This summer’s World Cup will be unlike any other in the 96-year history of the world’s most popular sporting event. Never before have players on the field and spectators in the stands faced the intensity of heat expected to confront them at the matches taking place over the next 39 days, starting with today’s opener between Mexico and South Africa. The extra heat is due in no small part to rising global temperatures driven by burning fossil fuels, making the 2026 World Cup not just a sports story, but a climate one, too.
Game-time temperatures at many of the host venues in the US and Mexico are projected to be higher than during any previous World Cup, according to new scientific studies. (The 2022 World Cup was hosted by Qatar, but its desert heat was offset by shifting the tournament from summer to winter and holding matches in air conditioned stadiums.) Climate change has increased the number of extremely hot summer days in 14 of the 16 cities hosting matches during the 2026 Cup, the scientific nonprofit Climate Central found. Perhaps most at risk is Miami, which “now experiences roughly two additional weeks of extreme June and July heat compared to the 1970’s,” Climate Central’s Ben Tracy reports.
In anticipation of the exceptional heat, FIFA, the international governing body of soccer, has taken the extraordinary step of ordering referees to enforce a three-minute break halfway through each half so players can rest and hydrate. Nevertheless, the heat could be so intense, especially in Miami, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Guadalajara, and Mexico City, that players’ performance — how fast they can run, how many minutes they can play — is projected to suffer at 97 of the 104 total matches. “It has such a huge impact on the way you play,” former pro footballer Marisa Abegg told Tracy. That, in turn, has implications for the flow of play and the outcomes of matches: Teams that rely more on speed or endurance, for example, will potentially be disadvantaged.
Spectators, too, will suffer. Eleven of the 16 venues are open-air stadiums where spectators will endure the full wrath of the prevailing heat and humidity. Health experts warn of increased risks of heat stroke, dehydration, and kidney failure. In response, some stadiums are adding cooling stations, misting tents, and additional medical staffing.
So, a friendly request for our fellow journalists on newsrooms’ sports desks: Acquaint yourselves with the abundant science behind these warnings, via the links in this article. And mention that science occasionally in your reporting and commentary. To ignore climate change would omit crucial context that fans will find useful for understanding why their favorite teams and players excelled or languished during this World Cup.
There will be plenty of opportunities to make the climate connection. Commercials will occupy two minutes and 10 seconds of each hydration break, but, for our TV and radio colleagues, it will be easy enough during the remaining 50 seconds of airtime to note that these breaks are taking place because, thanks largely to global warming, players are enduring some of the highest temperatures in World Cup history.
A full account of the climate connection would include not only what climate change is doing to the Cup, but also what the Cup is doing to climate change. A Guardian article described how this year’s tournament is “on track to be the most polluting World Cup ever, with total greenhouse gas emissions hitting nearly two times the historical average.” The Guardian notes various “FIFA own goals,” including the association’s decision to increase the number of competing teams from 32 to 48. Most impactful, however, was FIFA’s decision to name three different host nations, rather than the usual one. And since Mexico, the US, and Canada are large land masses, teams and spectators traveling to and from venues must travel long distances by air, a notoriously carbon-intensive means of transport. Finally, in what The Guardian calls a sponsorship deal “that looks like it was concocted in a greenwashing laboratory,” FIFA in 2024 “signed a four-year partnership deal with Aramco, the state-owned Saudi energy behemoth that is the largest corporate greenhouse gas emitter on Earth….”
In short, there are plenty of climate angles for journalists to explore while covering the 2026 World Cup. The same was true of the Winter Olympics earlier this year, and in 2022, and of the 2024 Summer Olympics. In each case, most coverage was disappointingly silent on the climate connection to these globally beloved sporting events. The next 39 days will reveal whether the 2026 World Cup will be any different.
From Us
Watch: Santa Marta & the Future of Climate Journalism. CCNow and UNESCO hosted a conversation about the recent landmark conference at which 57 countries pledged to transition away from fossil fuels. Plus, UNESCO launched a new manual, “Reporting the environment: a practical manual for journalists,” which includes contributions from CCNow staff.
Radar Clima. Calor extremo y ciudades al límite: estas son las historias que marcarán el Mundial de fútbol. La última edición de Radar Clima, nuestro boletín en español para periodistas, te trae claves, recursos y ejemplos para convertir la ciencia del clima en historias que importan a tu audiencia. Mira aquí las ediciones anteriores y suscríbete para recibir el boletín los miércoles.
Mira el video: Cómo cubrir el Mundial en condiciones de calor extremo. Te daremos ideas para reportajes y consejos de expertos para ayudarte a conectar con el cambio climático y captar la atención de tu audiencia.
