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Chris Gloninger discusses the impact of Canada’s wildfires, and how climate change creates the conditions for such deadly fires, during a June 20, 2023 KCCI broadcast.

KCCI chief meteorologist Chris Gloninger announced on Wednesday he is leaving the Des Moines television station, citing family health issues and PTSD resulting from a death threat he received because of his on-air discussions of climate change.

Last July, Gloninger posted on Twitter images of some of the hostile emails he had received because of his coverage of the effects of climate change.

“My #climate coverage has garnered negative feedback,” he wrote in the tweet. “But last month I received the first threat, followed by a flow of harassing emails. Police are investigating. It’s mentally exhausting & at times I have NOT been ok.”

In September, a 62-year-old man from the small southwest Iowa town of Lennox pleaded guilty to third-degree harassment, a simple misdemeanor, for sending Gloninger a series of hostile emails, railing against him for trying to raise awareness of climate change.

“Getting sick and tired of your liberal conspiracy theory on the weather, climate changes every day, always has, always will, your [sic] pushing nothing but a Biden hoax, go back to where you came from,” Danny Hancock wrote on June 21, 2022 in the first email of the series.

The emails continued for several weeks, growing more hostile. Three days after the first one, Hancock wrote, “What’s your home address, we conservative Iowans would like to give you an Iowan welcome you will never forget kinda like the libtards gave JUDGE KAVANAUGH!!!!!!!”

Three weeks before Hancock sent that email, a man carrying a knife, a gun, pepper spray and burglary tools was arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home in Virginia. The man told police he intended to kill Kavanaugh. Nicholas Roske was charged with attempted murder, and remains in custody awaiting trial.

“The threat of course was concerning, but the stream of harassing emails is even more distressing. It means he is thinking about it constantly,” Gloninger wrote when he posted the email images on Twitter. “He is angry about it and filled with hate.”

Hancock was charged with harassment in August, and after pleading guilty in September he was fined $105, the minimum fine for a simple misdemeanor.

Gloninger joined KCCI as chief meteorologist in July 2021.

“In a little over two weeks, I’ll be saying goodbye,” Gloninger said on the KCCI evening news on Wednesday. “We moved to Iowa, my wife and I bought our forever home right in West Des Moines. And we quickly learned how life throws obstacles your way when you’re least expecting it.”

“Last summer I did receive a threat that left us shaken, and while I was working through the healing process we had some family issues, unexpected health issues, some of them quite serious … so stepping away from TV will allow my wife and I to help our families in their time of need.”

“18 years. 7 stations. 5 states. I am bidding farewell to TV to embark on a new journey dedicated to helping solve the climate crisis,” Gloninger said at the beginning of the message he posted on Twitter announcing his departure.

After thanking his friends and colleagues for their support and kindness, Gloninger concluded his statement by saying, “I take immense pride in having educated the public about the impacts of climate change during my career. Now, I will devote my full-time efforts to finding sustainable solutions and fostering positive change. Let’s confront this challenge head on and shape a more resilient future for generations to come.”