Climate Matters: A 2020 Census Survey of Television Weathercasters in the United States

Abstract

This report provides the initial findings from an online census survey of U.S.-based television weathercasters. The survey was conducted to gain insights for the continued refinement of Climate Matters, a National Science Foundation-funded collaboration between George Mason University, Climate Central, NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the American Meteorological Society (AMS)—the aim of which is to enable local, science-based reporting about climate change by TV weathercasters. In this survey, we explored TV weathercasters’ views of climate change, their experiences and interest in covering climate change, and their familiarity with and use of Climate Matters reporting resources.