As a series of wildfires continues to bring about record-setting devastation across the West Coast, the Los Angeles Times led their Sunday edition with a front-page acknowledgment that long-feared climate change-induced destruction has already arrived. “California’s climate apocalypse,” blared the paper’s front cover. “The calamity is no longer in the future.” In no uncertain terms, the Times piece, which detailed how greenhouse gas emissions contributed to the uniquely cataclysmic nature of this round of fires; looked back at predictions from scientists who—almost two decades ago—warned of exactly what America is experiencing now; and blamed human actions for the unprecedented scorching. But the paper’s frank explanation about the fires’ man-made nature stands out as an anomaly against the bulk of media coverage.
When the fires began accelerating across California during a Labor Day weekend heat wave, major broadcast news networks aired around-the-clock programming dedicated to surveying the damage, complete with aerial and boots-on-the-ground coverage. Between September 5 and September 8, ABC, CBS, and NBC aired 46 segments on the wildfires, but their link to climate change was only mentioned in seven of those reports across networks, with Jeff Berardelli, a meteorologist and climate specialist at CBS, being responsible for four of the seven, according to a study conducted by Media Matters.
Last Monday, the New York Times and the Associated Press both ran extensive pieces—more than 1,700 words and 1,100 words, respectively—detailing the widespread and unprecedented fires, but according to an analysis by environmental reporter Emily Atkin (and as evidenced via a simple search), neither outlet included the words “climate change” nor its role in the extreme temperatures spurring on the flames. (On Thursday, the Times broadened its coverage, publishing a feature that explicitly linked the fires to climate change.) Nor is this just the case with California climate coverage—broadcast networks also glossed over the connection between climate change and Hurricane Laura, according to another Media Matters study, much to the disgruntlement of organization called End Climate Silence, which seeks to make the link explicit. According to polling from the organization, most readers want to know exactly what’s going on: “More than 7 in 10 Americans (72 percent) say that if there is a connection between an extreme weather event and climate change, they want to hear about it in the news, including 85 percent of Democrats, 59 percent of independents, and 62 percent of Republicans,” End Climate Silence’s Genevieve Gunther wrote in the Boston Globe.
Fox News, predictably, took the omission a step further. When Rep. John Garamendi of California made a Thursday appearance on Fox host Neil Cavuto’s show, the congressman was soundly shut down for attempting to explain to the network’s audience that “we’ve known for more than two decades…that this would occur as climate changed.” After Garamendi noted that uncontrollable fires will continue to arise across the country if nothing is done to “move beyond the use of fossil fuels,” Cavuto accused his guest of trying to get in “a political statement” and added that he wants to focus on the current rash of fires—presumably, instead of discussing why they are so severe. On Friday, Tucker Carlson did mention the wildfires and climate change together, but only to mock those who connect the two while also claiming that systemic racism does not exist. “In the hands of Democratic politicians, climate change is like systemic racism in the sky. You can’t see it, but rest assured it’s everywhere and it’s deadly,” he said. “And, like systemic racism, it is your fault.”
The Kremlin’s state-owned outlet, RT, managed to link Black Lives Matter protests with the fires, running an article headlined, “‘Antifa are thrilled to hear this’: Portland police ask protesters not to start blazes amid statewide wildfire emergency.” RT’s implied connection mirrors a popular right-wing conspiracy theory that outright accuses anti-fascist activists of surreptitiously starting the fires in the first place.
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