Think Progress

Weathermen not educated in climate change.

The right wing has been trumpeting the global warming denial of TV weatherman John Coleman, claiming that such a “high profile member of the weather reporting community” should be viewed as a legitimate skeptic of climate change. Climate Progress’s Joe Romm reports that meteorologists generally have thin knowledge of long-term climate patterns:

Meteorologists are not required to take a course in climate change, this is not part of the NOAA/NWS [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Weather Service] certification requirements, so university programs don’t require the course (even if they offer it). So we have been educating generations of meteorologists who know nothing at all about climate change.

Romm writes, “Asking a meteorologist to opine on the climate — or even the cause of recent extreme weather — is like asking your family doctor what the chances are for an avian flu pandemic in the next few years or asking a mid-West sheriff the prospects for nuclear terrorism.” Check out ThinkProgress’s response to right-wing distortions here.



27 Responses to “Weathermen not educated in climate change.”

  1. ralph the wonder llama says:

    Not educated in climate change?!? Not educated in climate change??? What do they think happens when a cold front moves in? You wanna see a climate change, that’ll do it in a hurry!!!

    What?

    You say there’s a difference between “climate” and “weather”? Oh, that’s just more librul nit-picking. Lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalal I can’t hear you.


  2. dixie blood says:

    John Coleman = CUH!!! Completely Useless Human!!!

    He doesn’t just SUCK for America he sucks for the entire human race!!! Phuckk this a$$wipe!!!


  3. Xisithrus says:

    Meteorologists have a great job, they can be wrong more than half the time and never forecast a meteor. He should be president.


  4. TripMaster Monkey says:

    As I’ve said before, listening to a weatherman lecture about climate change is a bit like listening to a movie projectionist lecture about wave-particle duality. ^_^


  5. ralph the wonder llama says:

    As I’ve said before, listening to a weatherman lecture about climate change is a bit like listening to a movie projectionist lecture about wave-particle duality. ^_^

    Comment by TripMaster Monkey — November 14, 2007 @ 7:38 pm

    Yeah, but what if the projectionist had read dozens of papers and thought about it a lot?


  6. troll buster says:

    Ralf, I would like to thank you for covering my back last night.


  7. dixie blood says:

    How can this bastard be a weatherman? He’s not cute, young and gay!! But, he is stupid like all of them!!!


  8. Nature Rules says:

    And Coleman simply read some papers and decided global warming is bunk. That’s it. Just read it and decided. Offered no argument at all.

    Now Fox decides that this guy is THE authority on the subject of Climate Change.

    Reminds me of people that say the universe and everything in it was created in six days because it says so in an ancient book that cannot be proven to be nothing other than ramblings of ancient religious men.


  9. ralph the wonder llama says:

    No problem, troll buster. You do good work.


  10. Krazny says:

    Why would anyone think a weather person would be a reliable source of info about global warming?


  11. troll buster says:

    Comment by ralph the wonder llama — November 14, 2007 @ 7:58 pm
    =================================================
    I take credit for nothing. The trolls are gone because the progressive bloggers finally used the abuse flags. My minor role was only to deliver the message.


  12. Xisithrus says:

    Reminds me of people that say the universe and everything in it was created in six days because it says so in an ancient book that cannot be proven to be nothing other than ramblings of ancient religious men.

    Comment by Nature Rules — November 14, 2007 @ 7:49 pm

    The retreat of the last Ice Age climate took place some 9000 years ago. Where the story of Adam begins. 9 days ago. But the bible stats this time differential. As well Einstein showed that time does vary when traveling thru space at high velocity. Also two nuclear clocks, one earthbound, the other orbiting earth, were not in compliance. =)

    Time is a weird thing.


  13. dixie blood says:

    Comment by Xisithrus — November 14, 2007 @ 8:30 pm

    Engage this moron at your own peril…I rather rassle [sic] a troll!!


  14. Cordier says:

    So what academic degree does John Coleman hold? Literature, communications, liberal arts? I think that’s a worthwhile question to ask. I see nothing on the KUSI website where he works describing his academic credentials. Anyone, anyone?


  15. MapleStreet says:

    Not only that, but the entry point for certification by the AMS is a Bachelor’s degree. This is not a research degree. I also wonder if in the past the “old guard” of weathermen could be grandfathered in even if they don’t have a degree. Does anyone know what Coleman’s actual credentials are ?

    Of course, the climate change researchers are PhDs with postdocs. But that is just liberal education.


  16. toasterhead says:

    I wasn’t aware that Weathermen were educated at all.

    Comment by BARTLEBEE — November 14, 2007 @ 9:52 pm

    Hey now! It probably takes weeks of practice to learn how to point to a spot on a blue screen while watching yourself in a monitor and trying not to look like you’re watching yourself in the monitor.


  17. Proud American Liberal says:

    “The right wing has been trumpeting the global warming denial of TV weatherman John Coleman, claiming that such a “high profile member of the weather reporting community” should be viewed as a legitimate skeptic of climate change. ”

    Nevermind the dark cloud hanging over his credibility.

