Oregon Public Broadcasting

The single most important reason people watch local TV news is to see the weather forecast. But when the subject of climate change comes up, most of us will experience it as weather. This program examines what the public is hearing from TV meteorologists and state climatologists in the Northwest and across the nation, and how these frontline players are reacting to the latest conclusions about climate change.

Watch the show  (56:30 complete version of Forecast Cloudy)

    The show in segments:
       Part One: The Weather Skeptics (13:53)
       Part Two: The Governor versus the State Climatologist (7:15)
       Part Three: Science & Politics (18:20)
       Part Four: The Business of TV News (17:13)

Extended video interviews from Forecast Cloudy

ARTHUR ROBINSON
1) Oregon Petition creator Arthur Robinson reacts to allegations that his Oregon Petition contained lots of fake names, and that he designed his climate change study to look like it came from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
2) Robinson on being attacked and ridiculed for his skepticism about human-caused climate change.
3) Robinson talks about having been the protege of two-time Nobel Prize winning Oregon scientist, Linus Pauling, and whether the stand of conscience he took that ruptured their collaboration later influenced his decision to launch the Oregon Petition.
--------
THOMAS KARL
1) National Climactic Data Center Director Thomas Karl tells how he converted from being a climate skeptic to a non-skeptic.
2) Karl on how policymakers deal with 'adapting' to climate change, with no certainty about the future.
3) Karl talks about the difference between meteorologist and climatologists.

TOWN SQUARE
Should television meteorologists be talking more about global climate change?
Join the conversation in Town Square.
--------
OPB's April Baer talks with Stephen Schneider, a climatologist at Stanford University about the difference between the meteorologists who keep us up to date on the forecast and the climatologists looking at the big picture.
Listen to the interview
--------
Where does your state climatologist stand on the climate change question?
Check our map
-------
Links to more information