That makes meteorologists what he calls “a fantastic conduit of information on climate change” - one the world isn’t really getting the chance to experience. “When people are asked to name a living scientist, many of them pick their local weathercaster.”
Tv meteorologist tv#
“Broadcast meteorologists are perceived as the TV station’s resident scientists,” Szymanski says, adding that they may be the only scientists that many viewers know. Distinguishing between natural and unnatural climate requires this lens.” The Impact on the PublicĪll of this is a bit of a shame because the public loves and trusts their local weather professionals. “They don’t have enough time to put climatology or paleoclimatology into the curriculum,” says another of the study’s authors, David Szymanski, an associate professor of geology.
Even the most advanced coursework, however, leans heavily on the science of developing an instantaneous snapshot of the atmosphere. Standing in front of a green screen pointing at digital clouds and numbers may look easy, but getting a meteorology degree takes a lot of work. Their profession doesn’t prepare them to talk about climate. Many of them struggled to find even half an hour to talk with her. “They’re just completely strapped for time,” says Meldrum, who interviewed meteorologists around New England for the paper. On top of that need to be pithy, today’s average meteorologist also has to spend time interacting with viewers on his or her personal Facebook page and Twitter account, while squeezing in a never-ending barrage of personal appearances. They can’t go a second over their allotted time - after all, the sports report’s next. First the anchors banter with their station’s meteorologist for about 30 seconds, joking about the weather, and then it’s time for the forecast, which has to cram predictions for the morning the commute, the evening rain and the entirety of the next week into about two minutes. They just don’t have time.Ĭonsider your local evening news program and its weather segments. “Why risk stepping into the role of being a science educator and presenting the facts if you know the facts are going to alienate over half of the people who have given you ‘likes’ on your Facebook page,” she asks. “They are incredibly aware of their popularity and they do not want to do things that will risk it,” she says. Meldrum says meteorologists are aware of their viewers’ loyalty and these emotional relationships, which makes it even harder to talk about the potentially polarizing subject of climate change. The audience members feel the TV personalities are friends. Meldrum says many viewers develop deep attachments to their local weathermen in what are known as “parasocial” (one-sided) relationships. “I had thought it was maybe the anchor, but people feel that ‘Tom on station ABC 5 tends to get those snowstorms right,’ so they stay tuned into that station.” That translates into ratings for the TV station and profits for everyone involved.
Tv meteorologist driver#
“It turns out that the weather forecaster is the main driver of local news loyalty,” says one of the study’s authors, Helen Meldrum, an associate professor of psychology. Think about it: Do you watch the local news because you trust the anchors or because you trust the weather reports? If the same station kept getting its predictions wrong, you’d change the channel, wouldn’t you? Published last month in the book “Climate Change Adaptation in North America,” the study found three surprising reasons meteorologists don’t talk about the future beyond the next 10 days. That’s the word from a new study by an interdisciplinary team of researchers at Bentley University. It’s that his or her job - seemingly a perfect platform for communicating science to the masses - just isn’t conducive to spreading the facts about global warming.
It’s not that your local weatherperson is a climate-change denier (although a handful of them are). What climatic changes will occur in your region over the next 10 years? That’s a question your local weathercaster may decline to discuss on the air. Will the weekend rain clouds arrive before or after that long hike you want to take? Your local TV meteorologist probably has the definitive answer.
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