How to Make THE CLIMATE CONNECTION

The document encourages journalists to link extreme weather events to human-caused climate change, arguing that omitting this connection results in incomplete or inaccurate reporting. It provides specific phrasing for attributing heatwaves and hurricanes to a warming planet and suggests analogies, such as climate change 'stacking the deck' or acting like 'steroids' for weather patterns. The guide addresses common journalistic hesitations regarding activism, deadlines, and scientific attribution, noting that while direct attribution to a single event is complex, the fact that climate change creates conditions making such events more likely is a verifiable fact. It further emphasizes that extreme weather coverage is a key opportunity to educate the public on the urgency of the crisis, particularly in the US, and to highlight how marginalized groups, including Indigenous people and communities of color, are impacted first and worst.

• Omitting the link between extreme weather and climate change can lead to reporting that is "incomplete and potentially even inaccurate."
• Journalists are encouraged to use specific framing to connect weather events to climate change, such as noting that heatwaves are the "sort of extreme weather that scientists around the world associate with climate change" or that hurricanes are becoming "more intense" due to human-caused climate change.
• The guide suggests using analogies to describe the relationship between climate change and weather, describing it as something that "stacks the deck against us," is a "key ingredient in the outcome," or "supercharges normal weather patterns, like steroids."
• Climate change disproportionately affects specific vulnerable populations, including "the poor, communities of color, and Indigenous groups," who are impacted "first and worst."
• While direct attribution of a single event is "tricky and can take time," it is a fact that "climate change sets the conditions for extreme weather to be more likely."

APA

Covering Climate Now (n.d.). How to Make THE CLIMATE CONNECTION. https://coveringclimatenow.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Climate-Connection_V5b.pdf

Chicago

Covering Climate Now. How to Make THE CLIMATE CONNECTION. n.d. https://coveringclimatenow.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Climate-Connection_V5b.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Covering Climate Now |title=How to Make THE CLIMATE CONNECTION |url=https://coveringclimatenow.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Climate-Connection_V5b.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{coveringclimatenowndhow, author = {{Covering Climate Now}}, title = {{How to Make THE CLIMATE CONNECTION}}, institution = {Covering Climate Now}, url = {https://coveringclimatenow.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Climate-Connection_V5b.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }