One Road Ends, Another Begins
Today is my last day at AccuWeather, capping a career that began in the fall of 1988. Longtime AccuWeather meteorologist Brett Anderson will be taking my place as moderator of this blog beginning Monday. Brett's been at AccuWeather since 1989. He will continue as Canadian Weather Expert along with his duties here. I ask you to help me to welcome him to this new role.
It's ironic that I started at AccuWeather only about three months after James Hansen's landmark testimony before the House of Representatives on the cause and effect relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and temperatures. Had I been asked in those days about my opinions on global warming, my answer would have been full of skepticism. Today I am far less skeptical, though still not as convinced as the IPCC's authors, that greenhouse gases are forcing global temperatures higher. Land use changes also play a significant role in climate change.
As I've mentioned here before, I don't like politics. The politicization of the issue of global warming has made it difficult to have reasoned discussions of the issue. Ideally, people would base their opinions on the science, and not on which politician or political party agrees with which position or, worse yet, on which talking head agrees with which position. An open, questioning mind is useful for scientists and for nonscientists alike.
I'd like to thank all of the members of AccuWeather.com's global warming team - especially those who work behind the scenes who have helped me so much over the past 10 months. You're a great group of people. Thanks, too, to the regular readers and commenters here who have built this blog into an interesting, engaged community.
Comments (17)
Thanks Laura for doing what is essentially a thankless job! I've moderated other forums in the past and I know what it's like. I appreciate you lending an ear and a cyberpage to allow the expression of opinions.
Few things are more important to people than the belief that they and their opinions are taken seriously. By moderating this forum you do exactly that and for that I'm grateful.
Best to you in your new life!!!!
~peace and blue skies~
Posted by plish | June 16, 2007 11:43 AM
Laura, I wish you goodbye and good luck. You've done a great job here. I particularly appreciate your forthright and fair judgement, even when we've tangled.
Brett, welcome aboard. I hope you have a good supply of yellow and red cards -- and a thick skin.
Posted by BrooklineTom | June 16, 2007 12:48 PM
Thanks, Laura. You should still post here, but not as a moderator -- you can post here as one of us.
Posted by Mark | June 16, 2007 5:13 PM
I'm sorry to see you go, Laura. I hope you don't disappear completely. I (for one) have very much appreciated the open-minded and scientifically skeptical sensibility that you brought to this issue.
Tom
Posted by TomP | June 16, 2007 7:14 PM
Wow, right out of the blue this is! You never mentioned whether you were retiring or moving to another job, but thanks for all you've done with this blog and at Accuweather all these years. Good luck and I wish you all the best with whatever is next.
Welcome to the blog Brett, I hope you'll be as fair-minded as Laura was. These are sometimes tricky waters to navigate.
Posted by Chris | June 16, 2007 7:43 PM
Thanks Laura for all the scope and detail you have provided for me to appreciate.
Posted by Joe O'Laughlin | June 16, 2007 9:42 PM
What about the ice age that i was told about in the seventies?????
Posted by scott | June 16, 2007 10:17 PM
Thanks,Laura, for your gracious and calm demeanor, for your earnest efforts at openmindedness, and for the hard work you put in. You're not history, you're a valuable legacy. You will be remembered and missed.
Welcome aboard, Brett.
Posted by ClaudeC | June 17, 2007 2:10 PM
Future prosperity and well wishes for you. God bless.
Posted by Rich | June 17, 2007 5:42 PM
Laura,
All I can say to you is thanks!. Thanks for taking our opinions seriously, and special thnks because you let a teenager be part of the blog, and that means a lot.
Thanks as well for all the information and science you introduced to this blog; and thank you for the great job you have done.
I'm sorry to see you go, as well.
I wish you all the best in whatever you do from now on.
Best wishes,
Emiliano
Posted by Emiliano | June 17, 2007 10:36 PM
Laura:
Sorry to see you go. Good luck with your other pursuits. You are top notch! I hope you briefed Brett as to what he's getting into...;-DDDD......Thanks for being there.
Your entertaining friend and Guiltless Denier,
Oiz
Posted by Oiznop | June 18, 2007 8:00 AM
Good luck Laura! Thanks for doing a great job moderating this blog! We will all miss your input and insight.
All the best to you and your family - I hope your next endeavor is highly successful!
Rick Ressler
Posted by Rick Ressler | June 18, 2007 9:02 AM
Hi Laura,
I'm very sorry to hear that your leaving. I think you did a great job of moderating this blog, especially with some of the more extreme views on this site. I could always count on you try to get the discussions back to science & away from politics & personal disputes.
Don't be a stranger, blog in from time to time!!
Steve
Posted by STEVEN GOODHUE | June 18, 2007 12:26 PM
I would like to echo the sentiments of the previous posters. Laura, From what I've been able to gleen, your position on global warming is very close to mine. Good luck in your future endeavors.
Posted by Thor | June 18, 2007 1:13 PM
Laura:
Thanks for the work you did in this forum.
Posted by Darren | June 18, 2007 1:39 PM
Hi Laura,
Thank you for everything. Hope you check in from time to time.
Posted by Jim Arndt | June 18, 2007 4:55 PM
Thanks to everyone for the kind words. I may stop by from time to time, if I have anything interesting to say.
Brett - Great job so far!
Posted by Laura Hannon | June 19, 2007 8:30 PM