Noteworthy Stories
“Reuters Climate Monitor.” Reuters has published a database intended to help audiences and the wire’s journalists understand how climate change is impacting global temperatures anywhere in the world, on a daily basis. In a LinkedIn post, reporter Ben Walsh says the wire plans to use the database to help deepen their coverage of extreme heat at this year’s World Cup. Explore the interactive…
Solar first. For the first time ever, in May, solar (12.8%) provided more electricity than coal (12.2%) in the US. This comes as the renewable transition faces obstruction from the Trump administration. By Tik Root for Grist…
The lost island. In India, where the Ganges river empties into the Bay of Bengal, sea-level rise is a well-understood threat. When the government prepared to dredge the river to enable more shipping, engineers recognized that new barriers were needed to protect inhabitants of three nearby islands. But port authorities chose not to build those barriers, according to this investigative exposé, and now the island of Lohachara has washed away, making its hundreds of previous inhabitants “among the world’s first climate refugees.” By Achintyarup Ray for The Times of India…
Partisan review. Scientists are speaking out against new rules proposed by the White House that would put the approval of research grant into the hands of political appointees, instead of the scientific peer review process in place now. This change would likely put funding for climate change and other research the Trump administration ideologically opposes on the chopping block. By Ella Nilsen and Andrew Freedman for CNN…
Billie Eilish, climate activist. Maggie Baird, the global superstar’s mother, talks about reducing the music industry’s carbon footprint and empowering fans to take climate action. Working with Baird’s nonprofits, Billie has gotten venues to offer plant-based food options and urged fans to “take the pledge” to eat one plant-based meal a day. Watch at The Fenton Forecast podcast.
Chart of the Week
Resources & Events
- “Climate Change in the American Mind: Politics & Policy, Spring 2026” (Yale Program on Climate Change Communication)
- “The implications of climate change for the learning and development of children and youth living in poverty” (The Lancet)
- “Off Your Game: How Climate Change Could Slow Down the 2026 World Cup” (Climate Central)
- “Unexpected expansion and regrowth in Earth’s mangrove forests over the past four decades” (Science)
- Browse Business Insider’s interactive map to see if there’s an AI data center near you
- Webinar: “Where does climate action go from here?” with Project Drawdown’s Jonathan Foley and climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, on Tuesday, June 16, at 2pm US Eastern Time (19hr UTC)
- Webinar: “Energy reporting 101 for environmental journalists” on Wednesday, June 17, at 1pm US Eastern Time (18hr UTC), hosted by the Society for Environmental Journalists
On the Beat
Deprioritized? Politico plans to fold E&E News into its news operation to prioritize energy coverage across the newsroom. Notably, climate was missing from the announcement. By Max Tani for Semafor…
Missed Connections
This new feature will highlight coverage that missed making the climate connection — and share resources to help make it going forward. Seen a missed connection? Email editors@coveringclimatenow.org
Several news outlets — The Washington Post, USA Today, and Tagesschau (Germany’s main evening TV news program on public media), among them — failed to mention climate change when reporting on the extreme heat in Western Europe and the East Coast of the US last week.
Why it matters: As media critic Lorenz Meyer pointed out in an op-ed on Germany’s Radio Eins, “A democracy only debates what it talks about. So when the Tagesschau announces the hottest May week in history and very eloquently and consistently avoids the term ‘climate crisis,’ the topic disappears from the debate.”
Steal this line: “Research unequivocally shows that every heatwave in the world is now made stronger and more likely to happen because of human-caused climate change.” Check out CCNow’s reporting guidance on 2026’s extreme heat.
Resource: Climate Central’s interactive tool Climate Shift Index tells you if an extreme weather event was made more likely because of climate change.
Jobs, Etc.
Jobs. The World is hiring a Show Editor/Producer (Boston, Mass.) The New York Times is hiring a Climate Policy Correspondent (Washington, D.C.). The Boston Globe is hiring a Climate Science and Environment Reporter (Boston, Mass.). Nexstar Media Group is hiring an Evening Meteorologist (Colorado Springs, Colo.).
Fellowships. Ocean Nexus, in collaboration with The Uproot Project, is accepting applications for the Ocean Nexus International Fellowship; apply by June 14. The Climate Change Media Partnership (CCMP), led by Internews’s Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security, is accepting applications for the COP31 CCMP Reporting Fellowship Program, which offers travel, accommodations, and other support for two full weeks in Antalya, Turkey; apply by June 17, 2026. ProPublica is accepting applications from local newsrooms to host a Local Reporting Network Fellow (consult map for eligible states) to assist with yearlong accountability journalism projects; apply by July 27. Inside Climate News is accepting applications for its fall 2026 fellowship; apply by August 15.
Workshop. Internews’s Earth Journalism Network is accepting applications from Brazil-based journalists for a workshop about covering ocean science and deep-sea exploration; apply by June 18.
🍹 Free Drinks!
If you’re a journalist in, near, or coming through New York this summer, you’re invited.
CCNow’s journalists-only Happy Hours take place the first and third Wednesdays of June–August, from 6–8pm. Locations alternate between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, June 17, at Chilo’s, an outdoor bar and eatery with a backyard, good beer, and tasty margaritas. 323 Franklin Ave, Brooklyn, 11238, a 7-minute walk from the G train. CCNow buys your first drink. See you there!
