Media: Weather for the Eyes and Ears

New shows available in audio and video, online and on TV

Coming soon to the National Geographic Channel is Six Degrees Could Change the World, based on the book, Six Degrees, which was just released in the U.S. after being published last year in the U.K. The show premieres this Sunday, the 10th, at 8 p.m. DC time, 9 p.m. Pacific. Streaming videos are available on the show's web site.

The American Meteorological Society (AMS), the country's oldest and largest organization of professional meteorologists, has gone multimedia. There are now four programs in the AMS Video Journal series on the Research Channel. The full set of shows are also available in both audio and video format for downloading free of charge from iTunes. The AMS appears to be the first professional scientific society to appear on iTunes U, the educational section of Apple's podcast web site. The presentations currently available include:

• Benjamin Franklin's Science: The founding fathers, particularly Franklin and Jefferson, were keen weather observers. Besides his well-known interest in lightning, Franklin made significant contributions to the understanding of mid-latitude storms and the effects of volcanoes on climate. He also made the first scientific observations of the Gulf Stream. This lecture was presented in 2006 as part of the celebration of the 300th anniversary of Franklin's birth. The podcast is currently listed as the number 2 most popular download in the Research Channel area of iTunes.
• The Certified Consulting Meteorologist 50th Anniversary: The AMS program establishing credentials for meteorologists providing consulting services had its 50th anniversary in 2007.
• Is Global Climate Change Affecting Hurricanes? and The Hurricane-Climate Connection: These two lectures by Prof. Kerry Emanuel of MIT explore the possible link between global warming and hurricane intensity.

This week's episode of When Weather Changed History on The Weather Channel is about the influence of cold temperatures on the Challenger disaster (nightly at 8 p.m.).