Wind turbine in Morris, Minnesota. Photo by: Jeremy Hance.
Global media reporting on climate change issues was down again last year, according to a new analysis from The Daily Climate. The news organization counted around 19,000 stories on climate issues during the year written by 7,140 journalists, falling 20 percent from 2010 levels.
Coverage fell despite the fact that extreme weather pummeled many parts of the world last year, from famine in East Africa, devastating drought in the Southern US and Mexico, and historic flooding in Thailand. Scientists have stated for years that climate change is likely to worsen such extreme weather events and make them more frequent. In addition, scientists and institutions ratcheted up warnings on the need to slash greenhouse gas emissions this decade or face warming higher than 2 degrees Celsius.
“Based on my conversations with reporters, I believe this collapse is driven by editors and not reporters […]. This view is supported by the fact that nation’s editorial boards have even more sharply cut their pieces,” Joe Romm writes in Climate Progress, pointing to the fact that 2011 saw 580 editorials published on climate change, while 2009 saw 1,229.
According to The Daily Climate, global warming coverage peaked in 2009, likely due to much-anticipated UN Climate conference in Copenhagen, when 32,400 stories appeared worldwide written by 11,100 journalists.
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