Climate change has been identified as one of the primary global health threats in the new millennium. The Lancet, a highly reputable medical journal, identifies direct threats to public health through climate effects on food security. While regions already vulnerable will suffer disproportionately, developed countries including the U.S. will also be heavily impacted. Interestingly, U.S. public opinion polling shows that while 63% of the American people expect that global warming will cause food shortages, two-thirds of those surveyed felt the impacts would primarily affect people in distant countries, (Akeroff, et, al. 2010). To explore if national media coverage of climate risk food and agricultural issues may be contributing to the publics’ lack of concern for the effects of climate change on their own personal lives, we conducted an analysis of national news coverage. This presentation will discuss the influence of media coverage on public perceptions of science and outline how media may be contributing to the perception that climate change impacts are distant for members of the American public.