They say everyone talks about the weather but no one ever does anything about it. While “doing something” about the weather is really only confined to the realm of science fiction, there are thousands of people who spend their whole lives and careers studying the science of weather, and they’re called meteorologists. Many folks might be most familiar with meteorologists from watching local or national newscasts that have “weather people” (many of them degreed meteorologists who have received a seal of approval from the American Meteorological Society). However, most meteorologists have behind-the-scenes roles monitoring and forecasting the weather for various private and public entities, such as the National Weather Service.
Contrary to popular belief, they don’t just “guess” when making weather forecasts, nor do they have “easy” jobs. Meteorologists usually have complicated, varied roles. Many work around the clock, often in very stressful and fast-paced work settings, employing empirical observations, computer data, and access to a vast scientific network. Their goal? To help everyone from farmers to military officials – and everybody in-between (including people reading this article) – make plans according to the daily weather, safely prepare for extreme weather events such as hurricanes and floods, and become more knowledgeable about the weather.
Along with the usual work demands, many meteorologists have had to pull extra hours taking on a new duty: protecting the public from misinformation about the weather and climate. Unfortunately, a general lack of weather knowledge, conspiracy theories, and some contrarian influencers have led to a rash of weather myths and false information that have spread like wildfire across social media and throughout many corners of the internet.
Meteorologists have had to combat a wide variety of misinformation, including myths about “chem trails” (which don’t exist; the word is a malapropism of “contrail,” the whitish plume of condensation – or simple water vapor – left behind jet planes and which evaporate or linger depending on atmospheric moisture content and prevailing winds), controversies about climate change (which is a real, natural phenomenon being accelerated by human activities), and cloud seeding (an experimental practice dating back to the 1940s but used in only a very limited scope to enhance precipitation from clouds that would already produce rain or snow anyhow – no entity is using it to “control the weather”). Top all that off with the throngs of sensationalist posts from online media influencers hyping up or misusing alarming terms like “bomb cyclones” or “polar vortex” and those who take outlying, most-menacing hurricane model runs and spin them as official forecast predictions and you could quickly see why the “real,” bona fide weather people have a tougher job than ever before.
At the end of the day, if you really want to know what’s happening with the weather, trust science – and trust accredited meteorologists. They’re out to keep everyone safe and weather-aware! And while you’re at it, consider paying homage to meteorologists and the science of meteorology. Many coins depict things having to do with meteorology – clouds, precipitation and its after effects, and so on. But few present an action shot of weather like the 2012 Canada Stormy Weather $20, a silver coin that shows a windswept tree bending by the mighty blow of Mother Nature and its windy fury.