I noticed that in its coverage of Hurricane Sandy from its Extreme
Weather Center, FoxNews is reporting atmospheric pressures in millibars
(hectopaschals). I have noticed a disappointing reversion in some other
sources to inches of mercury. I'm not certain, but I think that the U.S.
Weather Service has reported atmospheric pressures in millibars even from
before the metric conversion efforts of the 1970s.
Unfortunately, FoxNews, along with other American sources, continues to
report wind speeds in miles per hour rather than kilimetres per hour.
One of the major factors that will accelerate conversion efforts in the
United States is the internationalization of news sources. Most agencies,
like the Associated Press, Reuters, BBC World, and non-English sources
like Univision, are pushing toward more metric usage, or at least dual
usage. I have noticed a subtle change in many news reports to giving only
metric units, particularly in reports that involve science measurements
(e.g., depth of water in metres, depth of earthquakes in kilometres).
