“Everyone can act every day against global warming”: Evelyne Dhéliat comes to Clermont-Ferrand to measure temperatures
It’s been 30 years on TF1, rain and shine. Évelyne Dhéliat leads the air service of the first channel and participates in the explanation of the environmental transition on a daily basis.
What are these Information Sessions?
The idea is to meet readers and young people in collaboration with the Center France group and Michelin. We’ll discuss weather as well as climate, as this is a particularly relevant topic for 2022, the hottest year on record. We talk about it a lot in TF1, we have a special section “Our planet” and there are many topics in the newspaper. It is very important to inform and educate.
Rather, by coming to see Auvergnats of all ages, you will certainly be sending messages, but isn’t it also a privileged time to listen to their concerns?
Absolutely. We have had the opportunity to talk a lot about climate change in TF1. A survey company told us about something called “eco-anxiety.” These surveys revealed that young people are most worried about the future. Decreases with age…
Do you have any idea how these two hours will go?
we will have a dialogue. We will not have a classic conference, but a mutual exchange. I will talk about my work, how I prepare my weather report. Between 2020 and 2022, the average temperature increased by 0.4 degrees, so we can say that it is not much, but a scientist made a comparison, which I found very good: 0.4 degrees is like a sudden increase of 4 degrees!
What was the reason for holding this meeting in the provinces?
We are not Parisians. Of course there are studios in Paris, but the weather is not Paris. We start the 13:00 news with him. It was the idea of Jean-Pierre Pernaut, who is very attached to the regions. Then, after the newspaper, we show a picture of a corner of France. Be it Jaude Square, the seaside, or the mountain according to the news.
In 2014, you made predictions about a possible heat record in August 2050, do you regret that you were right too soon or did not hear?
Sorry, but there is some data that Météo France simulated for me during COP21. I was a bit scared at the time, because I was taken out of 43 degrees in Nimes, 40 degrees in Paris and everything that we turned into dust! We did the same for 2050 using current data. In the East we have 1-2 degrees, at home in central France it’s 2 or 3 degrees, but then in the West, like in Brittany, we have 10 degrees more! And this summer we had 40 degrees in Brittany…
How to give positive information during global warming? In 2003, when scientists told me that global warming was happening, they wondered how to communicate it. I told them that I had a liaison role between them and the viewers watching the weather report. So we created very short and positive information modules to see what we can do to prevent this global warming. The idea is not to go back to the kerosene lamp, but to see what positive actions everyone can take on a daily basis (water, fuel consumption).
Have you adapted your vocabulary?
The sun is good for vacationers and hoteliers, but a disaster for agriculture. That’s why I canceled the phrases “good weather, bad weather”. Bad weather for some is good weather for others.
You are TF1’s oldest CDI, how do you manage to keep your passion intact at the age of 74?
I love my job. 20 years ago I was already interested in global warming. When I said that we will receive two diplomas in 100 years, the TV viewers had a hard time understanding it. But the passion feeds itself, making such rich exchanges with scientists. I saw the development of forecasts, their reliability and participated in the creation of vigilance maps.
TF1’s Rencontres de l’info moves to Clermont-Ferrand with Evelyne Dhéliat
Do you know you are part of the French family by inviting you to their home every day? Yes, they call me all the time about the weather. On the street, in the market, this is a universal topic of conversation. And then, I’m aware that I’m financially responsible because I have hoteliers telling me that people are making or canceling reservations based on weather reports. Moreover, we realized that the French needed this connection, the weather programs on the phones did not replace us.
Carole Eon
