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Global Warming
- By Michael Fish
- Published 10th Oct 2006
- General Interest
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Michael Fish
MICHAEL FISH MBE DSc FRMetS
Britain’s (and possibly the World’s!) longest-serving TV weather forecaster, Michael Fish was born in Eastbourne in 1944, and educated at Eastbourne College. On joining the Meteorological Office in November 1962, his first posting was to Gatwick Airport. In 1965 he transferred, on promotion, to the Met Office headquarters in Bracknell to work on research projects. Between 1966 and 1968, while based at the London Weather Centre, he took a sandwich course in Applied Physics at the City University.
Michael Fish’s broadcasting career began in 1971 when he started forecasting for BBC Radio and in January 1974 he became part of BBC Television’s weather team.
Made famous by the ‘Hurricane’ in 1987, he was compulsorily retired from the Met Office in 2004 but is still presenting the weather on BBC Southeast. He has made many appearances on television and radio shows, ranging from light entertainment to factual programmes. Recently he tried his hand at acting, touring with “The Play What I Wrote” and received rave reviews. He has also been involved in the training of television weathermen in various African countries. He has written numerous articles on travel and weather, has acted as a consultant for several meteorological books and is increasingly in demand as an informative and entertaining after-dinner speaker and lecturer. He is currently preparing for the 20th anniversary of the ‘Great Storm’ by way of books, TV and radio programmes.
In 1985 the punk group Rachel and Nicki released a record dedicated to him called "I wish, I wish he was like Michael Fish". This was featured on the 'Wogan' programme but did not reach the charts. Some years later he did reach the 'Top Ten' when featured on the 'John Kettley is a Weatherman' single.
In December 1996, Michael was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree by the City University, London, and in August 1997, he was granted the Freedom of the City of London. Michael was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in June 2004 and in July 2005 he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Science by Exeter University.
In March 2004 Michael won the award for Best Weather Presenter at the TRIC (Television and Radio Industries Club) Awards and was declared a ‘National Treasure’ by the National Press.
Several years ago he was voted both the 'Worst Dressed' and the 'Best Dressed' man on television. More recently he has been acknowledged 4 times as 'Tie-man of the Year' in recognition of his ‘trade mark’ Fish motive ties, which he always wears.
He is Patron of several charities, including Age Concern.
Michael, who lives in Middlesex, is married to Susan and has two daughters, Alison and Nicola. A Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society, his hobbies include travel, food and wine and being a grumpy old man.
By way of an answer let me say that, without a doubt, it is likely to kill more people than human conflict ever has and is one of the most serious things facing our planet at the moment. It is likely to trigger major catastrophic events, such as flooding, storms, famine and Drought. We only borrow the planet and it is our duty to hand it onto our children and grandchildren in better shape, NOT much worse.
We CAN influence Global Warming if you “Turn Down, Switch Off, Recycle, Walk”
So what is behind Global Warming? The answer in a nutshell is ‘The enhanced Greenhouse effect’. Without it we would freeze to death as the mean Temperature of the Earth would be around -180C. Instead the temperature is around 150C, ideal for life. Carbon Dioxide, Water vapour, Methane, Nitrous Oxide and other minor gases in the Atmosphere act like panes of glass in a greenhouse, or a blanket, keeping in some of the heat we receive from the sun, instead of it escaping back into space. That was fine but now there are far more layers of the ‘blanket’ than there should be (more gases in the atmosphere) and the Earth is getting too warm. Carbon Dioxide amounts in the atmosphere were more or less constant until the Industrial Revolution but have risen at an ever increasing rate since and as a result the temperature of the Earth has risen in tune by about 0.60C, most of that since 1970. In the EU every person produces 11 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide a year! Amounts in the atmosphere have increased by 35% and are now higher than at any time in the last 650,000 years. Methane, largely from tips, cattle and paddy fields has doubled and is far more effective as a ‘blanket’ than Carbon Dioxide, although there is less of it. Nitrous Oxide, from fertilizers and cars, is over 300 times as effective!
Believe it or not the Greenhouse Effect was first recognised in 1896 and the scientific community have been publicising it for years. Unfortunately, until recently, much of this fell on deaf ears (and in George Bush’s case still do!!) and in many ways it is too late to do anything to stop it, although if we act quickly we should be able to stabilise the effects in about 100 years time.
We can all see the effects. The seasons have shifted (here in the UK the growing Season has increased by 10 days). Diseases have become more widespread. Trees have died. Animals have lost their habitat. Glaciers have melted. The Arctic ice has shrunk. The sea has risen some 15cm, already flooding places like Tuvalu. Floods and storms have become more frequent, such as Katrina which produced more energy than the US grid does in several weeks, as it devastated the Southern States.