UPDATE: 11/25 I now have word from a reputable source close to TWC that Cullen was indeed part of the layoff. – Anthony
I’ve been following this story since yesterday, but the details kept being somewhat nebulous. Since WaPo has it, I’ve decided it is safe to consider reasonably accurate now. It looks like TWC has ditched their entire environmental unit, and possibly also host Heidi Cullen, who once said:
“If a meteorologist has an AMS Seal of Approval, which is used to confer legitimacy to TV meteorologists, then meteorologists have a responsibility to truly educate themselves on the science of global warming.” “Meteorologists are among the few people trained in the sciences who are permitted regular access to our living rooms. And in that sense, they owe it to their audience to distinguish between solid, peer-reviewed science and junk political controversy.” “If a meteorologist can’t speak to the fundamental science of climate change, then maybe the AMS shouldn’t give them a Seal of Approval.”
Needless to say, I and many other current and former TV meteorologists took exception to the issue. I posted on it almost two years ago here.
TWC’s Heidi Cullen
From the Washington Post: (h/t to Jason Samenow)
NBC Fires Weather Channel Environmental Unit
Some on-camera meteorologists also let go
*A very cold evening: PM forecast update*
NBC Universal made the first of potentially several rounds of staffing cuts at The Weather Channel (TWC) on Wednesday, axing the entire staff of the “Forecast Earth” environmental program during the middle of NBC’s “Green Week”, as well as several on-camera meteorologists. The layoffs totaled about 10 percent of the workforce, and are the first major changes made since NBC completed its purchase of the venerable weather network in September.
Keep reading for more on The Weather Channel cuts…
The layoffs affected about 80 people, but left the long-term leadership of the network unclear, according to a source who requested anonymity due to the continuing uncertainty at the station.
Among the meteorologists who was let go was Dave Schwartz, a Weather Channel veteran and a viewer staple due to his lively on camera presentations. USA Today reported that meteorologists Cheryl Lemke and Eboni Deon were also let go.
The timing of the Forecast Earth cancellation was ironic, since it came in the middle of NBC’s “Green is Universal” week, during which the network has been touting its environmental coverage across all of its platforms. Forecast Earth normally aired on weekends, but its presumed last episode was shown on a weekday due to the environmentally-oriented week.
Forecast Earth was hosted by former CNN anchor Natalie Allen, with contributions from climate expert Heidi Cullen. It was the sole program on TWC that focused on global climate change, which raises the question of whether the station will still report on the subject. Cullen’s future role at the network is not known.
By Andrew Freedman | November 21, 2008; 5:00 PM ET
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I see a sunspeck right on the equator. Look at the magnetogram at http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/realtime-update.html then look at the Continuum image.
How did the November count reach 6.7? Is that just from this speck or did our collective attention get distracted by the distractions this month?
Yes!!! Thanks for the update Anthony.
Pierre Gosselin (02:19:09) :
SC 23 speck
on the right side of the sun?
There is an equatorial speck that’s been sort of blinking on and off over the past 2-3 days since it first briefly appeared in the center of the SOHO continuum image. It’s now near the right side of the image. I’m surprised no one has noted it before. Must be all the recent real spots have turned folks off on noting specks.
Also on the same SOHO image, there appears to be a “stuck pixel” at the upper right. I’m guessing that they’ve rotated the imaging equipment 180°, as that one seems to mirror an old SP that used to be in the lower left.
Is GE exorcising the demons of Gore and Hansen? Is this a straw in the wind? Which way blows the wind?
================================================
The comments on this post take in so many topics, I think this is not too far off. Even though the Polar Bears don’t have enough ice, seems the whales have too much.
http://news.smh.com.au/world/over-200-whales-trapped-in-canadian-ice-20081122-6eas.html
Assuming she is, in fact canned, perhaps she can use her now freed-up time to truly educate herself on the science of global warming, and then apologize profusely to her former viewers, and to any and all skeptical meteorologists and the scientific community in general.
I ran across this post “The ENSO Driver”, http://climatechange1.wordpress.com/, today by Erl Happ. I would like to see some meteorologists critique what he has posted. I believe Erl is very close to figuring out a big piece of the climate puzzle.
