Climate Coverage of the Climate Crisis Is Plummeting Just as the Planet Burns

The news media’s retreat from climate change coverage is a dangerous trend at a time when the planet is heating faster than ever. The University of Colorado Boulder’s Media and Climate Change Observatory reports a staggering 38 percent drop in climate news stories worldwide since their peak in 2021. Major outlets like The New York Times, CBS News, and The Washington Post have cut back climate reporters or gutted their climate desks, leaving the public less informed about an existential crisis.

Professor Max Boykoff, director of the Media and Climate Change Observatory and contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment, explains several factors behind this decline. Media consolidation and layoffs have hit climate journalism hard. Political and economic pressures create a hostile environment for reporters who try to cover climate issues. Meanwhile, global events like international conflicts and the pandemic have dominated headlines, pushing climate stories off the front pages.

But the role of disinformation from fossil fuel companies and right-wing think tanks cannot be overstated. Boykoff highlights how groups like the Heartland Institute and the Heritage Foundation, through initiatives like Project 2025, have aggressively pushed climate denial and rolled back scientific integrity under the Trump administration’s second term. Fossil fuel industry money has fueled misinformation campaigns that confuse the public and undermine news coverage.

This dropoff in media attention has real consequences. News coverage shapes public discourse and signals to policymakers what issues demand action. When climate stories disappear, so does the pressure for meaningful climate policy. Young people, who have grown up with the climate crisis looming, express frustration and fatigue as they see little progress despite decades of warnings.

In sum, the media’s failure to hold the climate crisis front and center plays directly into the hands of polluters and political forces that want to stall or reverse climate action. As temperatures rise, the need for relentless, fearless climate journalism is more urgent than ever. Without it, the public and policymakers risk being left in the dark while the planet burns.