Retired meteorologist names heatwaves after fossil fuel companies: report

20 July 2023

Retired Weather Channel meteorologist Guy Walton has devised a novel way of keeping the public informed about who and what is driving disruptions to Earth's climate. On Thursday, The Guardian's Oliver Milman reported that Walton, who runs a blog called Extreme Temperature Diary — has been assigning monikers like those stamped on hurricanes to the current heatwaves that are baking much of the planet. But unlike tropical cyclones, Walton uses the names of fossil fuel companies.

Walton "has already christened two previous heatwaves this summer" as "Amoco and BP," noted The Guardian. Walton's latest, the paper revealed, is "Chevron."

Walton believes that his approach is "a naming and shaming thing," according to The Guardian, to whom he told that he "wants weather forecasters and the media to be more explicit between the links between extreme heat and the burning of fossil fuels that has caused the climate crisis."

Walton explained that he is "trying to be a bug in the ear of my compatriots to take what I’m doing and run with it," adding that "I realize what I’m doing is controversial and corporate media will want to steer clear of it, but people need to be riled up. I don’t think we need to pull any punches. If it causes consternation, so be it."

Walton "has devised his own criteria for named heatwaves in the US, based on duration and extremity, on a one to five scale similar to hurricanes," The Guardianlearned. "Heatwave Chevron is classed as a four and is 'historic,' Walton said. The meteorologist said he has a list of 20 oil and gas companies – including Exxon and Shell – for upcoming heatwaves and will turn to coal companies if he runs out of names."

Walton conceded that his method is "a little tongue-in-cheek" and that "it's not a fun topic, I want to galvanize the way the public thinks about these threats." But he added that "it would be great if the media started naming heatwaves, although I'd expect them to use a more buttoned-up criterion than what I've used."

Yet Walton is far from the only expert expressing deep concerns over the state of Earth's climate.

On Wednesday, author Susan Joy Hassol and Michael Mann, a distinguished professor of meteorology at Pennsylvania State University, discussed in a Guardianopinion column that "the climate crisis – and yes, it is now a crisis – is endangering us now, where we live. Whether it's the recurrent episodes of hazardous air quality in the east coast cities some of us call home from windblown Canadian wildfire smoke or the toll sadly now being measured in human lives from deadly nearby floods, we are witnessing the devastating and dangerous consequences of unabated human-caused warming. That is a fact."

But Mann and Hassol stressed that while "the average warming of the planet – including the most up-to-date measurements for 2023 – is entirely consistent with what climate modelers warned decades ago would happen if we continued with the business-as-usual burning of fossil fuels," the future outlook still remains grim.

"These episodes are a reminder that we can not only expect to see records broken, but shattered, if we continue burning fossil fuels and heating up the planet," they wrote. "And one of the areas where observed trends truly are exceeding the predictions of climate models is in those extreme weather events we are seeing this summer. One of us has been involved in research that suggests that climate models are still not capturing some of the more subtle physical mechanisms behind persistent summer weather extremes."

Mann and Hassol reiterated, however, that "the only way to avoid crossing these tipping points is to stop heating up the planet. And comprehensive Earth system models show that if we stop adding carbon pollution, the warming of Earth's surface stops soon thereafter."

Because "a window of opportunity remains for averting a catastrophic 1.5C/2.7F warming of the planet," Mann and Hassol concluded that "we cannot afford to give in to despair. Better to channel our energy into action, as there's so much work to be done to prevent this crisis from escalating into a catastrophe. If the extremes of this summer fill you with fears of imminent and inevitable climate collapse, remember, it's not game over. It's game on."

Milman's article is available at this link. Mann's and Hassol's editorial is here.

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