Two environmental films were passively collected in different orientations (vertical or horizontal) at the same location over two months. We characterized these films using bright field microscopy, ...total dissolved species analysis, pH analysis, vibrational interfacial spectroscopy, and contact angle goniometry. Results show that horizontal films have significantly higher surface coverage than the vertical samples (+50%). The vertical and horizontal films also show different particle morphologies but the particle size distributions are not statistically different. Vertical surfaces have smaller, less compact particulate suggesting particle adsorption depends on the surface area in contact with the parent substrate. Horizontal surfaces also generate more total dissolved solid material per unit area when washed with water (+61%). The dissolved solids from the vertical substrate are more acidic per unit mass, suggesting increased pH active species like nitrate, sulfate, or organic acids. Vibrational spectroscopy provides evidence of nitrates and sulfates in both films, but spectroscopic profiles show these ions are present in different forms. Contact angle goniometry measurements show horizontal films are more hydrophilic than vertical films, despite being deposited on the same substrate material. We also report significantly different hydrogen bonding environments for condensed water between the two films. Our results suggest that environmental films deposited on vertical vs horizontal surfaces will have significantly different characteristics, informing models for deposition and impacts to human and environmental health.
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•Particles and films on vertical vs. horizontal surfaces have major differences.•Horizontal surfaces show significantly more circular adsorbed particles.•Vertical surfaces show significantly more acidic adsorbed material.•Horizontal surfaces discharge >60% more mass into solution.•Irreversible capillary wetting occurs high coverage surfaces.
Environmental films are atmospheric materials that passively deposit and form coatings on most outdoor surfaces. Film heterogeneity in the chemical makeup and physical form often makes understanding ...their contributions to the environment difficult. It is well known that cities or rural areas produce unique films. To study how this trend changes with a known distance, we characterize two films, collected at the same time, separated by ∼1 km: representing city (CB) and suburban (CP) areas. The chemical analysis shows that the urban (CB) film, in comparison to its suburban (CP) counterpart, has higher surface coverage (+4.8%) and higher elemental diversity in metals. The physical form and roughness show that the urban (CB) sample collects more particulate than the suburban (CP) sample. This accumulation increases the surface area suggesting that the urban (CB) sample forms faster and maintains higher adsorption capacity than the suburban sample. The urban (CB) sample has metals often associated with fireworks meaning that surfaces could act as a sink and source for metallic species impacting local ecosystems through rainwater wash-off. The urban samples discharge more of the accumulated material (inorganic and organic water-soluble species) when extracted with water (+2 μg/cm2). This means that urban sites, like buildings, contribute more to waste water pollution than the suburban sites, like houses. There is also potential for this contribution to be more harmful in urban areas. These findings have important applications in understanding air and water quality in urban and suburban areas.
Environmentalism and ecology are areas of rapid growth in academia and society at large.Screening Natureis the first comprehensive work that groups together the wide range of concerns in the field of ...cinema and the environment, and what could be termed "posthuman cinema." It comprises key readings that highlight the centrality of nature and nonhuman animals to the cinematic medium, and to the language and institution of film. The book offers a fresh and timely intervention into contemporary film theory through a focus on the nonhuman environment as principal register in many filmic texts.Screening Natureoffers an extensive resource for teachers, undergraduate students, and more advanced scholars on the intersections between the natural world and the worlds of film. It emphasizes the cross-cultural and geographically diverse relevance of the topic of cinema ecology.
Fungi are prevalent microorganisms in environmental films. Their impacts on the film chemical environment and morphology remains poorly defined. Here we present microscopic and chemical analyses ...fungi impacts to environmental films over long- and short-time scales. We report bulk properties of films accumulated for 2 months (February and March 2019) and 12 months to contrast short and longer-term effects. Bright field microscopy results show that fungi and fungal-associated aggregates cover close to 14% of the surface after 12 months and include significant numbers of large (tens to hundreds of μm in diameter) particles aggregated with fungal colonies. Data acquired for films accumulated over shorter times (2 months) suggest mechanisms that contribute to these longer-term effects. This is important because the film’s exposed surface will determine what additional material will accumulate over the ensuing weeks or months. A combination of scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy provides spatially resolved maps of fugal hypha and nearby elements of interest. We also identify a “nutrient pool” associated with the fungal hypha which extend orthogonally to the growth direction to ca. 50 μm distances. We conclude that fungi have both short-term and long-term effects on the chemistry and morphology of environmental film surfaces. In short, the presence (or absence) of fungi will significantly alter the films’ evolution and should be considered when analyzing environmental film impacts on local processes.
Researchers in conservation fields have recently highlighted the potential for visual storytelling to convey environmental messages to large audiences. However, an effective model for how such ...narratives can produce environmental outcomes, such as human–nature connection and pro‐environmental behaviour (PEB), has not yet been developed.
