Read comments from Prof. Cliff Mass at the University of Washington: Cliff Mass Weather Blog: Misinformation in the Seattle TImes About Drought, Snowpack, and Climate Change

It is frustrating to read stories by the ClimateLab folks in the Seattle Times that are simply not true.

Another story was published yesterday that predicts a major drought year ahead due to poor snowpack.

A poor snowpack driven by climate change.

The problem:   their claims are easily shown to be false

None of the Seattle Times “ClimateLab” staff has a STEM degree. They are “story tellers” and do not understand how to think like a hydrologist, or meteorologist or atmospheric scientist, such that the story tellers get the story wrong. You can learn much more about why mass media is often wrong here: Media: Who Reports the News? – Social Panic – 80% of reporters have degrees in the humanities, arts, social sciences – but are given titles such as “Senior Health Reporter”, “Senior Climate Reporter”, and so on. Only in the business section do we find reporters with degrees in business, economics or finance, and most weather reporters have at least a degree in broadcast meteorology. Why don’t other subjects require similar formal training?

Seattle Times “ClimateLab”

• Conrad Swanson, degree in journalism and economics,
• Amanda Zhou, attended the elite, private Phillips Exeter Academy private school, then a degree in social sciences and public policy from Dartmouth.
• Isabella Breda, she has no online bio except this “Her interests include growth and development, environmental issues, social justice and education.”
• Erika Schultz, a visual story teller with a degree in photojournalism.
• Benjamin Woodard, environment and climate editor, degree in visual journalism.