Ditched their entire environmental unit? Maybe the $300 milllion that Al Gore & his goons paid off the Main Stream Media with (including The Weather Channel) is running out, and the pipeline is temporarily dry.
For sheer arrogance and contempt, heidi has few peers amongst warmers.
With her “believe in global warming or lose your AMS seal,” outrage, she has to be right up there with those calling for war crimes trials for the unbelievers.
Her future however is still bright, in government, in academia, and absolutely yes, on TV. How about another job within NBC, which just finished its latest “green week.” she could head NBC’s Ministry of Environmental Truth.
Then there’s always Discovery’s new “green” channel, and of course al gore’s network.
A wealth of possibilities for cardinal dr. cullen, and for us, there’s the OFF button.
As others have pointed out, the MSM is missing the story of the century, i.e. the switchover from global warming to global cooling. I would like to cordially invite all interested to a new forum about all of this I have created at http://talkingabouttheweather.wordpress.com/
In particular, those interested in the anecdotal side of this, please come and tell us what’s happening with the weather, and climate (!) where you live. Thanks much!
George E. Smith (16:08:58) :
Maybe with Heidi out of the picture, the Oakland Raiders might be able to score touchdowns; Heidi was their undoing.
That is just revisionist history.
The Heidi game was in 1968. Since then the Raiders have won three Super Bowls. They also smoked the Jets earlier this year and they’ve scored 10 touchdowns already in 2008. That’s tied for 31st in the league.
I think Forecast Earth became superfluous. The message originally pushed by Heidi and friends has been adopted by NBC news, many NBC shows and the entire GE Corporate structure. There is no longer a need for Forecast Earth when the entire corporation is pushing the message.
Besides, this opens up the possibility that Obama appoints Heidi as the new secretary for climate change 🙂
I hope they keep the Forecast Earth blog intact for the chuckles it provides. I have been reading lots of posts over there on new vehicle test drives and holiday cooking recipes (!!!???). What it has to do with the weather is a complete mystery.
Yay! I couldn’t stand that ‘forecast earth’ series and ‘Dr. Heidi Cullen, climate expert’ made my teeth hurt.
Dave Schwarz I like though. As long as they keep Jim Cantore I’m okay with it.
Funny, a few years ago I was watching a news segment on women buying guns (don’t remember what network). They had a segment in a gun shop in Atlanta and who should walk in to buy a gun and say a couple of words? Cheryl Lemke! They did not identify her.
Just the fact that she attacked anyone not subscribing to or doubting popular dogma proves her utter cluelessness with respect to scientific approach.
Would someone please tell her that science doesn’t progress by agreeing with dogma -never daring to challenge it?
It progresses by doing the very opposite.
As one of my many responsiblities at a mid-Atlantic coastal Naval Air Station, I used TWC and it’s fairly accurate near-term forecasts to determine the number of plows I would have to use. Better than even our “in house” weather guessers.
( I remember asking one of them if the snow was going to continue and for how long – he replied “It’s not snowing.” After I pulled him over the counter and out the door, his cry “But it’s not supposed to be snowing!” as the heavy flakes fell on his face. It was one of those priceless moments of life!)
Unfortunately, they went the way of most news reporting programs and became infotainment. I haven’t viewed TWC in years becasue of the utter nonsense of people like Cullen.
200 ice trapped whales to get culled.
http://jennifermarohasy.com/blog/2008/11/inuit-to-cull-200-stranded-whales/
Seems the arctic is freezing over a little too quickly in some spots.
I think there is some truth to the notion that people are tired of being preached to about AGW, with all the guilt laid upon us for our sins of material consumption. At the same time, the surveys show that people believe that AGW is real and support doing “something” about it. I suspect that “something” is a vague wish and does not include government interventions in the price mechanism, taxes, and market manipulations, as favored and planned by Obama, especially under current economic conditions. The trouble is that the new administration’s plan will be pitched as something completely different than what it is — it will be sold as an economic “growth” package with “green jobs” and the like — and that this will be picked up and supported by the sympathetic, compliant media.
