Cleveland-area TV meteorologists disagree with prevailing attitude about climate change - Metro - cleveland.com

They will tell you when the skies might rain or snow in fickle Northeast Ohio, when to bundle up the kids in a cold snap and when to make weekend plans if steady sunshine spans the five-day forecast.

They also will tell you that human-caused global warming is hogwash.

They're your local TV meteorologists.

"This cry that 'We're all going to die' is an overreaction and just not good science," said Andre Bernier, a meteorologist at WJW Channel 8. "I don't think I personally know any meteorologists -- here in Cleveland or anywhere else I've worked -- who agree with the hype over human-induced warming."

The local TV weatherscape is indeed populated with on-air personalities who are pushing hard against the prevailing winds of climate science.
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But, there are doubters -- all AMS certified -- in prominent on-air positions at each of the four Cleveland television stations.

Bernier and Dick Goddard -- the patriarch of Cleveland weather forecasters -- predict the weather at WJW Channel 8.

Both cite natural fluctuations in the Earth's climate and dismiss the industrialization of the 20th century and the subsequent spike in atmospheric carbon dioxide as the cause for warming.

Goddard compared the current anxiety over warming with the global cooling concerns of the 1970s, which have since dissipated. He and Bernier both point to solar cycles as the key ingredient in climate change.

Bernier also said he believes the climate is no longer warming -- but, rather, cooling again.

"I have a hunch that in 10 years we're all going to be longing for global warming because it will be so cold," Bernier said. His Web site, andrebernier.com, links to a Canadian documentary that suggests the same.

Others in the skeptic camp include meteorologists Jon Loufman at WOIO Channel 19, Mark Johnson at WEWS Channel 5 and Mark Nolan at WKYC Channel 3. Nolan has since moved to the news desk, but he said he still gets questions about his skeptic's stance.
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For starters, the drift away from global warming among TV weather forecasters is hardly limited to Cleveland.

"This is nationwide," said Stu Ostro, meteorologist and director of weather communications for the Weather Channel in Atlanta.