Meet Heidi Cullen. She's a climatologist on the Atlanta-based Weather Channel.

The New York Times featured a great story on her yesterday that melded weather, climate change, and politics into one. Dr. Cullen is the only climatologist with a Ph.D. in the U.S. who has her own weekly show, "Forecast Earth," a half-hour-long video-magazine focused on climate and the environment. Check out the story.

Here's what Dr. Cullen had to say in her blog about why meteorologists have a duty to report and educate the public on the science of global warming:

Meteorologists are among the few people trained in the sciences who are permitted regular access to our living rooms. And in that sense, they owe it to their audience to distinguish between solid, peer-reviewed science and junk political controversy. If a meteorologist can't speak to the fundamental science of climate change, then maybe the AMS (American Meteorological Society) shouldn't give them a Seal of Approval. Clearly, the AMS doesn't agree that global warming can be blamed on cyclical weather patterns. It's like allowing a meteorologist to go on-air and say that hurricanes rotate clockwise and tsunamis are caused by the weather. It's not a political statement...it's just an incorrect statement. I agree with every meteorologist who says the topic of global warming has gotten too political. But that's why talking about the science is so important!