ROSS CLARK: Was there anything more ludicrous during last week s European heatwave than the BBC s climate editor travelling from London to Spain (and back again) to report on temperatures?
You could almost sense climate campaigners willing those thermometers in Sardinia to nudge into the unknown – a reading above 48.8°C would have marked a new European record and unleashed yet more forewarnings of climatic Armageddon. But alas, they don’t appear to have got their way – at least not today. As of 6.30 p.m.
Instead of informing viewers about how the recent heat and wildfire events in Asia, Canada, and the Pacific Northwest are a stark reminder of the profound changes being driven by anthropogenic global warming, national TV news shows’ lack of coverage of these extreme weather events demonstrated how far broadcast and cable news still needs to go to provide consistent and substantive coverage of climate change. As the United States moves into extreme weather season, which includes the beginning of the 2023 hurricane season on June 1, it is imperative that major news networks expand and deepen their extreme weather coverage. This is especially important considering the role a potential El Niño could play in fueling storm formation and driving global temperatures to record levels, and how those developments could be weaponized by professional climate skeptics.