References to climate change in popular culture have existed since the late 20th century and increased in the 21st century. Climate change, its impacts, and related human-environment interactions have been featured in nonfiction books and documentaries, but also literature, film, music, television shows and video games.
Science historian Naomi Oreskes noted in 2005 "a huge disconnect between what professional scientists have studied and learned in the last 30 years, and what is out there in the popular culture." An academic study in 2000 contrasted the relatively rapid acceptance of ozone depletion as reflected in popular culture with the much slower acceptance of the scientific consensus on climate change.Sheldon Ungar, "Knowledge, ignorance and the popular culture: Climate change versus the ozone hole," Science 9.3 (2000) 297-312. Cultural responses have been posited as an important part of communicating climate change, but commentators have noted covering the topic has posed challenges due to its abstract nature. The prominence of climate change in popular culture increased during the 2010s, influenced by the climate movement, shifts in public opinion and changes in media coverage.
An important tool for evaluating the presence of climate change in popular culture is the Climate Reality Check. Like the Bechdel Test, it is a simple tool for evaluating climate change in any form of media, and consists of two conditions: "Climate change exists" in a narrative, and "a character knows it." An analysis of 250 of the most popular fictional films released between 2013 and 2022 and set in the present, recent past, or future found that only 12.8% passed the first part of the Climate Reality Check, and 9.6% passed the second part.
Art
Film
Fictional films A study of 250 of the most-watched fictional films released between 2013 and 2022 found that climate change existed in 12.8% of these films, while a global environmental problem (climate change, freshwater pollution, marine pollution, air pollution, deforestation, species extinction and biodiversity decline, or toxic waste) existed in 26%. The presence of climate change, as well as common climate impacts, increased substantially over time. But when climate change and other environmental problems were present, they were generally mentioned in just one or two scenes, and their gravity and/or urgency was not emphasized.
Similarly, research analyzing 32 commercially and culturally significant fiction films released between 1972 and 2023 found that portrayals of environmentally-motivated violence—‘eco-tage’ and eco-terrorism’—tended to present more extreme acts of climate defense as morally illegitimate, with more recent and commercially successful films generally favoring binary hero–villain characterizations over morally complex narratives.
Some films that have been identified as containing descriptions of or references to climate change include: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961) – A meteor shower ignites the Van Allen radiation belt and causes abrupt global warming that will render Earth uninhabitable within three weeks. The United Nations attempts to resolve this by sending the submarine USOS Seaview into the Mariana Trench to fire a nuclear missile at the flaming belt. The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961) – Nuclear weapons testing by the United States and the Soviet Union tilt the Earth's nutation by 11 degrees, causing Earth to begin spiraling towards the Sun and global temperatures to rise. The world's governments attempt to solve the problem by detonating nuclear bombs in Siberia to correct the tilt. Soylent Green (1973), film directed by Richard Fleischer and starring Charlton Heston. Set in a dystopian future of dying oceans and year-round humidity due to the greenhouse effect, resulting in suffering from pollution, poverty, overpopulation and depleted resources. Blade Runner (1982), a film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford and Rutger Hauer, is set in a humid rainy climate changed Los Angeles in an alternate 2015, based loosely on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Its 2017 sequel Blade Runner 2049 is also noted for its depiction of a warmer climate. Split Second, 1992 film starring Rutger Hauer and Kim Cattrall is set in 2008, in a London that is flooded as a result of global warming. Waterworld (1995) starring Kevin Costner. Set in 2500, where the polar ice caps have melted due to global warming and Earth is almost entirely covered with water. The Arrival (1996), starring Charlie Sheen. Extraterrestrial aliens attempt to secretly cause global warming and thereby xenoform Earth into an environment more suited to their needs. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), set in climate changed world near flooded ruins of New York City, where global warming has led to ecological disasters all over the world in the mid-22nd century. 2,000 years later, the world has entered a new ice age and is populated by advanced robots known as Specialists. The Day After Tomorrow (2004) directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Dennis Quaid. An abrupt shutdown of thermohaline circulation causes catastrophic abrupt climate change, plunging the Northern Hemisphere into a new ice age. As a result, the Northern United States, Canada, Europe, East Asia, and Russia are devastated by massive winter storms, and the surviving population of the United States is evacuated to Mexico. The film has been cited as one of the few blockbuster films to discuss climate change. The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) – Klaatu lands on Earth as an alien delegation to either convince humanity to halt its destructive behavior or destroy it. The film notably updates the original film's Cold War-era concern with nuclear warfare and mutually assured destruction into the contemporary issue of climate change. The Thaw (2009) – Melting ice caps defrost the remains of a woolly mammoth infected with deadly parasites, which spread to a research crew sent to Banks Island. The Age of Stupid (2009), drama-documentary-animation hybrid directed by Franny Armstrong and starring Pete Postlethwaite as a man living alone in the devastated world of 2055, watching archive footage from 2008 and asking "Why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance?" Earth 2100 (2009), predictions of possible attempts at adaptation to and mitigation of the effects of continuing global warming. Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010) and Birdemic 2: The Resurrection (2013), where global warming mutates birds to begin attacking humanity. The Expedition to the End of the World (2013), director: Daniel Dencik, relating to the Greenland ice sheet and the retreat of glaciers since 1850. The Colony (2013), climate modification towers are built to cool the planet, but cause an Ice Age, forcing humans to live underground. Snowpiercer is a 2014 fictional film regarding a problematic solar geoengineering attempt that inadvertently freezes the earth. Into the Storm (2014), in which a character hints that major storms are becoming more frequent. First Reformed is a 2017 film in which a Reformed Church in America pastor discovers the causes and effects of climate change and attempts to take violent action against those he considers responsible. Climate Change Denial Disorder is a satirical short film which parodies climate change denial and perspectives on climate change through discussion of a fictional disease. Downsizing (2017) – In the future scientists discover a method to shrink humans to size of five inches to solve climate change and overpopulation. The technique fails when only three percent of the population choose to undergo it, with its inventor discovering that humanity will go extinct from positive feedback of Arctic methane emissions within 100 years. Geostorm (2017) – Natural disasters caused by climate change lead humanity to construct a network of weather modification satellites in 2019, which malfunction and cause severe weather across the world in 2022. Fast Color (2018), is set in a future American Midwest suffering from an eight-year drought. Bo Burnham: Inside (2021), the special includes several references to climate change and the danger of a climate apocalypse. For instance, the lyric "20,000 years of this, seven more to go" in the song "That Funny Feeling" is believed to be a reference to the Climate Clock showing the time left to reduce greenhouse gas emissions before 1.5 C global warming becomes inevitable. The Tomorrow War (2021), melting ice sheets from global warming thaw a frozen spaceship under the Academy of Sciences Glacier from the 10th century AD filled with weaponized bio-engineered aliens known as "Whitespikes" in November 2048, which completely overrun Earth and almost completely annihilate humanity by 2051. Reminiscence (2021), a film set in a post-apocalyptic future where Miami has been flooded by the ocean due to climate change. Don't Look Up (2021). An apocalyptic black comedy film, in which two astronomers from Michigan State University unsuccessfully attempt to warn the world of a comet coming to impact Earth and destroy humanity within six months. The film is intended to satirize public denial and apathy towards climate change from governments, the media, and corporations. How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022), based on the non-fictional book of the same name by Andreas Malm
Documentary films
An Inconvenient Truth (2006) is an American documentary film made in 2006 directed by Davis Guggenheim which covers former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign related to raising awareness about global warming. An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power is a follow-up film released in 2017. The 11th Hour (2007), created, produced and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio. Signos: Banta ng Pagbabagong Klima, a 2008 Philippine television documentary presented and narrated by actor Richard Gutierrez and aired on GMA Network. The Great Global Warming Swindle, a 2009 polemical film that denies the existence of climate change. Carbon Nation, a 2010 documentary film. Chasing Ice, a 2012 documentary film. White Knight, a 2012 documentary film Thin Ice, a 2013 documentary film. Merchants of Doubt, a 2014 documentary based on the 2010 book of the same name Before the Flood, a 2016 documentary Chasing Coral, a 2017 documentary 2040, a 2019 documentary by Damon Gameau Climate Change – The Facts, a 2019 BBC documentary presented by David Attenborough Planet of the Humans, a 2019 documentary directed by Michael Moore I Am Greta, a documentary following teenaged climate activist Greta Thunberg
Literature
Non-fiction
This refers to the classification non-fiction, without regard to whether the books are accurate or intended to be accurate. The End of Nature, a 1989 book by Bill McKibben, has been cited as the first book on climate change written for a general audience. Our Angry Earth: A Ticking Ecological Bomb (1991) by Isaac Asimov and Frederik Pohl Earth in the Balance (1992) by Al Gore, recommending a "Global Marshall Plan" to resolve ecological crises such as climate change The Carbon War: Global Warming and the End of the Oil Era 1999 book by former oil geologist Jeremy Leggett The Coming Global Superstorm (1999) by Whitley Streiber and Art Bell, predicting the possibility of abrupt climate change from a shutdown of thermohaline circulation The Discovery of Global Warming 2003 Spencer R. Weart book describing the history of climate change science The Weather Makers (2005) by Tim Flannery, a series of essays describing the effects of climate change Field notes from a catastrophe: man, nature, and climate change (2006) by Elizabeth Kolbert describing effects from climate change already occurring in the natural world, as well as opposition to climate change mitigation from corporations and the Bush administration Hell and High Water (2006) by Joseph J. Romm warning about the consequences of sea level rise