For weeks now, we have all been saying over and over “I’m too hot!” Well it’s a fact, not just a feeling — it is too hot. It’s also too rainy and too dry; our homes and farms are now more vulnerable than ever to drought and flooding, wildfires and mudslides. The media has been very busy telling us all about the weather and how “wacky” it’s been, but they’ve left out a crucial fact: that it is too hot because of climate change.

Scientists are saying that the heat waves and droughts we’ve seen across the United States this summer are a lot more likely to happen because of climate change. But according to a report by Media Matters, our media outlets aren’t doing their job: giving us all the facts about this extreme heat.

Media Matters found that only 14% of heat wave stories mentioned climate change — and only 8.7% of television segments provided that context for their stories. CNN and ABC were the worst culprits, mentioning climate change in less than 5% of their coverage.

In the face of such overwhelming evidence about the impacts of climate change on extreme weather, it’s irresponsible for news agencies to ignore it. Join us in standing up and telling CNN and ABC they need to include more information about climate change as part of their reporting!

It’s easy to do:

• Tweet at @CNN and @ABC and tell them “Hey @CNN and @ABC, #ImTooHot and it’s not just the weather. Responsible reporting includes #climate change.”


• Tag CNN and ABC on Facebook and tell them “CNN and ABC: Climate change is impacting the weather and the world needs and deserves to know these facts.”

Together we can change the national conversation about weather. It’s too hot, we know it and we know why. So we need to say it again and again so that the national media, slow to get the facts, will make the connection. #ImTooHot. It’s time to stand up to denial, face the reality of climate change and start working to cool our planet.

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