As some might recall, the climate science community split into several camps in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I think similar fault lines are emerging in the global warming/severe weather debate. In my latest post at the Yale Forum on Climate Change & the Media, I discuss this in the context of a popular new frame, which lends itself to those who, as University of Washington atmospheric scientist Cliff Mass wrote recently,"either imply or explicitly suggest" that recent severe weather events are the result of global warming. This is a relatively new climate minefield for reporters to navigate, especially since some of the most outspoken climate scientists forcefully making this case are frequently quoted in the media. Mass has something notable to say about that, too. What's going to end up happening, I think, is that climate activists are going to continue to play up the global warming/severe weather angle--with the help of some climate scientists--and this is going to cause a Katrina-like rift in the climate science community. Go read my piece at the Yale Forum and let me know what you think.
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