Complaint
A report by the BBC’s Climate Editor included a reference to “superheated oceans”. A listener complained this was misleading and alarmist. The ECU considered whether the broadcast met the BBC requirements for due accuracy.
Outcome
The ECU considered the term was used in the report in a colloquial rather than a scientific sense and that, in the context of a short bulletin piece aimed at a general audience, it was unlikely to mislead listeners who would have understood the main point was that average global sea temperatures have been at a record high since May 2023.
Not Upheld