A National Survey Of Television Meteorologists About Climate Change: Preliminary Findings

The study finds that TV weathercasters often serve as the sole science experts in their newsrooms and are generally open to expanding this role. While most have discussed climate change, primarily in community settings, significant barriers such as lack of time and perceived scientific uncertainty persist. The findings reveal a lack of consensus among weathercasters regarding the scientific agreement on global warming, with many believing there is substantial disagreement among scientists.

• TV weathercasters frequently act as the primary science educators in their newsrooms because most stations lack dedicated science reporters. Approximately 94% of respondents work at stations without a full-time science or environmental reporter, and two-thirds report on science issues at least once per month.
• A large majority of TV weathercasters (79%) are comfortable adopting the role of "station scientist," a position where they serve as the primary expert for various science topics beyond meteorology.
• Climate change is a common topic for weathercasters, but it is most frequently discussed in community speaking events (87%) and anchor "chit-chat" (49%) rather than during on-air weathercasts (37%) or reporter packages (33%), primarily due to time constraints.
• Weathercasters who face obstacles in reporting on climate change cite lack of time in newscasts (79%) and field reporting (75%) as the top barriers, followed by scientific uncertainty (68%) and lack of news management support (64%).
• There is a significant gap between the scientific consensus on climate change and the perceptions of TV weathercasters; 61% believe there is a lot of disagreement among scientists about whether global warming is happening.
• Beliefs about the causes of global warming are split, with 63% of respondents attributing it to natural changes in the environment and 31% attributing it to human activities.
• Weathercasters express the highest trust in state climatologists (85%), the National Weather Association (83%), and NOAA/NWS (82%), while expressing the lowest trust in politicians (4%) and religious leaders (11%).

APA

Maibach, E., Wilson, K., & Witte, J. (2010). A National Survey Of Television Meteorologists About Climate Change: Preliminary Findings. Center for Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2010-A-National-Survey-Of-Television-Meteorologists-about-Climate-Change_Preliminary-Findings.pdf

Chicago

Maibach, Edward, Kristopher Wilson, and James Witte. A National Survey Of Television Meteorologists About Climate Change: Preliminary Findings. Center for Climate Change Communication, 2010. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2010-A-National-Survey-Of-Television-Meteorologists-about-Climate-Change_Preliminary-Findings.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Maibach |first1=Edward |last2=Wilson |first2=Kristopher |last3=Witte |first3=James |title=A National Survey Of Television Meteorologists About Climate Change: Preliminary Findings |publisher=Center for Climate Change Communication |date=29 March 2010 |url=https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2010-A-National-Survey-Of-Television-Meteorologists-about-Climate-Change_Preliminary-Findings.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{maibach2010national, author = {Maibach, Edward and Wilson, Kristopher and Witte, James}, title = {{A National Survey Of Television Meteorologists About Climate Change: Preliminary Findings}}, institution = {Center for Climate Change Communication}, year = {2010}, month = mar, url = {https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2010-A-National-Survey-Of-Television-Meteorologists-about-Climate-Change_Preliminary-Findings.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }