Mark Johnson

Mark Johnson is the chief meteorologist for WEWS-TV in Cleveland. He has vocally expressed skepticism about the reality of Global Warming, and recently Forecast the Facts has been coordinating people to ask him to better represent climate science in his public statements.

We can use this space to work on letters to Mark.

Mr. Mark Johnson,

It is obvious from many public statements that you have made that you are skeptical about the validity and weight of the scientific understanding that indicates that the Earth is warming significantly because of human actions. If such warming is happening, though, it should elicit a careful yet bold and prompt response from our society as a whole. Notably visible meteorologists such as yourself have a significant impact on helping to unite people to work together to solve problems such as this.

There are at least a couple of different ways to go about trying to explore global warming. We can approach the idea from a theoretical point of view, where chemical and physical theories help us understand that changes to the chemical contribution of the atmosphere, including an increase in carbon dioxide, hold in additional heat. Scientists proposed this theory in the 19th century. In addition, we can inspect the physical world to detect how well the observed changes match this theory. And, indeed, in the 20th and 21st centuries, we have detected an increase of both carbon dioxide and global average temperature. We just recently passed 400 ppm (parts per million) in the atmosphere, and the average temperature has increased by 0.8°C since the start of the 20th century.

You have rightly pointed out that in the past fifteen years, surface temperatures have held steady. This is consistent with the short-term climate cycles that regularly warm and cool the planet. When you account for these, surface temperatures continue to rise, and the long-term trend is one of consistent warming. In addition, when you also consider the warming of the oceans, the overall warming picture is significantly more prominent and alarming. I am quite afraid of the ways in which this is affecting our ecosystem now as well as how these effects will intensify into the future, and I need acknowledgement of this situation from others.

There certainly must be a reason why you search so pointedly for holes in the scientific understanding of global warming. Are you afraid that being responsible for global warming could force us to call into question some fundamentals of a system that you value for its stability? Are you angry because you see certain people dictating changes to the way we live, assuming a certain power for themselves, when you need to stay in control of the decisions that you make about your life? Are you baffled and stunned by the idea that humans could have enough of an effect on the world to alter something as fundamental as the climate? Perhaps you are responding in some other way that I can't yet discern. In any case, I would very much like to understand your anxiety, and also to try to share with you why I feel my own fear so strongly. Please talk with me or others to try to understand each other, so that we can all work together to try to share the truth as widely as possible and then proceed to decide together how best to respond.

—John L. Clark (talk) 14:11, 17 May 2013 (PDT)