Substantial evidence now suggests that narrative is an effective means of changing beliefs, attitudes and behaviours. This effect is demonstrated in diverse disciplines and understood within the theoretical frameworks of narrative persuasion.
We propose a conceptual framework for understanding the impacts of environmental films on environmental behaviours, and connection with nature. Linking insights from the narrative persuasion field with those of conservation psychology, we identify three promising pathways through which environmental films might influence their audiences: (a) reduced resistance to environmental messages, (b) interactions with audience identity and (c) meaningful media experiences.
This analysis raises key questions and illuminates priority areas for future research, with an aim to complement and extend existing calls to better appreciate the role of film in addressing environmental problems. Research moving forward should focus on understanding the role environmental films can play in connecting people with nature, promoting PEB and the relationship between the two. Specifically, more attention should be paid to the role of deictic shift in encouraging environmental outcomes, the relation between audiences and characters and the power for film to support self‐expansion.
A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
The stunning portrayals of the Canadian landscape in the documentaries produced by the National Film Board of Canada, not only influenced cinematic language but shaped our perception of the ...environment. In the early days of the organization, nature films produced by the NFB supported the Canadian government’s nation-building project and show the state as an active participant in the cultural construction of the land. By the mid-1960s however, films like Cree Hunters of Mistassini and Death of a Legend were asking provocative questions about the state’s vision of nature. Filmmakers like Boyce Richardson and Bill Mason began to centre the experiences of First Nations people, contest the notion that nature should be transformed for economic gain, and challenge the idea that the North is a wild and empty landscape bereft of civilization. Author Michael Clemens describes how films produced by the NFB broadened the ecological imagination of Canadians over time and ultimately inspired an environmental movement.
As atmospheric particulate and (semi)volatile molecules gradually deposit on outdoor surfaces, they create heterogeneous coatings known as environmental films. The unique chemical environments ...within these films will impact local environmental chemistry. We report the effects of water vapor and deliquescence/efflorescence cycling on particles incorporated into these films within three model systems created in our laboratory: pure salt, pure organic, and mixed salt-organic films, ranging from 1 to 5 μm thickness. To do this, we monitor morphology changes to inorganic and organic particles that comprise each film type before and after relative humidity (%RH) cycling. We track the model film behaviors by quartz crystal microbalance and optical microscopy, including detailed image analysis to track particle sizes, shapes, and number density. Our results show maximum particle diameter and shape distributions (≥100 nmhundreds of μm and circular to elongated), as well as the number of film particles per unit area change in different ways depending on the composition of the model film. Specifically, the pure salt films show fewer, larger particles after %RH cycling. Pure organic films show a small decrease in particle sizes but no significant morphology changes. In mixed films of inorganic and organic species, the %RH exposure leads to matured films with higher numbers of smaller, more compact particles. Based on these observations, we suggest the effects of %RH on increasing mobility (mixing, lateral reach, and aggregation) of deliquesced or liquid-phase particles within the film. These maturation, or ripening, effects alter the capacity for environmental films to affect local environmental chemistry.
The Environmental Documentary provides the first extensive coverage of the most important environmental films of the decade, including their approach to their topics and their impacts on public ...opinion and political debate. While documentaries with themes of environmental activism date back at least to Pare Lorenz's films of the 1930s, no previous decade has produced the number and quality of films that engage environmental issues from an activist viewpoint. The convergence of high profile issues like climate change, fossil fuel depletion, animal abuse, and corporate malfeasance has combined with the miniaturization of high quality recording equipment and the expansion of documentary programming to produce an unprecedented number of important and influential documentary productions. The text examines the processes of production and distribution that have produced this explosion in documentaries. The films range from a high-profile Hollywood production with theatrical distribution like An Inconvenient Truth, to shorter independently produced films like The End of Suburbia that have reached a small audience of activists through video distribution, interviews with many of the filmmakers, and word of mouth.
Should climate change be a matter of human rights? Also, gene drives' controversial potential to wipe out entire species of mosquitoes. And, a novel watch spring that could change the way mechanical ...watches are designed. Kenneth Cukier hosts See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Our relationship with nature is complex and exploring this extends beyond academia. Animated films with powerful narratives can connect humans with nature in ways that science cannot. Narratives can ...be transformative and shape our opinions. Nevertheless, there is little research into non-Western films with strong conservation themes. Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese filmmaker that is acknowledged as one of the greatest animated filmmakers and master storytellers globally. The themes of environmentalism, feminism and pacifism resonate throughout his films. His underlying message is that humans must strive to live in harmony with nature, whilst presenting us with the socio-cultural complexities of human–nature relationships. I review five of Miyazaki’s films that explore human–nature relationships. One film was released with a special recommendation from the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) and the other won an Oscar. I explore the lessons that we can learn from these films regarding human–nature relationships, and how to create powerful narratives that resonate with audiences and transcend cultural barriers.
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