It’s one of the most hotly debated topics of our time. I recently heard two of the world’s most respected weather experts go head to head on something they don’t see eye to eye on.
Excerpts of the debate are now available online!
Every year, television meteorologists from all over the United States gather for the Islands of the Bahamas Weather Conference.
The conference is geared toward tropical meteorology and the upcoming hurricane season, but it often strays into other hot topics of weather. Global warming certainly qualifies as a hot topic.
Dr. Richard Anthes 
of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) has worked with the International Panel On Climate Change (IPCC) and is an ardent believer that human’s are in large part responsible for the increasing global temperatures.
Dr. William Gray is the Colorado State University researcher 
who pioneered seasonal hurricane forecasting and suggests the warming of our planet is mainly cyclical. He believes the computer models which predict continued warming are pretty much out-to-lunch and that we’ll begin to see a cool down very soon.
Go to the official website of The Bahamas Weather Conference and scroll down to find "The Heat Is On: Global Warming Panel Discussion." There is also a short excerpt on that page of Dr. Anthes presentation about Global Warming. Watch the debate, then come back here for some interesting follow-up.
The very first words Dr. Anthes says are "the debate is over." That’s the line which created a stir amongst the audience at the conference. Rarely, in science, is the debate over.
While there is very little debating the fact that our climate is currently warming, there is significant debate about how much of that warming is human-induced and how much of it is cyclical. The broadcast meteorology industry (again, this was a conference of broadcast meteorologists) is receiving heavy pressure to "toe the line" and blame humans for the problem thus stymying free thought and continued research.
There was a significant backlash to Dr. Anthes’ comments. One by one, the TV meteorologists lined up at the audience microphone to lambaste Dr. Anthes and the IPCC. Adding to the heat was a statement shortly before the conference by the official climatologist of a national 24 hour weather network that all TV meteorologists should get on board with the IPCC or risk having their Seal of Approval revoked by the American Meteorological Society.
Easily 90-95% of the TV meteorologists in the room sided with Dr. Gray in this debate. The wife of a very good friend of mine — who chose to sit in on the debate — walked out when she saw the direction the crowd was leaning. Her bible is Al Gore’s movie and this group was preaching against it.
We’ll be meeting in the Bahamas again in April of 2008. Dr. Gray will be there as always. It’ll be interesting to see if Dr. Anthes returns.
Related Links
- The Tropical Meteorology Project, Colorado State University
- The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research – Climate Change Page
- The American Meteorological Society’s Atmospheric News Page
- Interview with Dr. Gray in Capitalism Magazine (Good stuff!)
- Climate Change Sight Debunking Dr. Gray’s Theories
I’m a TV weatherman in south Texas. I get blamed for the bad weather, but I also get credit for the beautiful days. I absolutely love my job!
