Abstract

This article explores the visual metaphors used in images that connect the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change, with the aim of understanding how these two global crises are brought into relation in contemporary visual discourse. The study is grounded in conceptual metaphor theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 2003) and multimodal approaches to discourse analysis, and it examines the cognitive metaphors involved in constructing these analogies. The corpus consists of a small set of images taken from online blogs and websites. Our analysis focuses on recurring metaphorical domains: natural disasters, health, war, and cyclical processes. These visual representations contribute to the cognitive salience of particular aspects of the crises that mobilize shared bodily, emotional, and cultural experiences. Rather than functioning as purely decorative elements, visual metaphors emerge as structuring devices that shape perception and orient response. The study highlights the value of visual analysis in understanding conceptualisation processes, and shows how image and cognition intersect in contemporary crisis discourse.