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Are TV weather people, like MJ McDermott of Q13-Fox, giving a raspberry to Global Climate Change?
There’s a new climate phenomenon affecting your weather. It’s called “blocking high” and chances are, your local weather person is rather mum of the topic.
Blocking highs, sometimes simply referred to as “blocks,” are huge and stationary patterns in the atmosphere that “block” the conditions that vary local weather. In a nutshell – blocking highs keep your weather in place for long periods of time. This is great when your weather is awesome but no so much when it comes to extreme summer heat waves and extreme winter cold. This is what has been happening more and more across the globe and it will become even more common.
The conveyor belts of climate, jet streams, are losing power and leading to these blocking highs. Desalinization, due to melting glacial ice, put the skids of weather systems. The result – this summer’s weather has become quite worrisome: the East Coast has been battling record heat, as has the UK; the Southwest is having a devastating and tragic wildfire season; Seattle has not had rain all of July and went almost two months without rain last summer.
New Scientist examined Earth’s new normal of blocking highs:
It’s hard to be sure. There is no firm statistical evidence of more or longer-lasting blocking highs. But we have had some nasty ones recently, widely blamed for the Russian forest fires during the extreme heatwave of 2010, some extreme hot and cold in the US, and even floods in Pakistan, also in 2010…
…(T)he jet stream appears to have slowed down, by about 14 per cent in the past three decades. It is also meandering more, looping north towards the Arctic and south towards the tropics – perfect conditions for blocking highs. The weather, she says, is getting “more stuck”.
So what’s with the silence on the issue from our local TV weather personalities? Many of these “meteorologists” allude to high pressure systems and weak jet streams but rarely in context or pointing out long-term patterns or consequences. Why? There are several reasons:
- Only half of the weathermen and women you see on your TV screen have a degree in meteorology. Most of the ones that do have what’s called a ”broadcast meteorology” degree according to a Rolling Stone report. A strictly made-for-TV degree. The rest of the weathercasters are just TV personalities who are meant infotain you rather than educate you. All of these folks are weathertainers and you should never be impressed by a “AMS seal of approval” you see next to any of their names.
- Another problem is that, according to a George Mason University and University of Texas-Austin study, a quarter of these weathertainers believe global climate change is a flat-out scam. Now take that stat and mixed it with this one – another study from George Mason conducted with Yale that found that 56 percent of Americans trust their local weathertainer on climate change more than they do politicians. These two findings are part of the formula that keeps us, the viewers, in the dark about the danger of blocking highs and their increasing frequency.
- Perhaps the biggest problem is corporate consolidation of local television. More and more of our broadcast channels are owned by fewer and fewer companies. And these companies are notoriously conservative. Most affiliates are owned by well-known right wing firms like Fox, Gannett or Scripps. These companies hire accordingly and the corporate culture of these workplaces act as an indirect form of silencing anything too environmentalist in tone. Rolling Stone: “Smaller, privately-held stations can be even worse. Stan Hubbard, whose Hubbard Broadcasting owns 12 stations nationwide, calls global warming “the biggest fraud in the history of America.”
Here in Seattle, our most curious apologist for extreme heat is Q13-Fox and their morning weathertainer MJ McDermott. She’s the Seattle area’s leading global warming cheerleader. Are abnormally dry conditions that are causing fires and poor air quality a cause for concern? Of course, not. McDermott will simply put the corporate spin that smoke-filled skies lead to “beautiful sunsets.” Her heat lust is so notorious that the station’s Facebook followers have asked her to tone it down and think of the consequences of ultra heat has on a region not equipped with air-conditioning.
Q13-Fox is horrible on climate change. It is currently owned by conservative media giant Tribune. Their Chicago Tribune is a GOP favorite. Prepare for Q13 and other Tribune affiliates to get even more worse on climate change even hostile. How? It is rumored that the Koch Brothers, oil billionaires and environment pillagers, are considering purchasing Tribune’s TV holdings.
So what do all the blocking highs and intentional weather ignorance get us? Well, according to the latest consensus by climate scientists:
“Even in the best case scenario, business as usual…more than 2C (3.6 F) warming, an amount of warming that scientists who study climate change impacts tell us will lead to truly dangerous and potentially irreversible climate change.”
Demand or, at the very least, seek context in your weather reports. Follow the money when it comes to your TV. It matters. Blocking highs are not an occurrence you want. When our broadcasters are using our airwaves (which are part of the commons) they should tell you the truth.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.