Benefits from more meteorology students

The article by Knox [2008] on the upward trends in meteorology undergraduate enrollments deserves deeper thought. Meteorology is the one environmental science that is readily accessible in an era when awareness of our global environmental issues is growing rapidly. Accept it as a portal. Of course we do not need thousands more weather forecasters, but we do need a rapid expansion of citizens with a broad understanding of climate change and complex systems in general, if we are to manage the transition of human society away from its present destructive relation with the global environment in one generation. What is needed is a broadening of the curriculum to include all aspects of human-driven climate change, and the application of complex systems theory to both human and natural systems.

Dr. Alan Betts, Pittsford, Vermont 05763

Knox, J. A. (2008), Recent and future trends in U.S. undergraduate meteorology enrollments, degree recipients and employment opportunities. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 89, 873-883.

Related Topics

• POLICY