A National Survey of Television Meteorologists About Climate Change Education

The 2011 survey of US television meteorologists reveals that while 82% believe the climate is changing, a significant portion attributes this to natural causes rather than human activity. The study identifies five distinct groups based on these beliefs and finds that most weathercasters underestimate the scientific consensus on anthropogenic warming. Key barriers to reporting include lack of time and scientific uncertainty, while there is a strong demand for high-quality graphics and regional projections. The report also highlights deep distrust of climate models and the motivations of scientists among 'Unconvinced' and 'Undecided' meteorologists.

• Television meteorologists can be divided into five distinct groups based on their beliefs about climate change: those convinced it is caused mostly by human activity (19%), mostly by natural causes (29%), by both in equal proportion (34%), those who are unconvinced (9%), and those who are undecided (8%).
• A large majority of weathercasters (82%) believe the climate is changing, but the two largest groups conclude that human activity is not the primary driver over the last 150 years.
• Most television meteorologists significantly underestimate the scientific consensus on human-caused global warming; only 18% recognize that over 90% of climate scientists agree it is occurring.
• Continuing education on climate change is viewed as insufficient, with only 10% of weathercasters reporting they are very satisfied with available opportunities and only 42% having participated in such courses.
• For meteorologists convinced of climate change, the primary obstacles to on-air reporting are lack of time in the newscast (87%) and lack of time for field reporting (81%).
• Convinced weathercasters identify high-quality graphics/animations (81%), public education materials (81%), and specific regional climate projections (79%) as the most helpful resources for improving their reporting.
• There is a strong preference among weathercasters for reporting on local climate impacts, particularly new records such as the hottest day (79%), changes in rainfall (79%), and changes in flooding (78%).
• Meteorologists who are unconvinced or undecided exhibit a profound distrust of climate computer models, with 80% of undecided and 87% of unconvinced respondents distrusting them.
• Unconvinced weathercasters unanimously believe that current climate changes are part of natural variability, and a majority (70%) view claims of human-caused warming as a cover for a political agenda to increase government control.
• Despite disagreements on the cause of climate change, an overwhelming majority of both unconvinced (91%) and undecided (100%) weathercasters agree that increasing energy efficiency and developing renewable energy makes sense for the United States.

APA

Maibach, E., Cobb, S., Peters, E., Mandryk, C., Straus, D., Sklarew, D., Witte, J., Clarke, L., Thaker, J., Seitter, K., Harned, S., Todey, D., Bierly, E., Hoerling, M., Herring, D., Leiserowitz, A., Bonney, R., Cullen, H., & Schweizer, V. (2011). A National Survey of Television Meteorologists About Climate Change Education. Center for Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/June-2011-A-National-Survey-of-Television-Meterologists-about-Climate-Change-Education.pdf

Chicago

Maibach, Edward, Sara Cobb, Erin Peters, Carole Mandryk, David Straus, Dann Sklarew, Jim Witte, et al. A National Survey of Television Meteorologists About Climate Change Education. Center for Climate Change Communication, 2011. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/June-2011-A-National-Survey-of-Television-Meterologists-about-Climate-Change-Education.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{maibach2011national, author = {Maibach, Edward and Cobb, Sara and Peters, Erin and Mandryk, Carole and Straus, David and Sklarew, Dann and Witte, Jim and Clarke, Lee and Thaker, Jagadish and Seitter, Keith and Harned, Steve and Todey, Dennis and Bierly, Eugene and Hoerling, Martin and Herring, David and Leiserowitz, Anthony and Bonney, Rick and Cullen, Heidi and Schweizer, Vanessa}, title = {{A National Survey of Television Meteorologists About Climate Change Education}}, institution = {Center for Climate Change Communication}, year = {2011}, month = jun, url = {https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/June-2011-A-National-Survey-of-Television-Meterologists-about-Climate-Change-Education.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }