KCCI chief meteorologist Chris Gloninger is leaving local TV.
On Wednesday, Gloninger tweeted that he will focus on his “health, family and combating the climate crisis” in another way.
“After a death threat stemming from my climate coverage last year and resulting in PTSD, in addition to family health issues, I’ve decided to begin this journey *now*,” he said. “I take immense pride in having educated the public about the impacts of climate change during my career.”
According to the Washington Post, Gloninger is leaving because he is suffering from PTSD after receiving threats for his coverage of climate change.
One message he received read, “Getting sick and tired of your liberal conspiracy on the weather.”
“What’s your address,” another asked Gloninger a few days later. “We conservative Iowans would like to give you an Iowan welcome you will never forget.”
Gloninger, who spoke frequently about the effects of climate change on the Des Moines, Iowa CBS affiliate, was accused of being a conspiracy theorist and a “worthless Biden puppet.” Another told him to “go east and drown from the ice cap melting.”
Police and court records indicate that Danny H. Hancock, 63, of Lenox, Iowa was fined $150 for sending a string of harassing emails
“I’m trying to put it behind me,” Gloninger told The Post. “But at the same point, I think it brings awareness to what journalists face day-to-day bringing the news.”
Gloninger began his career at WHEC in Rochester, N.Y. He moved to several more stations before joining WISN in Milwaukee in 2013. He went on to WBTS in Boston in 2016.