Climate Matters•February 9, 2022
Climate Matters 10th Anniversary
KEY CONCEPTS
2022 marks the 10th anniversary of Climate Matters launching as a full-time program, helping meteorologists and journalists make climate science clear and local for audiences around the U.S.
Over the past 10 years, the Climate Matters network has grown to include 1000+ meteorologists and 870+ journalists in 240+ markets across the U.S. Over this same period, media coverage of climate change has also boomed across the country.
The Climate Matters team extends a big thank you to all of the meteorologists, journalists, and partners we’ve worked with over the last 10 years.
WE WANT TO HEAR YOUR CLIMATE STORIES
We’ll be celebrating the 10-year mark throughout the year. More on that to come. In the meantime, we would like to hear your stories. Has Climate Matters changed the way you report on climate change? Do you have a favorite Climate Matters topic? Send your stories to us at bplacky@climatecentral.org.
2022 MARKS THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF CLIMATE MATTERS
The Climate Matters program officially launched in 2012, following a successful pilot project with meteorologist Jim Gandy in Columbia, South Carolina. Ever since, Climate Matters has been dedicated to providing localized, science-driven reporting resources to some of the best and most trusted climate communicators—TV meteorologists and journalists.
Given their commitment to keeping audiences weather-ready, TV meteorologists are the reliable source that communities turn to for the facts they need to understand the local impacts of climate change—from rising temperatures to extreme events.
Looking back over 10 years, the Climate Matters community has come very far. A 2011 survey from George Mason University reported that only 54% of TV meteorologists were convinced that the climate was changing. In a follow-up 2017 survey, that shot up to 95%.
Meanwhile, the American public has become increasingly concerned about climate change. About 78% of American adults are interested in news stories about climate change impacts on their local community, according to a 2020 study from Yale University and George Mason University.
Today, TV meteorologists and journalists are leading the way in keeping communities informed and prepared for the impacts of climate change locally, regionally, and around the country. And Climate Matters is a proud partner in this work.
CLIMATE MATTERS BY THE NUMBERS
In celebration of 10 years of climate reporting, we wanted to share our program’s growth and progress:
In 2012, Climate Matters launched with 12 meteorologists in 11 U.S. TV markets. Today, we work with 1061 meteorologists and 862 journalists, and cover 246 markets.
Climate Matters has produced 560+ Climate Matters bulletins and 70,000+ graphics on a wide variety of topics related to climate change, like wildfires, extreme weather, heat, and climate solutions.
TV usage of our materials and graphics has increased a hundredfold since 2012. In our first year, we tracked 55 TV uses. In 2021, we tracked a record-setting 5,700+ uses.
Our team has run 70+ webinars and hosted many workshops—from Miami, to Missouri, to Marrakech.
A BIG THANK YOU!
The Climate Matters team would like to extend a big thank you to the meteorologists, journalists, and scientific collaborators we’ve worked with. We would also like to thank our funders and partners for supporting the Climate Matters program, especially long-time friends George Mason University, NASA, NOAA, Yale, Climate Communication, and John Morales for providing Spanish translations of Climate Matters bulletins since 2014.