NYT: Bomb Cyclone? Or Just Windy with a Chance of Hyperbole?
9 hours ago Eric Worrall 27 Comments
Essay by Eric Worrall
Wouldn’t it be a tragedy if journalistic weather hyperbole got so bad, people started ignoring all the climate change hype?
Bomb Cyclone? Or Just Windy with a Chance of Hyperbole?
When the barometer drops, the volume of ‘hyped words’ rises, and many meteorologists aren’t happy about it.
By Matt Richtel
Jan. 18, 2023
DENVER — Last week, days after a bomb cyclone (coupled with a series of atmospheric rivers, some of the Pineapple Express variety) took devastating aim at California, a downtown conference center here was inundated by the forces responsible — not for the pounding rain and wind but for the forecast.
…
But there were troubling undercurrents. …
The widespread use of colorful terms like “bomb cyclone” and “atmospheric river,” along with the proliferating categories, colors and names of storms and weather patterns, has struck meteorologists as a mixed blessing: good for public safety and climate-change awareness but potentially so amplified that it leaves the public numb to or unsure of the actual risk. The new vocabulary, devised in many cases by the weather-science community, threatens to spin out of control.
…
In the end, the linguistic dilemma reflects a larger challenge. On one hand, scientists say, it is hard to overstate the profound risk that global warming poses to Earth’s inhabitants in the next century and beyond. But the drumbeat of language may not be appropriate for the day-to-day nature of many weather events.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/01/27/nyt-bomb-cyclone-or-just-windy-with-a-chance-of-hyperbole/
