Is it climate change? Coverage by online news sites of the 2019 European summer heatwaves in France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK

Abstract

In 2019, several countries across Western Europe experienced record-breaking temperatures and heatwaves which, in some cases, reached temperatures of over 40 °C for three to four consecutive days during June and July. Extreme event attribution (EEA) studies show that anthropogenic climate change increased the likelihood of these events by at least three to ten times (with different results for different countries), and increased the temperature by 1.2 to 3.0 °C. The heatwaves resulted in more than 2500 deaths. Based on a content analysis of 267 articles taken from 20 of the most visited online news websites in four of the countries most affected by the heatwaves (France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK), we find strong variations between countries and media outlets in how much attention journalists pay to links between climate change and the heatwaves (the UK media the most, and politically left-leaning titles more than right-leaning ones); many different types of statements depicting the link but in general, the presence of accurate, science-based descriptions; a strong presence of EEA studies in the coverage; and more quotes from climate scientists than politicians and NGOs, with a minimal presence of climate change skeptics. These results contribute to our understanding of media coverage around extreme weather events in different countries and media outlets, and how such events might serve as opportunities for public engagement with climate change.

Climate Change Salience, Economic Insecurity, and Support for Mitigation Policies

“…This aligns with results from prior studies (e.g. Herrnstadt and Muehlegger, 2014;Painter et al, 2021;Schmidt et al, 2012) and supports our assumption that abnormally hot weather increases the salience of climate change and global warming issues, which may in-turn affect reported attitudes towards mitigation policies.…”

“…Unusual weather events attract attention from the public and generate discussion about the causes and consequences of climate change and the need for mitigation policies (Aykut et al, 2012;Bloodheart et al, 2015;Herrnstadt and Muehlegger, 2014;Lang, 2014;Moore et al 2019;Painter et al, 2021;Schafer et al, 2014;Schmidt et al, 2012). For instance, Herrnstadt and Muehlegger (2014) show that unusual weather increases climate change salience and that these effects extend to action on environmental issues in the U.S. Congress.…”

Visual portrayals of fun in the sun in European news outlets misrepresent heatwave risks

“…Four countries (France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK) were chosen as they were most impacted by the 2019 European heatwaves (Painter et al, 2021). Data were collected from online websites in each country, as they represent the second‐most consulted source of information about climate change, after TV (Amdi, 2020).…”

“…The news media are the dominant source, in most countries, for information about climate change (Amdi, 2020; Schäfer & Painter, 2020). News stories about extreme weather risks can help to warn people about the potential danger to themselves and those close to them, as well as about impacts on infrastructure and society more widely (Painter et al, 2021).…”

“…Yet whilst there has been considerable attention paid to how the news media represent climate risk in textual form, and what this may mean for public engagement, there has been considerably less attention paid to visual imagery within news reports (O'Neill, 2013). More specifically, the textual content of extreme weather events in the news media has more recently received growing attention (Hopke, 2020; Painter et al, 2021), whereas understanding of visual communication of extremes is sparse (Nerlich & Jaspal, 2013). However, images play a key role in communication.…”