The fluctuation of climate change in the media: what does this mean?

Climate change is an ever-growing, complicated crisis which has concerned scientists for decades, yet its coverage in the media is not as constant, and seems to be discussed as passing fashion trends.

The Media and Climate Change Observatory (MeCCO) released their October 2025 summary last month, titled as “a Crucial Turning Point”. MeCCO reported that media coverage of climate change, or global warming, in newspapers around the globe decreased by 10% from September 2025.

Additionally, the report claimed climate change coverage had dropped by 23%, compared to last year. The media’s coverage of the climate change crisis is damaging to the momentum of change and some factors involved in these fluctuations are event-driven topics, political pressures, audience engagement and ultimately framing choices. 

When environmental events occur around the world, like COP summits, extreme weather disasters and the release of significant scientific reports, the media coverage spikes. However, this is not a sustainable spike and once the event has passed, coverage rapidly drops. An analysis of climate change content in newspapers from Germany, India, South Africa and the United States, between 2012-2019, found that “after event-focussed reports, coverage returned to preconference patterns after each conference”. 

The framing of climate change media affects how many climate stories are told.

The framing of narratives are crucial in determining the audience's engagement. For instance, Dominik A. Stecuła, a political communications expert at The Ohio State University, found that media that focussed on economic costs or uncertainties reduced public engagement, while highlighting risks and economic benefits increased support for climate action.

Doom- based narratives can create audience fatigue leading to a decline of stories released. However, when climate change stories are related to solution-based or human-centred stories, this can often lead to more sustained interest and engagement. There is a fine line between overwhelming the audience yet ensuring facts are being told. 

---------

By staff writer Bea Noakes.