An Analytical Study of Conceptual Metaphor in Climate Change Discourse
Yuehong Wei *
Department of English, North China Electric Power University, Baoding-071003, China.
Xuan Hu
Department of English, North China Electric Power University, Baoding-071003, China.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Climate change is complex, probabilistic, and often difficult to communicate to non-specialist audiences. This study examines how conceptual metaphors are used to frame climate change in popular-science writing by analyzing a small corpus of seven climate-change–related articles from Knowable Magazine (13,392 words). Guided by Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson), metaphoric expressions were manually identified and classified into ontological, orientational, and structural metaphors. The results show that ontological metaphors occur most frequently (309 instances; 59.65%), followed by structural metaphors (181; 34.94%), while orientational metaphors are comparatively rare (28; 5.41%). Qualitative analysis indicates that ontological metaphors help objectify and visualize abstract climate processes, enabling writers to present risks and causal mechanisms more concretely. Structural metaphors contribute to explanatory depth by mapping climate change onto more familiar domains (e.g., systems, constraints, or conflict), supporting argumentation about responsibility and solutions. Overall, the findings suggest that popular-science discourse relies heavily on metaphor to enhance readability, guide interpretation, and encourage engagement with mitigation and adaptation efforts.
Keywords: Climate change, conceptual metaphor theory, popular science discourse, knowable magazine, ontological metaphor, structural metaphor