Global Warming and the Weather was chagned

The weather channel's Dr. Heidi Cullen made a statement that all meteorologists that don't buy in to global warming should not receive AMS certification. This has sparked quite a debate among the nation's weather people.
As it should have, because global warming is not a definite conclusion, it is a sound theory. The world we live in is a vast reservoir capable of with standing a lot of abuse. That is a very good thing as man has been pretty abusive of his environment.

Cooling trends typically follows weather-warming trends. These trends may be a few years or a few decades. The 100-year storm reference was coined for a reason. Weather can have very long cycles before repetition. Random events like major volcanic eruptions can change weather patterns for years. The lack of major volcanic eruptions over a prolonged period can change conditions as well. There are a lot of variables that affect the weather of our planet.

So for Dr.Cullen to imply that if you don't believe in global warming you don't deserve to be a meteorologist is a bit disconcerting for me.

The greenhouse effect describes how carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases produced through man's industry can cause a warming of the average planetary temperature. This is as sound theory based on the effect that higher than normal level of these gases can produce planetary warming. It is still a theory.

Global warming, which is a much better sound bite than the greenhouse effect has been endorsed by the most famous of all American scientists, Al Gore. One of my primary beliefs is that a politician's lips are moving that is a good indication the politician is lying. This makes it difficult for me to jump on Gore's bandwagon.

I try to obtain the scientific data that I rely on from better sources. I also view scientific news releases with a little skepticism. Announcements like the discovery of cold fusion should be viewed with a little caution in my opinion.

While the greenhouse effect may be the major contributor to current warming trends it is a little difficult for me to determine as we are in an El Nino cycle this season. El Nino, which to the best of my knowledgeexisted prior to Al Gore, causes unusual weather patterns.

While I do not discount the possibility that "Global Warming" is happening, I reserve the right to vouch for it when more accurate, definitive data is available. That does not mean that I don't promote more environmentally friendly fuels. But I fell the politicizing of science is poor politics and poor science.