A National Survey of Broadcast Meteorologists About Climate Change

The report details a survey of US broadcast meteorologists, finding that over 90% believe climate change is occurring and most believe it has already influenced local weather, water resources, and agriculture. While many feel it is appropriate to report climate science, they face obstacles such as lack of time in newscasts. The survey also highlights a gap between the meteorologists' perception of scientific consensus on human-caused climate change and the actual consensus reported in literature.

• A vast majority of US TV weathercasters acknowledge the reality of climate change, with 90.3% stating they think it is happening.
• Among those who believe climate change is occurring, nearly 90% attribute it at least partially to human activity over the last 50 years.
• Broadcast meteorologists generally underestimate the scientific consensus on anthropogenic climate change; while literature shows a 97% consensus, the mean estimate from survey respondents was 74.7%.
• Meteorologists perceive significant current and future local impacts across multiple sectors: over two-thirds believe climate change has impacted local weather in the last 50 years, and over three-quarters expect it to do so in the next 50 years.
• Specific local impacts identified as increasing over the past 50 years include average temperature (66.0%), heat waves (45.0%), and heavy downpours (43.3%).
• Regarding local resources and health, nearly half believe climate change has impacted water resources (47%) and agriculture (47.1%) in their area over the last 50 years.
• There is low optimism regarding the ability to limit further climate change; fewer than 10% are highly optimistic about limiting additional change over the next 50 years even with worldwide mitigation.
• While nearly 70% of meteorologists believe it is appropriate to report climate science, the most common obstacle cited by those who have faced challenges is a lack of time in the newscast (66.8% very important).
• Over 90% of respondents believe their audience has at least some interest in local climate impacts, though only about 20% view that interest as high.
• The National Climate Assessment is well-known among the group, with 74.6% having heard of it and 79.6% of those having read some of its findings.
• Meteorologists expressed high interest in continuing education on seasonal patterns (89.3%), extreme precipitation (84.3%), and extreme heat (83.2%).

APA

Maibach, E., Mazzone, R., Drost, R., Myers, T., Placky, B. W., Cullen, H., Ward, B., Witte, J., Seitter, K., Harned, S., Hayhoe, K., Hassol, S., Lazo, J., Slater, M., Herring, D., Neipold, F., & Gardner, N. (2015). A National Survey of Broadcast Meteorologists About Climate Change. Center for Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2015-Broadcast-Met-Final-Survey-Report-rev.compressed.pdf

Chicago

Maibach, Edward, Raphael Mazzone, Robert Drost, Teresa Myers, Bernadette Woods Placky, Heidi Cullen, Bud Ward, et al. A National Survey of Broadcast Meteorologists About Climate Change. Center for Climate Change Communication, 2015. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2015-Broadcast-Met-Final-Survey-Report-rev.compressed.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{maibach2015national, author = {Maibach, Edward and Mazzone, Raphael and Drost, Robert and Myers, Teresa and Placky, Bernadette Woods and Cullen, Heidi and Ward, Bud and Witte, Joe and Seitter, Keith and Harned, Steve and Hayhoe, Katharine and Hassol, Susan and Lazo, Jeff and Slater, Michael and Herring, David and Neipold, Frank and Gardner, Ned}, title = {{A National Survey of Broadcast Meteorologists About Climate Change}}, institution = {Center for Climate Change Communication}, year = {2015}, month = apr, url = {https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2015-Broadcast-Met-Final-Survey-Report-rev.compressed.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }