Along with a winter storm, News Center 16 meteorologist Mike Hoffman blew into Warsaw for the Soil and Water Conservation District's annual meeting Tuesday night.
Hoffman was the keynote speaker for the meeting. As the snow fell outside, he talked with SWCD members and supporters about his career in forecasting and reporting the weather. He said his job involves a lot of science, but also a lot of educated guessing, trying to predict mistakes made by weather-predicting computers."As we all know, we aren't always right," Hoffman said. "The weather is chaos; it truly is chaos."
Hoffman also spoke about his perspective on global warming. He said he hasn't fully bought into the theory that man-made pollution is a major factor in climate change.
"I'm kind of on the fence on things," Hoffman said. "I don't think we know for sure. There are a lot more meteorologists than you might think who think like I do."
Hoffman said global warming and cooling may be part of natural, long-term cycles the earth experiences. He said natural factors like the sun, the water cycle and the jet stream also play a role in regulating the earth's temperature.
However, Hoffman said, man-made pollution should be a major concern regardless of its affect on climate change.
Also at Tuesday's meeting:
n Jeff Wise, Mentone, was appointed as a board supervisor and David Ransbottom, Claypool, was elected as a board supervisor.
n Annual awards were given to local farmers, residents, students and professionals who have contributed to the conservation of natural resources in the area. For a full listing of SWCD awards, see the Agriculture section of Thursday's Times-Union.
