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Mid-Michigan Weather Forecasters Have Mixed Views on Global WarmingBy Mike Thompson A devoted environmental activist will know reams of global warming information about issues such as federal Cap and Trade legislation, or locally regarding the proposed Karn-Weadock coal-fired plant. Environmental author Thomas L. Friedman, however, says we can get involved on more basic levels. One of Friedman’s ideas is that we should ask our local weathercasters for their views on global warming. After all, they are reputed experts who have received the “AMS Seal of Approval” from the American Meteorological Society. Here at Review, we tried out Friedman’s idea and we encountered some contrasts among our local trio. On Channel 25, avid gardener Mark Torregrossa asserts that global warming is really happening, and he will discuss during question-and-answer sessions. On Channel 5, Darrin Bradley agrees with the official AMS position that global warming is a scientific fact, but he asserts that viewers don’t want to constantly hear him talk about it. On Channel 12, J.R. Kirtek is skeptical of the so-called science of global warming. “I am the father of five children, and I want them to have a beautiful, healthy environment in which to live. God has given us all that we have, and it is our duty to do everything possible to protect the earth,” Kirtek says. “Having said that, I am a uniformitarianist - a scientific principle still taught today at around the 6th-grade level. Basically, it says that what happened in the past will happen again. In the grand scheme of things I believe this to be true. There are far greater factors at work than us, or what we are, or aren’t doing. “To us, 100 years is a long time. Geologically speaking, 100 years isn’t even the blink of an eye. Even when we say on the news, ‘an all-time record,’ that really isn’t the case at all. That only means in the last ‘blink of an eye.’” Torregrossa begs to differ, and he will say so on the air. “I believe that global warming is happening,” Torregrossa says. “I look at it as an average global temperature. When you look at a graph of average global temperatures, it definitely shows a trend upward. People will say that it seemed like we had a really cold winter and so what’s up with global warming, and this year could be a fraction of a degree colder than last year, but if we take a five-year running look, temperatures are going upward.” Darrin Bradley says, “I believe global warming is happening and that human behavior is partly the cause.” He cites the 2-year-old AMS Statement on Climate Change, found at http://www.ametsoc.org/policy/2007climatechange.html.
Challenge from Weather Channel Meteorologist Heidi Cullen, a Weather Channel meteorologist, has challenged more local TV weather forecasters to follow Torregrossa’s example. She is quoted in the best-selling “Hot, Flat and Crowded” by Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times columnist and occasional television news pundit. Cullen told Friedman, “We owe it to viewers to connect climate to weather when there is a meaningful connection in terms of broad trends. Local meteorologists are the interface between the general public and the scientific community. People look to them and trust them, so it is critical that they make these connections, based on the science. This is an environmental literacy opportunity.” However, Bradley notes, “People aren’t tuning in to me to learn about global warming. They are tuning in to know if they need an umbrella (or snow shovel) tomorrow. I understand Heidi Cullen’s point, but I don’t agree with her on that point.” Mark Torregrossa, in contrast, says that when he speaks at public events, one of the first questions is usually regarding global warming. “I would say (Heidi Cullen) is correct, that TV meteorologists will be touching on global warming more and more, as studies come out and we can share information with viewers,” Torregrossa says. “At the same time, Heidi Cullen rubbed us the wrong way by saying we all have to embrace global warming and shove it down the viewers’ throats. We’re scientists and we should just be reporting the statistics and the facts that we know. She said that if we don’t see things her way, the AMS should revoke their seals of approval. Yeah, whatever.” Mark Torregrossa, Darrin Bradley and J.R. Kirtek agree on one point: They say daily weather should not be considered as evidence either in favor that global warming exists, or that it does not. “Global warming isn’t about the daily ups and downs, it is about a gradual change,” Bradley says. “If we have a week of below normal temperatures, does that mean that global warming isn’t happening? Of course not. Global warming is a ‘big picture’ thing that will eventually impact the ‘small picture’ of everyone on the planet.” Torregrossa notes that higher temperatures are more evident at the North Pole and the South Pole, rather than near the equator, and that Michigan is “somewhere in the middle.” He also asserts, however, that changes are evident in warmer rivers that make impacts such as salmon moving in the Pacific Northwest to spawn, or fruit trees budding sooner in spring. Some environmental activists attribute Hurricane Katrina’s 2005 devastation, or last year’s Iowa floods, to global warming. Torregrossa acknowledges a warming trend in the oceans. Still, for example, Hurricane Camille in 1969 was even more severe than Hurricane Katrina. “The Katrina disaster was caused by a poorly-built levee,” J.R. Kirtek states. “Remember, the disaster didn’t occur until AFTER the hurricane had exited the area. ... In fact, Florida State University has determined that global tropical cyclone development is at an ‘all-time’ low! (www.coaps.fsu.edu/~maue/tropical/ ). “As far as flooding is concerned, I think that recent flooding has as much to do with global warming as the flooding we experienced here in mid-Michigan in September of 1986,” Kirtek adds, referring to a so-called 100-year-flood from 23 years ago. “Periods of warming and cooling are a natural process. For all of the talk with regard to carbon dioxide, cow flatulence, etc., the sunspot cycle has the most obvious correlation with regard to periods of global warming and global cooling. By the way, the earth has been cooling lately, and the sun has been very quiet. (http://wbztv.com/curious/solar.min.sunrise.2.979838.html)”
Global Warming Or Not, A 100 MPG Auto? Meteorologists Bradley, Torregrossa and Kirtek say that people who are skeptical about global warming still should see value in the “green” environmental movement. “Even if you don’t believe that global warming is happening (and in doing so, ignore scientific consensus), why wouldn’t you want to move away from burning fossil fuels?” Bradley asks. “They are eventually going to run out anyway, so why not keep advancing more ‘green’ technologies? We have everything to gain and nothing to lose.” The trio of forecasters adds that they would welcome the prospect of a car running on 100 miles per gallon, not just for a cleaner atmosphere, but also for the savings at the pump. “To think that those who don't believe that the earth's warming has been entirely anthropogenic in nature don't care about developing ‘green’ technologies or wouldn't want to see alternative energies developed, is ridiculous,” Kirtek says. “Of course we do!"
Reaction to Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ Here’s a final question to mid-Michigan’s trio of chief meteorologists: Have they viewed Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth?” Mark Torregrossa: “Yes. I thought Al Gore’s movie had some really good graphs and facts in it, or statistics. You don’t want to say anything is a ‘fact’ in this day and age with the financial crisis and all the lying going on, you don’t know what’s the truth, but I thought it was really interesting an made a lot of scientific sense.” Darrin Bradley: “I have not yet seen the film. It is, however, in my Netflix queue.” J.R. Kirtek: “The definition for a documentary is ‘presenting facts objectively without editorializing or inserting fictional matter, as in a book or film.’ I am confident that Al Gore’s movie was not a documentary.”
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