    And to O. Bigfoot: incompetence should be attacked wherever it appears. Particularly when people’s lives are at stake. There is nothing more dangerous than a zealot with a little bit of knowledge.


  18. hterrya says:

    Serial troll’s comment November 15, 2007 @ 3:38 am:

    PURE troll dung. Please do NOT respond. Instead, report this serial troll for abuse, and continue with the topic:

    John Coleman has NO CREDENTIALS to make the statements he is making in a vain attempt to discredit legitimate scientists, who DO have the credentials to assert, based on the BEST science available, that a large part of the climate change that is being observed and reported is caused by human INDUSTRIAL activity.


  19. troll buster says:

    Comment by DreamCrusher — November 15, 2007 @ 3:38 am
    ================================================== Emanuel is a professor of meteorology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who specializes in atmospheric convection and the mechanisms acting to intensify hurricanes. He has published peer reviewed research papers and was named one of Time Magazines 100 most influential persons for 2006.

    John Coleman is currently just a TV weatherman at KUSI in San Diego. He ran the Weather Channel for one year before being replaced.


  20. troll buster says:

    Comment by DreamCrusher — November 15, 2007 @ 7:59 am
    You’re trying to defend a foolish over-the-top blanket statement from Think Progress
    ==================================================

    I defended nobody in my post. Show me where that post does anything more than illustrate the difference in the qualifications of the two individuals?
    Dr. Kerry Emanuel is not a meteorologist, he is a renowned scientist whose field is meteorology. If you cannot understand the difference you’re to be pitied more than laughed at, get a life!


  21. toasterhead says:

    What’s interesting about the climate skeptics is that they have no “consensus” either. They’re wildly divergent on their views on climate change – ranging from “it’s not happening” to “it’s happening but it’s not human-caused” to “it’s happening and it’s human-caused but it’ll be a good thing.”

    If the skeptics can’t even agree on why they disagree, how can they even begin to complain that there’s no consensus around the IPCC reports?

    Read: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7081026.stm


  22. troll buster says:

    Think Progress states unequivocally that “meteorologists generally have thin knowledge of long-term climate patterns”.
    Comment @ 7:59 am
    ==================================================
    This troll is good comedy material.


  23. missmolly says:

    Every single scientist Think Progress doesn’t agree with gets smeared and is hunted down like a witch. How’s that for the scientific method?

    Shameful.

    Comment by DreamCrusher — November 15, 2007 @ 7:59 am

    I don’t see John Coleman getting smeared. What I see is a weatherman (NOT a climate change researcher) being lauded by the right as some kind of “expert” on climate change because he agrees with their position that we can go on polluting the planet with impunity because there’s nothing to worry about. I haven’t seen Coleman bolster his position with any scientific research, and I haven’t even seen him reasonably debunk the scientific evidence put forth by others. All he has said is that the scientists are wrong, that he has read research papers, and that he knows he’s right. Hardly a compelling argument. If he truly believes that “global warming” is a complete scam, then all he has to do is put forth his own peer-reviewed evidence disproving it. If it’s true, that should be relatively easy.

    It’s not a smear to point out that Coleman isn’t producing any evidence of his own.

    It’s not a witch hunt to factually state that this man is a weather broadcaster and not a climate change scientist.

    It’s not shameful to claim that the right is spotlighting a voice not worth listening to. It’s the responsible thing to do.


  24. Blue Stater says:

    take credit for nothing. The trolls are gone because the progressive bloggers finally used the abuse flags. My minor role was only to deliver the message.

    Comment by troll buster — November 14, 2007 @ 8:04 pm

    But Bigfoot, sad, scared coward that he is still lposts his inane and insane posts


  25. Blue Stater says:

    Every single scientist Think Progress doesn’t agree with gets smeared and is hunted down like a witch. How’s that for the scientific method?

    Shameful.

    Comment by DreamCrusher — November 15, 2007 @ 7:59 am

    Nightmare d_bag:
    When they are 1% of the scientific community and their funding comes from extreme right wing sources and oil and coal companies, it’s justified to smear them as they are not practicing science.


  26. Xisithrus says:

    Actually, DreamCrusher, its Joe Romm of Climate Progress that says generally meteorologists know nothing of climate change. You should head over to climate progress and make your generally unequivocal opinion known.

    Personally anyone can be a skeptic and I dont have to treat any of them with specialness.


  27. ZenNaturalist says:

    To get an under graduate degree in Meteorology you have to have at least 1 course in climatology, and there are other climatology courses offered.. well at the top schools anyway.. My son is at Oklahoma so I know.. well he knows. ALSO to get an under graduate degree they have to write a capstone research paper now…
    also just think about the idea of a class in cloud physics. Meteorology has VERY rigorous degree requirements.

    I wonder if any of you bothered to look at what it takes to get a degree in Meteorology. Talk from facts not from knee-jerk reactions.



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