Ed Martin Live from TCA: A Big Day for The Weather Channel, GMC, Univision and Playboy TV

The cable portion of the Summer 2011 Television Critics Association tour kicked off yesterday with a session by The Weather Channel that went beyond promoting its programming into something much bigger That39s the great thing about the cable and PBS days at TCA tours they include many timely sessions for informative programs that are infinitely more stimulating than all the sitcom crime drama and reality show presentations that dominate the broadcast daysFor example the purpose of the Weather Channel panel was to call attention to the network39s coverage of extreme weather and the devastation it often leaves behind amp8211 as compelling a topic as any in this year of consistently punishing weather events that have dominated national news from the multiple major snowstorms of winter to the floods and tornadoes of the spring to the broiling heat and stifling humidity that has made this summer a bummer But as might be expected no discussion of major weather issues can be had without raising questions of global warming and the impact of man39s behavior on climate changeTellingly and refreshingly the panelists on hand amp8211 Weather Channel personalities and meteorologists Jim Cantore and Stephanie Abrams and hurricane expert Dr Rick Knabb amp8211 did not begin lecturing about the dangers of global warming as so often happens when public figures or media personalities are asked to comment on the issue Rather Cantore Abrams and Knabb all provided thoughtful and insightful information about the extent to which mankind39s behaviors may or may not be impacting global weather patternsquotWhen we talk about hurricanes there are so many factors that determine what hurricane activity is like every year and where the systems go things like El Nino and La Nina multidecade oscillations ups and downs in hurricane activityquot Knabb explained He recalled that in the 3970s 3980s and early 3990s hurricane activity was not as active as it has been since 1995 quotSo you could make a long long list of the factors that influence hurricane activityquot he saidDoes that mean that when it comes to drastic changes in weather patterns humans are blameless quotI think it would be hard to make a case that humans are having zero effectquot Knabb asserted quotCertainly we39re going to affect our environment But there are so many other factors involved at least when it comes to hurricanes We39re just really scratching the surface and learning about how we39re affecting our environmentquotquotBut we do know the Earth has warmed especially in the last 30 yearsquot Cantore chimed in perhaps wanting to keep the controversial global warming thing at the forefront of the conversation quotWe39re 15 degrees warmer than we were in the 3970s If heat holds more moisture in the atmosphere we certainly can make a case for some of the rains we39re seeing that are much much heavier I mean it doesn39t mean it39s going to rain everywhere You can have extreme drought You can have extreme cold Maybe this is the Earth39s way of trying to compensate for thatquotquotWith hurricanes you might think 39Well if the ocean keeps warming logically more hurricanes and stronger hurricanes are going to occurquot Knapp noted quotBut there are feedback mechanisms in the atmosphere You could in the next several decades have a change in the upperlevel wind shear which could be a counteracting effect to the ocean temperature So we really don39t know what the future holds exactlyquotIt39s about quotgetting the information rightquot Abrams added quotWe39re trying to use the term 39climate change39 instead of 39global warming39 because everyone attaches onto that warming thing and that39s not necessarily the case You know some places are getting cooler It39s not all about warmingquotThe threat of global cooling was a huge scientific issue in the 397039s fueled by the fact that the earth was and still is seemingly overdue for an ice age But is it still a concern about global warming quotIt39s a lot easier to observe what39s going onquot than to talk about what was or what might be Knapp said quotClearly there are places in the Arctic that are now navigable by ships during the summer that didn39t used to be That is an observed change But the smartest people in the world with all the technical models that they run about what the climate is going to do over the next several decades get different answers depending on what model they run and what parameters they put in there So we don39t have an answer to the question 39Is it going to continue warming or coolingquotquotCertainly if ice changes to water over a vast portion of the Arctic then you logically conclude that will have some effectquot he added quotWe just don39t know how much of onequotThe Weather Channel started a day that also included sessions by ESPN the Hallmark Channel which included among its guests a direct descendent of the original Rin Tin Tin on hand to promote Hallmark39s presentation of the American Humane Association Hero Dog Awards on November 11 History Lifetime and in its TCA debut the family entertainment channel GMC which previewed two very promising movies Trinity Goodheart starring Eric Benet and A Mile in His Shoes with Dean Cain and Luke Schroder Also making its TCA debut yesterday was Univision a network that far outperforms most of the other networks that are included in TCA tours The day ended with a party for Playboy TV at the Playboy Mansion The Playmates and the many birds and small animals in Hugh Hefner39s private zoo were hugely popular with the critics but we all couldn39t help wondering why cast members of NBC39s upcoming drama series The Playboy Club weren39t invited to attend Surely Playboy sanctioned that show

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Ed Martin Live from TCA: A Big Day for The Weather Channel, GMC, Univision and Playboy TV

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