Posted on 10/13/2009 2:30:05 PM PDT by ClimateDepot.com
Losing Their Religion: 2009 officially declared year media lost their faith in man-made global warming fears
Tuesday, October 13, 2009 - By Marc Morano – Climate Depot
Climate Depot Editorial - Serving as the Media's Ombudsman
It has finally happened. We have reached the “tipping point.”
2009 can now be officially declared the year the media lost their faith in man-made global warming fears.
Significant organs of the mainstream media are now officially abandoning one-sided man-made global warming fear promotion and alleged claims that the "debate is over."
The stunning media reversal has accelerated in recent weeks as top UN scientists have raised the specter of continued global cooling. See: UN Fears (More) Global Cooling Commeth! IPCC Scientist Warns UN: We may be about to enter 'one or even 2 decades during which temps cool' – Sept. 5, 2009
It appears at long last that media's faith is waning. Appeals to authority about the alleged global warming “consensus” are now being met with a healthy dose of skepticism by increasing large portions of the mainstream media. Statements like UN IPCC lead author Kevin Trenberth that the UN IPCC "has spoken" no longer have the comforting effect on many key members of the journalistic flock. [Disclaimer: This declaration does not mean the battle to improve the media's coverage of global warming is over. But it does mean that there have been significant developments in 2009 with the media's coverage of climate change. Promoters of man-made climate fears will now need a major reformation to win back the faith of key members of the media.]
A steady stream of peer-reviewed studies, a continued lack of global warming, real world data and scientists continuing to dissent, have finally moved major establishment media outlets to report that the debate not only is "not over" but that skeptics may have been correct all along. [Note: Journalists are now sensing what Atmospheric physicist James A. Peden, formerly of the Space Research and Coordination Center in Pittsburgh, warned about in 2008. “Many [scientists] are now searching for a way to back out quietly (from promoting warming fears), without having their professional careers ruined," Peden said.]
Close followers of climate science development foresaw this collapse of the science is "settled" reporting way back in 2006. Here is a breakdown of how the science of man-made global warming and the alleged "consensus" has fared since 2006.
1) 2006: Year of Vindication for Skeptics: Renowned Scientist Defects From Belief in Global Warming – Caps Year of Vindication for Skeptics - October 17, 2006
2) 2007 - GLOBAL WARMING ALARMISM REACHES A TIPPING POINT - October 26, 2007 (Editor's Note: 2007 is also known as the year 'Anthropogenic global warming bites the dust' as 'New Peer-Reviewed Scientific Studies Chill Global Warming Fears' - August 20, 2007
3) 2008: 'Consensus' On Man-Made Global Warming Collapses in 2008 – July 18, 2008
4) 2009: 'Consensus' Continues its Freefall – March 12, 2009
2009 can now be officially declared the year the media lost their faith in man-made global warming fears. [Note: The collapse of man-made climate fears has even prompted Al Gore's producer, environmental activist Laurie David, to already tout the next eco-scare. See: AGW RIP? Is It Time for Next Eco-Scare Already? Gore's producer Laure David touts plastic crisis: 'Plastic waste is in some ways more alarming for us humans than global warming' - July 31, 2009 & UK Green Party: 'There exists a more serious crisis than the 'CO2 crisis': the oxygen levels are dropping and the human activity has decreased them by 1/3 or ½']
In addition to the media, even climate and environmental activists are now questioning global warming. See: Climate Activists Shock Admission: 'Climate change campaigners should not have fixated on carbon dioxide' – Sept. 18, 2009 & See: Even activists at green festivals are now expressing doubts over man-made climate fears: 'I'm not sure climate change is real' - August 8, 2009.]
Houston Chronicle Reporter: 'I am confused'
Perhaps the most dramatic public announcement came in September from Houston Chronicle science reporter Eric Berger. See: Sept. 2009: Houston Chronicle Reporter Reconsiders Science is 'Settled' Claims! 'I am confused. Four years ago this all seemed like a fait accompli' - "Earth seems to have, at least temporarily, stopped warming," Berger wrote on September 6, 2009. "If we can't have confidence in short-term prognosis for climate change, how can we have full confidence in long-term?" Berger asked.
