CAN A CHIMP FORECAST THE WEATHER BETTER?

Written by: Brian Neudorff

Can a chimp really forecast the weather better than actual meteorologists? A Washington D.C. based think tank, The National Center for Public Policy Research, thinks their trained chimpanzee can do a better. In fact, they are challenging NOAA's National Hurricane Center and their 2010 Atlantic hurricane forecast which comes out this week.

"NOAA's May outlooks have been wrong three out of the last four years - or 75% of the time," said David Ridenour, vice president of The National Center for Public Policy Research. "We think our chimp can do better. He hasn't been wrong so far. Of course, this is his very first hurricane season forecast."

"NOAA's forecasts have been wrong not because of a lack of dedication or competence of its forecast team, but because climate science is really still its infancy," said Amy Ridenour, president of The National Center for Public Policy Research. "We should remember this as we consider whether to adopt economically-ruinous caps on energy. If we can't rely on 6-month forecasts, how can rely on forecasts of what rising carbon concentrations will do to our climate 25, 50 or even 100 years out?"

Keep in mind that the National Center for Public Policy Research is a conservative think tank group and it appears they are challenging climate science and climate forecasting rather than the dedication and knowledge of NOAA & the meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center. You can read and view their press release from yesterday here.