Meteorologist "Hurricane" Schwartz on climate deniers: "The bigger the ego, the less likely it is to ever admit a mistake!"
Glenn "Hurricane" Schwartz was NBC Philly's bow-tied meteorologist from 1995 to 2022.
For 27 years, a weather man nicknamed “Hurricane” wore a big colorful bow tie while serving as the primary authority on all meteorological matters for an entire region of America. Despite officially retiring in 2022, the so-called “Hurricane” continues to fulfill a role as civic educator, dropping facts about serious issues like climate change on his growing TikTok account.
In short, Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz is a public scientist — a profession that, thanks to right-wing demagogues like President Trump, is controversial, even though it should not be. For this, we can thank the fact that facts like manmade climate change have been politicized.
“I separate the different categories about attitudes related to climate,” Schwartz told me in our recent interview for my YouTube series “Back Seat Socialism.” “One is deniers; then there’s lukewarm; then there’s acceptors’ and then there’s doomers. “
Schwartz says that only the deniers should be given up on outright, and I agree with him. Working as a climate change reporter at Salon Magazine since 2020, I regularly encountered people who sincerely did not understand the science. Like Schwartz, we know that some people are confused in good faith about how (a) climate has changed throughout history and yet (b) the current set of changes — which are demonstrably caused by greenhouse gas emissions (such as carbon dioxide, methane and water vapor) — pose an existential threat to our species.
By contrast others argue in bad faith, plain and simple. They are motivated by pride.
“I just think it’s human nature to not admit mistakes,” Schwartz said when asked about climate deniers. “And the bigger the ego, the less likely it is to ever admit a mistake!” He recalled being around meteorologists “who swear they’ve never missed a forecast.” Therefore he is not surprised that so many climate deniers, once called out, find it difficult to publicly admit their error… “especially in politicians,” like most of the modern Republican Party.
“The more extreme you are in your feelings about different subjects, the less likely you are to change your mind, or let alone admit that you were mistaken,” Schwartz explained.
I certainly am willing to do so. After foolishly relying on Wikipedia to summarize the span of Schwartz’s career, he corrected me about the dates, prompting my apology. I then mentioned the classic sci-fi disaster film “The Day After Tomorrow,” which despite being released in 2004 remains to this day the only mainstream Hollywood blockbuster to directly depict global warming. It is also my all-time favorite movie, but as I admitted to Schwartz, the most unrealistic part of that admittedly-flawed film was it showing climate deniers apologizing for their mistakes.
Schwartz laughed. That observation, though intended humorously, is also unironically true.
Starting in 1995, Glenn “Hurricane” Schwartz worked as meteorologist for WCAU, the NBC affiliate which serves the roughly 7.5 million souls that reside in eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey. I was one of those souls, and it was a true privilege to interview my childhood weather man.
Today Schwartz’s audience is the entire world, thanks to the power of social media platforms like TikTok. Since his message involves our survival as a civilization, I only hope a growing audience will listen to what he and other public scientists have to say.
The stakes could not be higher.
Back Seat Socialism Podcast Episode 3
Back Seat Socialism
Back Seat Socialism is a column by Matthew Rozsa, who has been a professional journalist for more than 13 years. Currently, he is writing a book for Beacon Press, “Neurosocialism,” which argues that autistic people like the author struggle under capitalism, and explains how neurosocialism - the distinct anticapitalist perspective one develops by living as a neurodiverse individual - can be an important organizing principle for the left.