Document details

Reporting Extreme Weather and Climate Change: A Guide for Journalists

World Weather Attribution (2022), 33 pp.
"Following an extreme event with severe impacts, a great deal of public interest is generated in its causes. Increasingly, the dominant question is: "Was this event caused by climate change?" This guide is intended to help journalists navigate this question. First, it introduces the science of 'extreme event attribution' - the method of attributing (or not) the degree to which the weather event was influenced by climate change. Second, it lays out the statements that can reliably be made about some of the extreme weather types of greatest public interest, even when no specific scientific study is being performed. This is based on current state-of-the-art knowledge using studies of recent extreme events and the latest IPCC report. Further down, you will find an easy-to-read checklist for each type of extreme weather event. The aim of this guide is to help journalists to accurately report extreme weather events in the context of a warming planet: how can you best inform your audiences about the effects of climate change on the extreme events we are increasingly experiencing, without overstating (or, indeed, understating) the link?" (Introduction, page 7)
Introduction, 6
Event attribution studies - An overview, 8
Event attribution studies - Examples, 12
How to report on extreme events when there is no attribution study, 16
Heatwaves, 18
Floods, 20
Tropical cyclones (hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones), 22
Heavy snow, 24
Droughts, 26
Fires, 29
Extreme events and climate change - One-page checklist! 32