Other high profile climate reporters like Andrew Revkin of the New York Times are now writing articles about how the UN is failing to achieve scientific and political dominance. See: NYT's Moment of Clarity: UN faces challenge achieving climate treaty 'when global temps have been stable for a decade and may even drop in next few years' – Sept. 23, 2009
Also See: NYT's Moment of Clarity: 'Nobel Halo Fades Fast for UN IPCC Climate Change Panel' -- 'It could quickly lose relevance' - August 4, 2009
'What happened to global warming'
The BBC stunned the journalism community with its October 8, 2009 article by their climate correspondent Paul Hudson. The BBC headline reverberated across the globe: "What happened to global warming." The BBC article went on to explain in detail about the lack of global warming and the fact that many scientists are predicting a coming global cooling. See: Shock: BBC's Moment of Clarity: 'What happened to global warming?' -- 'Debate about what is causing it is far from over' – By BBC Climate Correspondent Paul Hudson - October 8, 2009
The scientific, cultural and political impact of the BBC's new perspective on man-made global warming was astounding. Headlines blared:
1) 'Frightening hysteria that so gripped the media...is finally subsiding'
2) BBC article is 'a bit like the Catholic church questioning the existence of god'
3) 'The BBC's amazing U-turn on climate change'
4) Rare events: BBC questions global warming and Gore takes questions
The BBC began exhibiting this new found climate skepticism in July 2009. See: Moment of Clarity: BBC Wakes Up To Benefits Of Warming -- And To Climate Skepticism! - July 30, 3009 BBC journalist Richard Black also appeared to shift his climate views in 2009. See: BBC's Richard Black Sees The Light -- Asks 'Does climate cloud the bigger picture?'- July 5, 2009 & BBC's Richard Black is asking the right questions! 'Has climate change hijacked the wider environmental agenda?' - August 27, 2009
Not to be left out of the fresh air of journalistic balance and the new recognition of climate reality, the UK Times and the Christian Science Monitor jumped out of the gates with their own new found skeptical take on man-made climate fears in recent days. See: 1) More Media Deserts Global Warming! UK Sunday Times: 'Why everything you think you know about global warming is wrong' – October 11, 2009 2) MORE MEDIA BAILING ON GLOBAL WARMING PROMOTION: Christian Science Monitor: 'Biggest news you've never heard: Earth isn't warming' – October 10, 2009
Even the Washington Post is finally coming around to balance objectivity in their climate reporting. See: Wash. Post reporting makes progress! Article concedes sea level computer model 'predictions could be flawed or flat wrong' - June 9, 2009
Sadly, not every reporter at the Post has kept up with the latest climate developments as the paper continued to face churn out shoddy reporting from Post staff writer Juliet Eilperin. See: Wash. Post's Juliet Eilperin Rejects Journalistic Balance -- Touts 'Political' UN Climate Scare Report - September 25, 2009 On a more humorous note, Washington Post's Andrew Freedman has been reduced to blaming President Obama and Climate Depot for the failure of man-made climate fears to persuade the public. See: Wash. Post Blames Obama For Failure of Global Warming Movement! President's 'mistakes may cost the planet dearly' - Sept. 1, 2009 CNN's Lou Dobbs, also moved solidly into the skeptical camp in 2009. See: CNN's Lou Dobbs Becomes More Skeptical - Reconsiders Climate Views Joining Dobbs in having an apparent conversion to skepticism was CBS newsman Charles Osgood. See: CBS Newsman Charles Osgood A Climate Skeptic? Questions Whether Quiet Sun May 'Counteract' Global Warming - April 21, 2009 National Geographic also wrote some very good articles presenting the potential benefits of any future global warming. See: National Geographic's Moment of Clarity: 'Emerging evidence' reveals 'rising temps could benefit millions of Africans in the driest parts of the continent' - July 31, 2009
Beyond Hope?
