FISH ADAMANT: GLOBAL WARMING IS THE REAL WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION
By J Brock (FINN)
In answer to a student at the Falkland Islands Community School, Michael Fish, the longest serving weather presenter has condemned global warming as the most threatening weapon of mass destruction. The exchange took place on Tuesday afternoon when Mr Fish, who was being hosted by the MPA Met Office, visited Stanley and accepted an invitation to speak at the school. “I have been trying to tell President Bush for years that he is going after the wrong weapon of mass destruction,” he told the students. Global warming will kill more people than any war will do,” he continued. Mr Fish went on to say that there are plenty of opportunities to exploit renewable energy here in the Falklands and that the older generation has a responsibility to the younger one to hand the world over to them as they found it.
During his presentation Mr Fish went into the history of weather forecasting and began with Aristotle’s book about the weather and unfortunate lack of instruments to winnow out his theory, to Captain Fitzroy, the First Director General of the Met Office. He went on to chart the history to WWI, with the theory that the air was fluid and that high pressure, low pressure, warm fronts and cold fronts could be tracked. “Unfortunately, in 1919, it would take 64,000 civil servants with pen and paper to do the predictions and at the time it was a non-starter. He continued through to the use of computers after WWII and the emergence of satellite technology to forecast the weather by enhancing global models to help predict where the weather systems will be during a given period of time. He explained that one satellite was stationed 55km above the equator and followed the earth as it spun around. Though the satellite’s images did not have high resolution, it is enough to see weather systems. A much lower satellite orbited from pole to pole and could pick out showers and smaller features within a weather system.
“The Met Offices processes eight million pieces of weather info a day,” said Mr. Fish. We rely on ships and aircraft to provide us with weather information.”
Following the brief history, a video showing the weather studio and clips of people working behind the scenes as well as other weather presenters was shown.
Mr Fish fielded general questions as well as some technical ones from students, such as: How do you use Satellite pictures to predict the weather? Why do we get 4 seasons in one day down here? What category of hurricanes effect Great Britain? What are the levels of a hurricane? What are the requirements for being a weather forecaster? Why are math and physics rather than geography and geology preferred as requirements to be a weather forecaster? Who was doing the weather on TV before you started? He also answered some more personal questions like: What made you become a Weatherman? What is the biggest mistake you ever made? Do you ever feel sick or nervous before a weather forecast? When you started did you find it difficult? What did you want to do after you finished school?
In answer to some of the questions, Mr Fish said that his favourite kind of weather is the kind that manifested itself in the Falklands during the past few days - cold and windy. He continued that snow was a rarity in the UK today. And, in the next 25 years, it could disappear all together. Math and physics were the best requirements for weather forecasting because it is a highly technical field that required proficiency in these subjects. He also said that the seas around Britain are too cold for hurricanes and temperatures of 28C were needed to produce them. As for the four seasons in one day - it was the same in the north of Scotland as well. It’s our proximity to the pole that causes weather to be so changeable.
On the personal side, Mr. Fish said that there was no one in the TV weather forecasting profession when he started and that he did not find it difficult to begin his work. When he got out of school he had wanted to be an RAF Pilot but he had an interest in the weather since the age of 14 and set this interest as a career goal. Six weeks remained in his career at the BBC and he speculated that after retirement he might want to work in the Falklands - who knows?
After the presentation, Geography teacher, Mr. Nigel White, presented Mr. Fish with a pen that was crafted by Mrs. Miriam Purvis.
Mr. Fish is on a weeklong visit to the Falklands. Today he toured Stanley and tonight he will dine with H.E. the Governor and attend a reception at Government House in his honour.
