Denver7 chief meteorologist Mike Nelson is retiring from an illustrious 48-year career in television news, including the last 20 at Denver7.
A self-professed “weather nut” as a kid, Nelson would go on to become a pioneer and innovator in the field of meteorology, developing one of the major weather computers still in use today around the world.
He is also a leader in climate change discussion – a passion driven by Mike’s love for his family.
“The thing that really sparked me to be motivated to talk about climate change was the birth of my first grandchild, and now I have three,” Nelson said. “Because it's going to affect future generations far more than it will affect my generation.”
He's dedicated to making change, hoping by the time his grandkids are his age, they can live in a world hospitable to a happy and healthy life.
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“I wish it wasn't true, because fossil fuels have been a miracle,” Nelson said. “Life without them was cold, dark and short. But the fact the matter is, when you light fossil carbon on fire and release carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that increase in CO2 traps heat that otherwise escape into outer space, and the planet gets warmer.”
With a warmer world comes more extreme conditions. So I wondered how he's seen this impact us here in Colorado.
“Floods are worse, the droughts are worse. The heat is hotter, and we can still get even stronger winter storms,” Nelson said. “It used to be that people would ask you when you moved here, do you want to put air conditioning your house, and they never ask that anymore, because we have way more 90-degree days and 100-degree days.”
If we don't make significant cuts in carbon dioxide emissions by the end of the century, Mike says Denver could see as many as 40 days of 100-degree weather on average – But says it is never too late to stop making things worse, thanks to things like lower costs of solar and wind energy and rapidly expanding battery storage.
“We actually can power our modern society without increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It can be done,” Nelson said.
Things like recycling and turning down the thermostat will make a difference, but Mike says large-scale political action is needed to address the problem. That, in part, is driving what Mike plans to do after retirement from Denver7.
He says he hopes to be involved in promoting the so-called super grid, what he calls “the interstate highway for electricity.”
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