Dr. Heidi Cullen of Weather Channel fame but now CEO of Climate Central outfit is publishing a new book on August 3, so far #138,256 on Amazon’s bestsellers but sure to rocket up the listings when the book publicity tour begins.
From the Entertainment section of ABCnews.com: Climatologist Sees Disastrous Weather in Future … Cullen predictably delves into the global warming alarmism and whips up several very “Day After Tomorrow” scenarios:
The itinerary includes imaginary “weather reports” for a series of future years. The one for New York dated “August 2050” is the most optimistic, though it envisions the Atlantic as warming to “bathtub” temperature. It concludes:
“In 2050, when Hurricane Xavier — a category 4 monster, which sprang up from the bathtub that the Atlantic had become finally arrived — people sat back and watched it like the World Series. We knew we had a home team advantage, just like the Yankees.”
FLASHBACK: “The Weather Channel’s most prominent climatologist is advocating that broadcast meteorologists be stripped of their scientific certification if they express skepticism about predictions of manmade catastrophic global warming. This latest call to silence skeptics follows a year (2006) in which skeptics were compared to “Holocaust Deniers” and Nuremberg-style war crimes trials were advocated by several climate alarmists….
Alexej Buergin says:
August 2, 2010 at 5:40 am
Asimov was good, but like Cullen, constrained to the scant data, which ultimately limited the thinking of the day.
In her case, she limit’s both herself and her potential audience. She’s no Isaac Asimov.
She has that “deer in the headlights” look…
Since this thread has veered off on Asimov, I must admit that I find most of his novels tedious. However, he wrote several volumes of short stories, and he was an absolute master of that form! (along with Arthur C. Clarke) “Nightfall” is the most famous, but almost all of those stand up as well today as when they were written.
As far as predicting Future History, I’d have to say that Obama comes eerily close to Nehemiah Scudder. Hopefully he won’t succeed, but it won’t be for lack of trying.
“Cullen is likely to attract readers with an insistent style and quotes from people who claim to have been already damaged by global warming. That goes especially for those who remember something of what they learned in Chemistry or Physics 101 classes.”
Ah, so because she “insists” on her imaginary catastrophic scenarios, and she (gasp) quotes from actual people claiming to be harmed by global warming, she will necessarily attract readers with a basic chemistry or physics background. They’re delusional if they think belief in CAGW/CC has anything to do with educational background, or indeed whether it proves anything at all about its scientific validity. Makes for good spin, though.
I suppose there is still a pretty good (though ever-shrinking) market for her brand of pseudo-science and doomsterism. By 2050, the Great Warming Hysteria of approximately 1975 – 2015 will be but a dim memory, and read and marveled at in history books. History will not treat the likes of Cullen, Gore, Mann, and Hansen kindly, as mankind struggles through a period similar to the LIA.
At least Dr. Heide is not longer spewing her nonsense on The Weather Channel. Her advocating that AMS remove ‘Seal of Approval” for those not ‘preaching’ he sermon smacks of that which we have seen in USSR, some African nations, etc. WOW. What a piece of work.
I looked for this in the fiction department, but couldn’t find it. Maybe I should try over in fantasy…
I’ll ask Astro to take the jet-car down and pick up a copy.
She’s another Calamitologist, and she wants all the Forecasters to be Calamitologists. Did she ever do any actual forecasting?
So she is depressed.
Here is the scale to test for depression
http://healthnet.umassmed.edu/mhealth/HAMD.pdf
Feelings of guilt, anxiety, sadness hopeless, helpless, worthless.
Looks like she says bad things are on the way. We have no hope.
re Cullen: Ambition and a casual regard for the truth……
re Asimov: I grew up in the 60’s loving Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, etc. On rereading them now, only Heinlein satisfies. Asimov was brilliant, but suffered from a kind of misanthropic, elitist, smirkiness….along the lines of “I love Humanity…..if only people weren’t so foolish and disagreeable…maybe we scientist types can save them from themselves” Kind of like the AGW crowd.
Of the classic SF writers, I enjoy Frank Herbert the most, although I admit he was at least as much Fantasy as Sci Fi. Re this blog, Dune lovers may recall his use of weather control satellites as a regular prop.
Sci-fi? That’s appropriate…she can team with Ehrlich on her next thriller. Since his original book has been shown to be a bust wrt predictions he gone to making dateless predictions in later works. Might as well be fiction, so I see a real opportunity for a fruitful partnership between these two…maybe they can also channel Rachel Carson for some extra input?
All students that failed thermodynamics gravitated into Meteorology, the only thing they could pass. Where are the numerous hurricanes you forecasted Heidi?
Great-another bulk buy for Science and Sociology departments nation wide. School districts, too…
Lawrie Ayres says:
August 2, 2010 at 4:34 am
“I’m not a …………….”
Very good comment.
Is that big red rock in the central part of Australia yours? 😉
In my 7/31 American Thinker article, “The Left and Its Talking Points” ( http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/07/the_left_and_its_talking_point.html ), I noted about the collection of AGW-centered discussion pieces on the PBS NewsHour going back to 1996, “of 212 global warming-centered program segments, including some online background info pages, only three on-air segments had discussion of basic skeptic science”. Space didn’t permit me to elaborate, but I could have added that our friend Heidi Cullen allowed Roger Pielke Sr two whole sentences of skepticism…. sort of… in an ‘outsourced’ NewsHour segment that aired October 31, 2008. Jim Lehrer introduced Cullen this way: “Our story is produced by Climate Central, a nonpartisan scientific research group. The reporter is Heidi Cullen, a climatologist and correspondent for The Weather Channel.” ( http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/environment/july-dec08/troutdrought_10-31.html )
I think I’ve just been run over by an fnord.
Gnomish says:
August 2, 2010 at 8:25 am (Edit)
I think I’ve just been run over by an fnord.
Quick, say three ‘hail Eris’s’ and wrap this flax round your leg.
So much publicity for so little… The doldrums of summer!
Mark says:
August 2, 2010 at 6:06 am
I think Heidi should have a wrestlng match with Joe Bastardi to see who really knows what they’e talking about w.r.t. climate. My money’s on Joe!
That would be unfair since Heidi is rather pettite, a 5km race sounds more appropriate where my money would be on Heidi.
I disliked her opinions on the Weather Channel, I dislike them now. She clearly has an agenda and lacks objectivity. How does someone get as far in her field and then jumps off the cliff and is OK with that. Anyone who considers her as an authority really needs more weed or a refresher course on climatology.
RE: Alan McIntire says: (August 2, 2010 at 6:45 am) “As to Science Fiction dealing with climate catastrophe from a conservative point of view, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle did that in 1991 with “Fallen Angels”.”
I believe the full text of this particular book is available for reading free online at the Baen Books website:
http://www.baen.com/library/067172052X/067172052X.htm
Just curious, does anyone know what happened to the web site that showed the Daily Artic Sea Ice Maps. I have been unable to connect to the site for weeks.
Al Gore’s Holy Hologram says:
August 2, 2010 at 6:09 am
L Ron Hubbard could not beat this shit
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The ultimate insult! Now I have to clean my screen again.
For those who do not know L. Ron Hubbard is the Founder of Scientology, Dianetics, and Church of Scientology. Some people who knew L. Ron think he did it as a joke.
CodeTech says:
August 2, 2010 at 2:28 am
Matthew says:
k winterkorn says:
August 2, 2010 at 7:56 am
You gents mentioned my favorite writers. Thanks.
Asimov in “Fact and Fantasy” wrote (I am paraphasing due to memory) “Due to the random nature of the movement of water molecules in a glass it is possible that all the molecules could go up at the same time and the water leap out of the glass. However, the chance of this happening exceed the life of the universe.”
After reading that I started really questioning anyone who says that there is a chance/possiblity that X can happen.
“A man should be able to pilot a starship, feed himself and change a diaper.”
k winterkorn says:
August 2, 2010 at 7:56 am
re Cullen: Ambition and a casual regard for the truth……
re Asimov: I grew up in the 60′s loving Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, etc. On rereading them now, only Heinlein satisfies….
Of the classic SF writers, I enjoy Frank Herbert the most…
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I agree. Do not forget Frederik Pohl, Poul Anderson, Hal Clement, Spidy Robinson, and especially John W. Cambell who shepherded these writers to fame.
Like you Asimov was not really to my taste.