Original article (in Croatian) was published on 5/3/2026; Author: Matea Grgurinović
It is true that the media have devoted less attention to climate change in recent years than they did previously. However, the fact that the media are now focusing more on other topics says nothing about the reality of climate change.
Climate change deniers will use almost any topic as supposed evidence that climate change is fake or invented. They often point to past weather extremes from the past or unusually high temperatures in specific locations to argue that “these things have always happened.”
Now, some are claiming that because the media are currently focused on other issues – such as armed conflicts around the world – climate change must no longer be real.
One Facebook post, shown in the screenshot below, states:
“YOU SHOULD KNOW!! 😊 We all know what is happening around the world right now!! Where have the ‘terrible anthropogenic climate changes’ disappeared to?! They have simply evaporated and been pushed aside!!!! 😄 Remember all those UN conferences about ‘anthropogenic climate change’ as supposedly ‘the greatest threat to humanity,’ while ignoring the real dangers we are witnessing today!! Once again, remember!! 😊 The climate has always changed naturally in cycles!! The same cycles continue today, while humans have never had such powerful and destructive military technology as they do now, capable of bringing humanity to the brink of extinction by creating new crises and massive migrations!! Prof. Zoran.”
In another Facebook post, the same page uses the conflict in Iran, along with other crises and wars, to deny climate change:
“In this era of new global crises and wars, the fraud of ‘anthropogenic climate change’ has been pushed aside. Rightly so!! We all know that the climate has always changed naturally, while humans have never possessed such destructive and powerful weapons as they do today.”
The media are reporting less on the climate crisis
It is true that climate issues now receive less media coverage, and this decline did not begin with the most recent conflict. A shift in reporting had already become noticeable the previous year. Media outlets have increasingly devoted less attention to climate change despite growing risks and the increasing likelihood that global warming will exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, bringing more extreme weather, heatwaves, longer warm seasons, and shorter cold seasons.
According to an analysis by the Media and Climate Change Observatory (MeCCO), reporting on climate change declined in 2025.
Coverage fell by 14 percent compared with the previous year and by 38 percent compared with 2021.
At the same time, audiences remain interested in climate reporting. Reuters Institute’s 2025 Journalism Trends report notes that surveys consistently show people in nearly every country are concerned about climate change and support policies addressing it, recognizing both the risks and the need for urgent action.
A victim of the news cycle
The Conversation explains that climate-related stories tend to receive the most attention during specific periods, such as international climate summits or after major extreme weather events.
In other words, even one of the defining issues of our time is subject to the normal cycle of media attention.
The situation is even more difficult in countries affected by armed conflict, where news organizations naturally prioritize immediate developments over climate reporting.
Inconsistent reporting can make climate change harder for the public to understand. It becomes more difficult to provide context, explain links between extreme weather events, or communicate complex scientific findings in accessible language.
The media’s role in climate denial
It is also important to remember that some media outlets have played a significant role in spreading climate misinformation and promoting climate denial.
As we previously documented in our feature on the history of climate change denial, organized campaigns – particularly in the United States – used media platforms to cast doubt on climate science. Initially, the goal was to convince the public that climate change was not happening. Later, as the evidence became overwhelming, the focus shifted to delaying political action aimed at reducing emissions and limiting future damage.
The initial goal was to convince the public that climate change was not happening. Later, once climate change had become so pronounced and evident that it could no longer be ignored, the objective shifted to delaying the adoption of political measures aimed at mitigating its existing impacts and preventing future consequences of the climate crisis. The media were used to provide climate change deniers with as much public space as possible to spread false and harmful ideas.
Pressures within the journalism profession also shape how the media report on scientific issues, as well as on other topics. The growing emphasis on trivial and “entertaining” content, the decline in the number of journalists, newsrooms and foreign bureaus, the shrinking space for investigative journalism, and the fact that journalistic specialization has all but disappeared – all of these factors influence media coverage.
Limited scientific training among journalists and increasing time pressures also make it more difficult to translate complex scientific findings into information that is accessible to the public.
The Earth is warming
In short, the media industry faces many challenges that affect reporting on all subjects, not only climate change.
However, none of this means that climate change or global warming are not real.
As Faktograf has repeatedly explained, there is overwhelming scientific evidence – from ice cores, tree rings, sediment records, satellite observations, and direct measurements – that Earth’s climate is changing.
Global warming refers to the long-term increase in Earth’s average temperature. As National Geographic explains:
“Although this warming trend has been underway for a long time, its pace has accelerated significantly over the past century due to the burning of fossil fuels. As the human population has grown, so has the amount of coal, oil and natural gas burned. Burning fossil fuels produces the greenhouse effect in Earth’s atmosphere.”
Earth’s climate has always changed throughout its history. According to NASA, there have been eight cycles of ice ages and warmer periods during the past 800,000 years, largely driven by small variations in Earth’s orbit that altered the amount of solar energy reaching the planet.
The current warming, however, is different. It is occurring much more rapidly and is primarily the result of human activities.
Scientific consensus
More than 99 percent of climate scientists agree that current climate change is caused by human activities, primarily greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels.
A 2021 study published in Environmental Research Letters found overwhelming consensus in peer-reviewed scientific literature published since 2012 that climate change is anthropogenic.
The impacts are already visible around the world through increasingly frequent droughts, wildfires, floods and extreme rainfall.
Across Europe, the European Environment Agency reports rising land and sea temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, shrinking glaciers and snow cover, rising sea levels, and more frequent and intense heatwaves, heavy rainfall and droughts.
The United Nations warns that if global warming exceeds 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, heatwaves will become more frequent, warm seasons will lengthen, and cold seasons will shorten. At 2°C of warming, extreme heat would more often exceed critical thresholds for agriculture and human health.
For the first time since records began, the global average temperature over the past three years has exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Despite increasingly visible climate impacts and growing scientific evidence, some people continue to deny that climate change is occurring or that human activities are its primary cause. Misleading claims about historical weather events are frequently used to support these false narratives.
In conclusion, claims circulating on Facebook argue that because the media are currently focused on the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran, rather than on climate change, the climate crisis must be a hoax.
It is true that media coverage of climate issues has declined. However, this is not evidence that climate change is fake. Scientific evidence overwhelmingly shows that the Earth is warming, that climate change is occurring, and that human activity is the primary driver.
