A Media Matters review of national TV news coverage from June 16 through June 26 of the extreme heat dome found:

• National TV news networks aired a combined total of 4 hours and 20 minutes of coverage across 159 segments about the recent eastern U.S. heat dome. Of those, only 6 segments, or 4%, mentioned climate change.
• Cable news networks — CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC — aired 2 hours and 9 minutes across 76 segments about the record-breaking heat dome. MSNBC was the only cable news network to mention climate change, which it did in 3 segments.
• Corporate broadcast TV networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — aired a combined 2 hours and 11 minutes across 83 segments about the extreme heat event. CBS was the only broadcast network to mention climate change, which it did in 3 segments.

The last week of June brought the most severe early-summer heat dome in recent United States history. More than 280 high temperature records were broken, and another 121 tied. More than 130 million people were placed under extreme heat warnings or advisories. Cities including Springfield, Ohio, (104°F); Baltimore, Maryland, (105°F); and New York City (96°F) endured record or near-record highs. The heat index soared past 100°F across much of the Midwest and East Coast, and even Alaska issued its first-ever heat advisory.

Scientists have been clear: This was not a random weather event. Climate Central’s Climate Shift Index estimated that high temperatures across the eastern U.S. during the final week of June were at least five times more likely because of human-caused climate change. A new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences tied the persistence of the heat dome to a rise in planetary wave resonance events, atmospheric patterns that stall heat and prevent weather systems from moving. These patterns have tripled over the last 70 years, driven in part by Arctic warming and land warming faster than the oceans. 

And, according to The New York Times, global warming itself is accelerating faster than expected; Earth’s energy imbalance, the amount of heat trapped by the planet, has more than doubled in the past two decades. These shifts are actively creating the conditions for more frequent and more dangerous heat domes across the United States and globally.

This context, however, was missing from the larger story national TV news told about the heat dome.

On cable:

• CNN aired 39 minutes across 23 segments, with no climate mentions.
• MSNBC aired 47 minutes across 19 segments, with 3 climate mentions.
• Fox News aired 43 minutes across 34 segments, with no climate mentions.

On broadcast:

• ABC aired 38 minutes across 26 segments, with no climate mentions.
• CBS aired 46 minutes across 28 segments, with 3 climate mentions.
• NBC aired 47 minutes across 29 segments, with no climate mentions.

Coverage provided useful information — including forecasts, advisories, and heat safety tips — but rarely went further. Audiences were warned to hydrate, limit outdoor exposure, and monitor the heat index. What they were not told is why events like this are happening more often, and what systems and policies are shaping their future severity. 

The heat dome was treated as a weather story, not a climate one.

A select few segments, however, did provide meaningful context by linking the heat dome to climate change, federal policy decisions, and the unequal burdens placed on vulnerable communities by global warming.

During the June 25 episode of CBS Mornings, correspondent David Schechter reported on how climate change is driving up electricity costs associated with air conditioning and how the Trump administration’s plan to eliminate federal utility assistance would leave vulnerable families without financial support.

The June 20 episode of MSNBC's Chris Jansing Reports aired a segment focused on the disproportionate impacts of extreme heat on low-income households, linking air conditioning access, infrastructure gaps, and climate-exacerbated inequality to real-time policy decisions.

The June 26 episode of MSNBC's Chris Jansing Reports featured climate scientist Michael Mann, who examined how the heat dome underscored the consequences of proposed budget cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and clean energy programs, and warned that the window is shrinking to meaningfully act on climate change.

Treating extreme weather as though it is disconnected from policy, power, and fossil fuel accountability not only represents a missed opportunity — it deprives the public of reporting that explains who is responsible, what policies are making heat more deadly, and what structural changes are needed to protect people from the worsening impacts of climate.

National TV news should cover extreme weather through a climate lens by explaining how climate change intensifies these events, tying them to real-time rollbacks of climate and public health protections, highlighting disproportionate impacts on low-income and marginalized communities, and holding fossil fuel interests accountable for driving the crisis.

Media Matters searched transcripts in the SnapStream video database for all original episodes of ABC’s Good Morning America and World News Tonight, CBS’ Mornings and Evening News, and NBC’s Today and Nightly News, as well as all original programming on CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC, for any of the terms and variations of heat, heat wave, heat dome, or temperature within close proximity of any of the terms New York, Philadelphia, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Dakota, Washington, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, New England, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Connecticut, Baltimore, midwest, east, north, or mid-Atlantic from June 16, 2025, through June 26, 2025.

We included segments, which we defined as instances when the extreme heat event was the stated topic of discussion or when we found significant discussion of the event. We defined significant discussion as instances when two or more speakers in a multitopic segment discussed the event with one another.

We did not include mentions, which we defined as instances when a single speaker in a segment on another topic mentioned the event without another speaker engaging with the comment, or teasers, which we defined as instances when the anchor or host promoted a segment about the event scheduled to air later in the broadcast.

We then reviewed the identified segments for whether they mentioned climate change or global warming.