Connecting the Dots: Local U.S. television coverage of extreme weather and climate change

See the full report, produced in collaboration by Climate Central and Nielsen

Key findings

Extreme weather events increasingly affect daily lives in the U.S. and across the globe. When such events occur, local television news plays two key roles: preparing audiences for near-term hazards and informing audiences about long-term changes in extreme events due to our warming climate. Local media has a powerful role to play in keeping people safe and educating people to take action to reduce the impacts of climate change

According to research published by the American Meteorological Society, local weather broadcasting is extremely effective in raising awareness about climate change Feygina et al., 2020. This report analyzed local television news coverage of four recent extreme weather events that had notable impacts in the U.S. to understand when and how event-related coverage discussed climate change.

The five key findings are:

1. When television segments with climate change context occur, they have high reach and impact. Although just 5% of event-related segments provided climate change context those segments collectively reached more than 17 million people across the 50 largest U.S. media markets. Even when they occur at relatively low frequency, television segments that provide climate change context during extreme weather events have a large and widespread impact.

2. Audiences surged during extreme weather events. Local television news audiences grew dramatically in the most directly impacted media markets as extreme events unfolded, likely due to the breaking news nature of these events and the immediate threats they posed to public safety. Most notably, local television audiences doubled in Orlando (Hurricane Ian) and increased 78% in Los Angeles (Tropical Storm Hilary) compared to the week prior to each event. As extreme events occur, the public turns to local television broadcasts to stay prepared and informed.

3. Extreme heat was connected to climate change most often, reflecting the state of the science. The extreme July 2023 heat streak in Phoenix accounted for almost half (48%) of all climate-contextualized segments across all four events. Significantly higher rates of climate contextualization during extreme heat events are notable because they broadly reflect the state of the science. Scientific confidence in the attribution of extreme heat to human-induced climate change is considerably higher than for any other type of extreme weather event.

4. Climate-contextualized segments highlight hazardous impacts. An analysis of closed captioning text from contextualized segments found communicating the hazardous impacts extreme weather has on local communities was key. While all segments mentioned at least one event-related impact, nearly all (96%) climate-contextualized segments mentioned at least one major impact that fell into one of five categories: health and safety, vulnerable communities, power supply and demand, the economy, and travel disruption. The most frequently mentioned impacts were related to health and safety—consistent with the acute risks faced during extreme weather events. Contextualized segments on Canadian wildfires in June 2023 had the highest rate of health and safety mentions, reflecting the serious and widespread health risks from exposure to wildfire smoke. 5. Local news is a critical lever for raising science-based awareness about climate change. Local newscasters, particularly broadcast meteorologists, have daily contact with the American public. They can inform audiences about how specific weather events are connected to rising temperatures and climate change. As extreme weather increases with climate change, viewers overwhelmingly turn to local news for answers. For example, during Hurricane Ian, local news streaming apps in Orlando saw increases of over 244% for persons aged 2 and up and 395% for persons aged 25-54. Local broadcasters play a crucial role in keeping the public safe and empowering people to make informed decision

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