As a strong El Niño event unfolds across the globe, researchers from the University of Bergen, the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, and the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) have launched a new interactive dashboard that helps users explore how El Niño is covered in the world's media and how that coverage relates to real-world climate impacts.
El Niño is one of the most influential climate phenomena on Earth, affecting weather patterns worldwide. Its impacts can include flooding in South America, drought in Australia and Indonesia, heatwaves in Europe, and disruptions to agriculture and water resources. Yet despite its global reach, media coverage often remains fragmented, focusing on local events rather than the broader international picture.
To address this challenge, Eurico Noleto-Filho, postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bergen and the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, developed Climate News Watch: El Niño Edition, an online platform that brings together global news reporting, disaster records, and environmental observations in a single interface.
“Keeping track of all the media coverage surrounding El Niño can be confusing,” says Noleto-Filho. “That’s why I developed this tool. It was something I knew I could use myself, and I believe it can be useful for many others as well.”
The dashboard continuously gathers and analyses news coverage from around the world, enabling users to compare reporting across countries, languages, and regions. Through an interactive global map, users can identify where El Niño receives the most attention and explore how media narratives differ between locations.
A key feature of the platform is its ability to compare media attention with actual disaster events. By integrating data from the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS), users can investigate whether major disasters receive proportionate media coverage and identify events or regions that may be underreported.
“This comparison allows users to explore the relationship between what happens and what gets reported,” says Noleto-Filho.
In addition to news and disaster information, the dashboard provides access to environmental data layers, including sea-surface temperatures, rainfall, clouds, and wind conditions. These overlays allow users to place media stories within a broader climate context and better understand the environmental drivers behind reported events.
The platform also uses artificial intelligence to analyse large volumes of news content published in multiple languages. AI-generated summaries help users quickly identify emerging themes, major concerns, and shifts in reporting. Advanced analytical tools further enable exploration of trends in media attention, reporting tone, topic dynamics, and perceived event severity over time.
The researchers believe the platform will be valuable for climate scientists, journalists, communication professionals, policymakers, and students interested in climate communication and risk awareness. By making global reporting easier to understand and compare, the dashboard offers new opportunities to study how climate risks are communicated and interpreted around the world.
As El Niño continues to develop, the platform provides a window into both the physical impacts of the phenomenon and the way those impacts are represented in public discourse.