Using social media to explain the climate crisis

Karishma Porwal spreading awareness about political platforms. Photo submitted by Karishma Porwal

By Patricia Lane and Karishma Porwal

Karishma Porwal uses her influence with millions of TIkTok and Instagram users to link their day-to-day concerns to the climate crisis.

Tell us about your project.

I make short social media videos connecting trending topics to the climate crisis. They generally encourage a hopeful perspective and often encourage viewers to take action. Apparently, people like them!

I was heartbroken after the Jasper fires. Some places I had camped were burned to cinders. I created a montage using my photos of pristine areas side by side with the burned landscape. I invited viewers to contrast these with pictures of the illusory “damage” done by Just Stop Oil protesters who threw paint at screens protecting paintings. That post has well over two million views. Some of the 2,000 comments that said things like, “Thanks! I get it now!” or “OK I see your point,” have tens of thousands of “likes.”

I often use storytelling. I created a "bedtime story" explaining the collapse of the North Atlantic cod fishery, so viewers understand the consequences of taking more than we need. The Doug Ford Greenbelt scandal was very complex to explain in words, so I made a "fairy tale" making it understandable. Parents said it helped their kids. Teachers like them, too. I can see that my work helps people who were confused, and therefore disengaged, make sense of the politics.