How to counter this before it is too late? It seems clear that hammering on the facts and promoting an objective evaluation of the science is a losing strategy, not because it is wrong but because the facts are easily outgunned by key institutions now controlled by the left — the NGOs, political institutions, academia, professional societies, and the media. Even parts of the business sector have a stake in the institutionalization of AGW in the U.S. GE will sell more wind turbines, and a host of “start ups” are at the trough of government handouts in the form of subsidies and possible mandates.
Rather than advocating doing nothing, the skeptical community should rally behind the idea of solutions based on new technology as an insurance policy against the possibility that something unexpected might occur due to continued CO2 loading of the atmosphere, while maintaining (correctly, I believe) that IPCC projections are wrong, their attribution of past warming to anthropogenic activities is wrong, and alarmist predictions are baseless.
What technological solutions? Certainly lower cost alternative energy sources are needed. And taking the time to develop and deploy such future developments is highly favored relative to deploying current technology. Also, recent developments in air extraction and subsequent storage of CO2 show promise of a practical technology at costs that would be far less than draconian government interventions. Government should be providing incentives for the development and deployment of economical technologies, not mandating and subsidizing uneconomical ones. And most of all it should avoid economy-crippling energy taxes or “cap-and-trade” schemes.
Somewhat off topic, we need a “Contact Congress” facility, so AGW skeptics can respond to action alerts and massively contact their congress person(s) demanding an appropriate vote on bills. Such facilities are already in place at other websites, including: http://www.capsweb.org/ (Californians for Population Stabilization), http://www.actforamerica.org/ (ACT! for America) and http://www.numbersusa.com/actionbuffet (login required) (Numbers USA). Clearly the democrats in Congress plan to be in power for a decade by recreating the 1930’s depression era. Their first move will be to pass anti-business “cap-and-trade” legislation. Their goal is to make government (and themselves) more powerful by controlling businesses. We need our own “Contact Congress” facility to prevent the passage of “cap-and-trade”. Is such a facility already in place for AGW skeptics? Would such a facility be appropriate at WUWT? Here’s a quote from Brigitte Gabriel, founder of ACT! for America: “Here’s something else: In the past four months we’ve had 231,000 people use our “contact Congress” feature on our website. They have been contacting their members after visiting our site and reading our email action alerts. Our motto at ACT! for America is: ‘If our elected officials are not going to see the light we are going to make them feel the heat.'”
I for one find AccuWeather.com a preferred weather channel. Ms Cullen lost me when she came out with her outrages statement on meteorologists. Like her mentor, James Hansen, she refuses to debate atmospheric science.
GW! Naww! Fresh Arctic air is spreading over the East coast states. Temperatures in northern Florida will be in the 20s. This weather pattern reminds me of the 70s when Florida had most of their orange crop frozen. If temperature drop further, they will be facing a repeat.
Here’s a steaming cup of virtual cocoa (_)& for little Swiss Miss, to keep her warm inside while searching out that next gig.
Yodellyhehoo.
Heidi is cute
All I have to add is, it’s not Heidi Cullen’s global warming that’s hot.
I must say that many of the folks here are in a total state of denial about the seriousness of the issue. TWC was helping to communicate science.
Instead, here in the comments, I see a lot of folks clinging tightly to their dogma afraid of facts and science.
It’s very sad and I feel very sorry for you. You’re children will hate your denial someday.
Tom in Texas (20:02:47) :
OT: from solarcycle24.com
The month of November has a sunspot number average of 6.7. Although being small, this is the biggest average since March and consists of only Cycle 24 activity.
A word of caution when comparing sunspot numbers: solarcycle24.com uses the ‘American Sunspot Number’ that is ~40% higher than the ‘Official Sunspot Number’ from Brussels.
I use Google Earth for my local weather.
I click on the weather option and look at the cloud formation.
Knowing north winds are cold and south winds are warm, plus a degree in Pure Mathematics but more importantly looking out the window;. I can make my own weather forecasts.
I am accurate, dare I say, over 90% of the time.
Can I get a job with GISS?