Impact and Blame: Visual Climate Change Communication on Twitter/X During the California Wildfires

Visual images have played an important role in raising consciousness of the climate crisis and its connection with environmental movements. This article explores the Twitter/X visual discourse on the California wildfires in 2020 and 2021. It analyses the visual framing strategies used by environmental activists/NGOs on social media to shape knowledge, meanings, and narratives vis-à-vis climate change and the challenges of doing this. Drawing on two visual data sets and interviews with key NGOs, we argue that impact and blame emerge as key themes on Twitter/X about the California wildfires. Visual culture helps attribute blame to the fossil fuel industry and politicians and presents the California wildfires as a result of anthropogenic climate change.