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

The report finds that while only 5% of event-related local television segments provided climate change context, these segments reached over 17 million people across the 50 largest U.S. media markets. Audiences surged during extreme events, with local television viewership doubling in Orlando during Hurricane Ian and increasing 78% in Los Angeles during Tropical Storm Hilary. Extreme heat events, specifically the July 2023 heat streak in Phoenix, were most frequently linked to climate change, accounting for 48% of all climate-contextualized segments. Analysis of closed captioning shows that 96% of contextualized segments highlighted major impacts in categories such as health and safety, vulnerable communities, power supply, the economy, and travel disruption.

• Television segments that provide climate change context during extreme weather events have a widespread impact despite their low frequency; only 5% of event-related segments included this context, yet they reached more than 17 million people across the 50 largest U.S. media markets.
• Local television news audiences increase significantly during extreme weather events due to immediate public safety threats. For instance, audiences doubled in Orlando during Hurricane Ian and rose by 78% in Los Angeles during Tropical Storm Hilary compared to the preceding week.
• Extreme heat is the weather event most frequently connected to climate change in local news, aligning with scientific attribution confidence. The July 2023 heat streak in Phoenix represented 48% of all climate-contextualized segments across the four studied events.
• Climate-contextualized segments primarily focus on hazardous local impacts, with 96% mentioning at least one major impact across five categories: health and safety, vulnerable communities, power supply and demand, the economy, and travel disruption. Health and safety mentions were most frequent, particularly regarding the June 2023 Canadian wildfires.
• Local news and broadcast meteorologists are essential for raising science-based climate awareness, as viewers increasingly rely on them during crises. During Hurricane Ian, local news streaming app usage in Orlando increased by over 244% for all persons aged 2+ and 395% for those aged 25-54.

APA

Climate Central (2024). Connecting the Dots: Local U.S. television coverage of extreme weather and climate change. https://www.climatecentral.org/report/connecting-the-dots

Chicago

Climate Central. Connecting the Dots: Local U.S. television coverage of extreme weather and climate change. 2024. https://www.climatecentral.org/report/connecting-the-dots.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Central |title=Connecting the Dots: Local U.S. television coverage of extreme weather and climate change |date=13 March 2024 |url=https://www.climatecentral.org/report/connecting-the-dots |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatecentral2024connecting, author = {{Climate Central}}, title = {{Connecting the Dots: Local U.S. television coverage of extreme weather and climate change}}, institution = {Climate Central}, year = {2024}, month = mar, url = {https://www.climatecentral.org/report/connecting-the-dots}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }