Posing the ‘why’ behind the streak of bad weather


Should broadcast news and weather organizations help us better understand the role of human-caused climate change in disasters like the deadly Maui wildfire, crop-wilting heatwaves, and widespread flooding — all of which are happening now in relentless waves? Maybe it’s time to elevate the topic to the same painstaking investigation and reporting that take place after other disasters. All it would take is asking experts “why” this global bad weather avalanche accelerates, unchecked. The word “why” is one of the most powerful in the English language. I learned this lesson first hand when, as a young daily newspaper journalist in Massachusetts during the early 1980s, my editor would send me back to my computer when I failed to ask the “why” behind an important story I wrote. Asking scientists “why” all this is happening now and sharing their answers is important. But many journalists, news media outlets, weathercasters, and others who feed us our daily diet of news don’t even consider the question. While some national and international print/broadcast outlets are asking “why” more frequently, most purveyors of news and weather forecasts ignore the question in favor of endless reports about hottest months and record rainfall totals. I have had enough of watching videos of children cooling off in wading pools or open fire hydrants, cooling shelters springing up, and endless interviewees saying “We’ve never seen anything like this.”