Friday, April 9th, 2010

Weathercasters and Climate Change

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From approximately 22,236 miles in space, NOAA's newest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite - GOES-15 - took its first full visible image of the Earth on April 6. Image courtesy NOAA/NASA/SSEC .

Recently, George Mason University surveyed over 500 broadcast TV members of the American Meteorological Society and the National Weather Association, looking to discover their views about global warming. While 87% of the weathercasters said they had discussed global warming, 63% of those surveyed said that reported global warming is caused mostly by natural changes in the environment. 25% indicated it isn’t happening at all. And 23% said they agreed with the statement "global warming is a scam."

In this segment, live from Norman, Oklahoma, we'll talk about TV weathercasters and climate change. What's their role in communicating the science to the public?

Guests

Greg Carbin
Warning Coordination Meteorologist
NOAA Storm Prediction Center
Norman, Oklahoma

Edward Maibach
Director, Center for Climate Change Communication
George Mason University
Fairfax, Virginia

Hank Jenkins-Smith
Professor, Political Science
Director, Center for Risk and Crisis Management
University of Oklahoma
Norman, Oklahoma

Related Links

Segment produced by:Christopher Intagliata

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