Houston Weather Journalists Must Tell Full Story On Climate Change

Above is a picture I took off our TV last week of Channel 2 Chief Meteorologist Anthony Yanez talking about the very warm weather we've been having over an extended stretch in Houston. The chart is of average high temperatures in Houston. (I think. In any case, it was about abnormally warm weather.)  Sorry the picture is tilted. When I saw what he was talking about, I got my phone from the other room. I said to myself--I want to get this picture to report what Mr. Yanez says or does not say about climate change impacting the weather.

Mr. Yanez offered an explanation for the warm weather that involved some air being wherever it was in relation to a ridge or pressure dome or a jet stream. I'm certain he had it right as far as he went. Climate change, however, was not part of the explanation. 

Here is information about the impact of climate change on our weather from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration. Read it quickly because getting rid of NOAA is part of Project 2025.  

(I stopped watching local TV news for the most part because I got tired of all the murder and crime played up every night. How about covering the authoritarian and pro-corruption movement called the Republican Party which has many local followers?) 

I have no problem with Mr. Yanez. He knows way more about the weather than I do. But with facts under attack and climate change hitting even harder than many experts had projected, Mr. Yanez and science-based journalists--which is exactly what the weather man or woman on TV is--have an obligation to tell the full story.          

From the Channel 2 website about Mr. Yanez--

"Anthony was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism/Mass Communications from the University of New Mexico. He earned his broadcast meteorology certificate from Mississippi State University...2022 recipient of the American Meteorological Society’s award for Excellence in Science Reporting by a Broadcast Meteorologist."

​You look at that chart above and you see that the 79.1 degrees is 4.2 degrees higher than the next highest temperature of 74.9. That is a big gap. I wager many people were sitting at home and thinking--"I wonder if that has something to do with climate change?"

The science says climate change causes excessive heat.  

If Mr. Yanez felt climate change was not part of this current heat in Houston, he could report that as well. But the question is clearly there.  

A few weeks ago Channel 13 meteorologist Travis Herzog actively took on people who were asserting that the government had created or had selected the path of Hurricane Helene. Local weather journalists can, and should, tell the full story.    

I encourage Mr. Yanez and our local press to meet the challenge of the days ahead. Everyone in public life has decisions to make about how they will proceed with truth under attack. Mr. Yanez is in a public role where he can make an important difference.

Houstonians must have all the facts so that they can evaluate what is taking place around them and so they know where to most effectively direct political action.        

I'm on the Egberto Willies Politics Done Right Show Thursday from 6 AM to 7 AM for the Houston Democracy Project segment. You can hear the show on the radio, stream it on KPFT or watch later on Egberto's YouTube channel.​​

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