The great people at the Washington Free Beacon published an outstanding and illuminating column Wednesday morning from Chris Martz, a recent meteorology graduate whose viral X posts have come to serve as must-reads when combating the rampant liberal bias and misinformation surrounding last weekend’s apocalyptic Texas Hill Country floods.
First, here were a few of his viral posts that calmly laid out the facts, thoroughly dismantling every claim after claim and explaining in part the National Weather Service did its job. Worse yet, it was a uniquely awful event as it occurred in the middle of the night:
In “I’m a Young Meteorologist Who Questioned the Idea of Man-Made Climate Change. The Climate Zealots Wanted Me Punished, Silenced, and Expelled,” Martz began with an anecdote about his interactions following these viral posts:
Over the weekend, Sam Zeff, a reporter for KCUR, Kansas City’s NPR affiliate, told me over X that "you wasted your money on your degree."
I am a recent college graduate with a degree in meteorology. Zeff was replying to my post on social media, pointing out that he, and other climate activists, were ignoring basic scientific facts when they blamed man-made climate change for the tragic flooding in Texas. The truth is that the rainfall and flooding along the Guadalupe River were not historically unprecedented and had little, if anything, to do with climate change. Neither heavy rainfall nor river flooding has increased in the Texas Hill Country over the last six decades.
He correctly stated the truth that last week’s floods were “a reminder of the importance of meteorology and accurate science when it comes to understanding the weather” and thus “no time for politics or finger-pointing from either the left or the right.”
Martz shared how he’s taken down conspiracy theories on both extremes:
As a trained meteorologist with a passion for truth, I can authoritatively tell folks on the right that the floods were not caused by cloud seeding or "chemtrails." Yet, when I also try to explain the data to social media users on the left, showing them that there is no evidence climate change caused or exacerbated the Texas floods, the conversations quickly devolve into insults or even threats.
Indeed, taunts from people like the NPR reporter who mocked my education have become sadly familiar.
The rest of his piece explained his journey through meteorology in college at Lancaster County, Pennsylvania’s own Millersville University, which included online harassment for his social media presence and refusal to go along with the far-left climate mob.
Unfortunately, the blowback wasn’t only directed at him:
Throughout college, university officials were tagged in X comments from (mostly) anonymous accounts, pressuring them to kick me out of school. What’s more, my professors received emails almost weekly from attackers saying that I was a disgrace to the meteorology program and should be punished for spreading supposed "misinformation." Other critics would grab personal photos from my family’s social media accounts to decorate their posts denouncing me.
