Nearly 2,500 UK articles covered June's record heatwave, when temperatures topped 37C — and about 72% of them never mentioned climate change or global heating at all, according to an Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) analysis published by the Guardian [1]. Fewer than one in 20 heatwave stories mentioned "net zero," the policy meant to address the cause.

The gap matters because the heat was lethal. Imperial College London research found roughly 2,700 people died from overheating in the UK in May and June, and about 1,100 of those deaths would not have happened without the extra warmth the climate crisis added [1]. Ed Hawkins, professor of climate science at Reading, said that when extreme heatwaves occur "it is critical that the British public are made aware in the media they consume that greenhouse gas emissions, primarily from burning fossil fuels, have made those heatwaves hotter than they would otherwise have been."

The ECIU used the Factiva database to scan nine national titles from 22 to 28 June. The FT led, linking nearly two-thirds of its 78 heat stories to climate; the Guardian came next at roughly half of 131. The Independent ran the most — 783 stories, 39% with a climate angle. The Sun came last: 6% of 69 stories.

Online, the split hardens into a fight. Advocates read every silent story as denial; critics dismiss the whole exercise as keyword policing. Both skip the editorial question a mention count cannot answer — whether a story explained the cause, the health risk, or what a reader should actually do about the heat.

-- Charles Ashford, London