"The next thing I knew, I was being denounced on the Web sites of Senator James Inhofe, Matt Drudge

[rodeodance]

here's wishing their A/C is cut off!(the deniers)



http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/science/earth/31conv.html?ei=5090&en=c4f296f1a3a83d84&ex=1343534400&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

July 31, 2007
A Conversation With Heidi Cullen
Into the Limelight, and the Politics of Global Warming
By CLAUDIA DREIFUS

In June 2002, Heidi Cullen, a researcher at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., received a telephone call from an executive at the Weather Channel. Would she audition for a program on climate and global warming that producers at the Atlanta-based cable television network were contemplating?

......................

The next thing I knew, I was being denounced on the Web sites of Senator James Inhofe, Matt Drudge and Rush Limbaugh. The Weather Channel’s own Web site got about 4,000 e-mails in one day, mostly angry. Some went, ‘Listen here, weather girl, just give me my five-day forecast and shut up.’

Q: Rush Limbaugh accused you of Stalinism. Did you suggest that meteorologists who doubt global warming should be fired?

A: I didn’t exactly say that. I was talking about the American Meteorological Society’s seal of approval. I was saying the A.M.S. should test applicants on climate change as part of their certification process. They test on other aspects of weather science.

A lot of viewers want to know about climate change. They are experiencing events they perceive as unusual and they want to know if there’s a connection to global warming. Certainly when Katrina hit, they wanted to know if it was global warming or not. Most Americans get their daily dose of science through their televised weather report. Given that fact, I think it’s the responsibility of broadcast meteorologists to provide viewers with scientific answers.

Q: What do your ex-colleagues from academia think of your new career?

A: Oh, they’re so funny. Some of them claim that they haven’t seen me on television because they don’t own one. But when I was being denounced by Matt Drudge, they were all, ‘Hey, saw you on Drudge!’

Actually, a lot of my friends are relieved that there’s at least one scientist out there doing this.

[MADem]

1. Heh,what a karmic wish, about the A/c!!! nt