after 6 years of living in Brandon that my home insurance company no longer offers flood insurance in my region, only sewer-backup coverage. I hope the poor people in Yorkton SK who were hit hard by a storm yesterday (July 1st) had flood insurance. I know I don’t … anymore.
In the cartoon, we can see a landscape with a road running through it. On the road, two people that are drawn as stick figures aren’t seemingly moving. On the right-hand side, we can see a large truck coming towards the two people with apparent speed. The truck bears the inscription “climate change”. One stick figure tells the other not to go out of the way because the truck might not hit them.
The author of the cartoon depicts climate change as a real danger coming for humanity instead of something far away and unclear. She uses the metaphor of a road for the time that is left before we are inevitably hit by catastrophe. The big truck in the cartoon should make the two people afraid for their lives, especially as it is running towards them with seemingly no intention to stop. The person that discourages taking action is a dig at climate change deniers. By this analogy, they are presented as illogical and irresponsible, possibly careless, as it is illogical to not try and mitigate the danger for yourself and others. The cartoon makes the fact that climate change is coming and will affect everyone very clear. It’s highly unlikely for the truck to stop before hitting, so not going out of the way increases the chances for getting hit. The cartoon calls for immediate action instead of stalling and instilling false hopes. It also becomes clear that it’s dangerous to blindly follow people spreading misinformation about climate change, as it would be dangerous to listen to someone suggesting to stay standing in front of a truck that’s coming to hit you. The cartoon also belittles people not taking action against climate change by drawing them as stick figures. Additionally, the cartoon uses a simple style and easy-to-understand symbolism so the reader doesn’t need to take long to get the very urgent meaning of the cartoon.
I think Naughten is successful in her depiction of the threat of climate change, as it is easy to understand and also a bit ironic, which is important because finding something funny makes it stay in the mind for longer. All in all, the cartoon makes for an effective call for immediate climate change protection action.