Written By: Elisabeth Gick and Giselle Herzfeld
The climate crisis is a rapidly escalating global emergency — however, few of our mainstream media sources give it the attention it needs. Even the New York Times, Washington Post and Huff Post shy away from putting this emergency on the front page in large font and capital letters, making only half-hearted efforts at covering the most important scientific facts and political breakthroughs. By contrast, London based The Guardian made an editorial decision to focus on climate change, and their page dedicated to climate-specific news is worth a visit.
Below, we recommend an array of climate-focused online news, radio, podcasts, documentaries and social media sites to help you stay informed and engaged.
Online News
While traditional TV broadcasts are unfortunately of little use in getting up-to-date information on the climate crisis, there are some excellent online outlets dedicated exclusively to climate news.
EcoWatch is one of the best sources for up-to-date climate change news. Their daily email newsletter compiles original articles, as well as reprints from leading newspapers and magazines. Additionally, EcoWatch publishes key reports and action alerts from leading environmental organizations.
Another excellent news source is Grist, the self-proclaimed “beacon in the smog” which exclusively covers climate science, politics, health, and environmental justice. They’re a reader-supported nonprofit news outlet offering free daily, weekly, or biweekly digests. They do a good job of going into depth while remaining accessible and engaging.
Inside Climate News describes itself as “a Pulitzer Prize-winning, non-profit, non-partisan news organization dedicated to covering climate change, energy and the environment.” You can sign up for a free daily or a weekly newsletter. Many of the staff writers come from major newspapers; their reporting and investigations reflect their papers’ mission to be as objective and even-keeled as possible, sometimes at the expense of more activist-oriented messaging.
The highly acclaimed DeSmogBlog bills itself as “clearing the PR pollution that clouds climate science.” Their investigative journalism has often been the basis for groundbreaking revelations of fossil fuel industry climate crimes and their ruthless propaganda machinery. DeSmogBlog’s series of articles are an excellent resource for anyone looking for a deeper understanding of the power structures in play.
For the more technically-minded, there are a few online sources we recommend. Scientific, but not beyond the lay person’s grasp is Climate Central, who conduct ongoing climate research and publish reports based on their key findings. They maintain strict scientific integrity, and serve as a valuable resource for unbiased and direct climate science.
Also focused on science is SkepticalScience. This site explains climate change science and rebuts global warming misinformation. Their arguments section provides scientifically validated counter-arguments to common Global Warming & Climate Change Myths in three levels of detail, from a simply worded paragraph to a heavily footnoted article with references to peer-reviewed journals.
NASA’s Climate Change Website offers accessible environmental science reports, as well as interactive maps and diagrams that show the global effects of climate change over time.
For information on technological advancements in renewable energy, GreenTech Media and CleanTechnica offer articles, webinars and podcasts on green electricity, electric vehicles, solar power, energy storage, and related topics.
To stay up-to-date on statewide climate news, you can follow The Colorado Sun’s climate change news page. Run by former Denver Post reporters, the Colorado Sun has done a fantastic job of local climate reporting, with ongoing coverage of the statewide environmental impacts of climate change, as well as a compelling array of local opinion pieces.
For in-depth international climate change stories that often escape the Western mainstream news, the United Nations news site has a page dedicated to climate change, as well as a subscription option to receive international climate-change news.
Climate Home News is an independent news site based in the UK that is sponsored by multiple climate-action organizations. While they do not have a subscription option, their website offers a valuable resource for international and especially EU-based climate news.
Social Media
Social media can be another platform to help alert us to actions and news, especially if we follow groups and organizations at the forefront of the climate fight. 350 Colorado regularly posts local and statewide climate news and activism opportunities, and 350.org posts national and international news on the ongoing climate fight. Additionally, Greenpeace, Extinction Rebellion, Sierra Club, Colorado Rising, The Sunrise Movement, and DrawDown are great resources for activist news and action alerts that are available on various social media platforms.
Radio
If the radio is more your style, NPR and its affiliated stations very often broadcast excellent climate news and analysis. I loved NPR Morning Edition’s series on “It’s 2050 and this is how we stopped climate change.” Ryan Warner and his colleagues at CPR have also brought us many thoughtful, insightful stories of people impacted by the climate crisis, and those working on reining it in. More personal than written news, radio can get emotional without being sappy. Stories move us.
Podcasts
Podcasts are another great way to stay up to date on the climate crisis conversation, with an ever-expanding variety of topics, themes, and voices. To find the best podcasts that focus specifically on the climate crisis, you can check out Bustle’s list of 8 podcasts about climate change and Player.FM’s list of climate change podcasts.
Documentaries
Documentaries are another resource to get informed on the impacts of the climate crisis. Before the Flood is currently available on Netflix, and features a high-profile cast of voices speaking on the issue and our prospects for the future. For a list of other highly recommended documentaries, you can check out Medium.com’s “7 Most Epic Climate Change Documentaries”.
Positive News
Lastly, we know that it is easy to get bogged down and overwhelmed in what often feels like a constant stream of negative news regarding climate change. It is important to keep in mind that there is always progress being made around the world to address the issue is exciting and diverse ways. While many news sites often seem to amplify the bad news, it is important to inform ourselves of the good news as well. When you need a boost in optimism, the Good News Network has an entire page dedicated to uplifting climate news. The Daily Climate also has a Good News page. The New Climate is a website dedicated to publishing uplifting stories about the work being done to combat climate change and find resiliency.
Thanks for reading, listening, staying engaged and acting!