There are still many members of the mainstream media who are likely beyond hope in terms of shifting their woeful climate change reporting to reflect the new scientific realities. Among these lost souls are Bill Blakemore of ABC News and Scott Pelley of CBS News. No amount of deprogramming is likely to impact their orthodox climate beliefs. [See: ABC's Bill Blakemore's new reporting low: 'Rising temps are helping both heroin traffickers and their Taliban and al Qaeda supporters' - October 10, 2009 and see: “I don't like the word 'Balance''- Says ABC News Global Warming Reporter – October 30, 2006 - Also see: Scott Pelley of CBS News publicly compared scientists skeptical of global warming fears to Holocaust deniers: 'If I do an interview with Elie Wiesel, am I required as a journalist to find a Holocaust denier?' Pelley said in a March 23, 2006 interview with CBS News.]
CNN's coverage of global warming radically improved in 2009, since the news network let go its climate fear promoting science reporter Miles O'Brien and his CNN producer Peter Dykstra. The same goes for The Weather Channel. The network's coverage of climate issues has improved dramatically since the woeful Heidi Cullen was let go. These are two ironclad instances where budget cutbacks and staff reductions noticeably improved climate news coverage.
Sampling of Media's Loss of Faith In Global Warming (includes some political leaders as well):
Shock: BBC's Moment of Clarity: 'What happened to global warming?' -- 'Debate about what is causing it is far from over' - 'Cooling worldwide temperatures could last another 10-20 years' -- 'Warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998' – October 9, 2009 Excerpt: Excerpt: This headline may come as a bit of a surprise, so too might that fact that the warmest year recorded globally was not in 2008 or 2007, but in 1998. But it is true. For the last 11 years we have not observed any increase in global temperatures. And our climate models did not forecast it, even though man-made carbon dioxide, the gas thought to be responsible for warming our planet, has continued to rise. So what on Earth is going on? Climate change sceptics, who passionately and consistently argue that man's influence on our climate is overstated, say they saw it coming. They argue that there are natural cycles, over which we have no control, that dictate how warm the planet is. [...] Skeptics insist it is unlikely that temperatures will reach the dizzy heights of 1998 until 2030 at the earliest. It is possible, they say, that because of ocean and solar cycles a period of global cooling is more likely. One thing is for sure. It seems the debate about what is causing global warming is far from over. Indeed some would say its hotting up.
More Media Deserts Global Warming! UK Sunday Times: 'Why everything you think you know about global warming is wrong' – October 11, 2009 MORE MEDIA BAILING ON GLOBAL WARMING PROMOTION: Christian Science Monitor: 'Biggest news you've never heard: Earth isn't warming' – October 10, 2009
Sept. 2009: Houston Chronicle Reporter Reconsiders Science is 'Settled' Claims! 'I am confused. 4 years ago this all seemed like a fait accompli' NYT's Moment of Clarity: UN faces challenge achieving climate treaty 'when global temps have been stable for a decade and may even drop in next few years' Climate Activists Shock Admission: 'Climate change campaigners should not have fixated on carbon dioxide' -- 'only responsible for about half of the problem'
'Frightening hysteria that so gripped the media...is finally subsiding'
BBC article is 'a bit like the Catholic church questioning the existence of god'
'The BBC's amazing U-turn on climate change' Rare events: BBC questions global warming and Gore takes questions Wash. Post Blames Obama For Failure of Global Warming Movement! President's 'mistakes may cost the planet dearly' - Sept. 1, 2009 BBC's Richard Black Sees The Light -- Asks 'Does climate cloud the bigger picture?'- July 5, 2009
BBC's Richard Black is asking the right questions! 'Has climate change hijacked the wider environmental agenda?' - August 27, 2009
CNN's Lou Dobbs Becomes More Skeptical - Reconsiders Climate Views
CBS Newsman Charles Osgood A Climate Skeptic? Questions Whether Quiet Sun May 'Counteract' Global Warming - April 21, 2009
NYT's Moment of Clarity: 'Nobel Halo Fades Fast for UN IPCC Climate Change Panel' -- 'It could quickly lose relevance' - August 4, 2009
BBC's Moment of Clarity on Climate! '4000 years ago, Earth was significantly warmer than it is now' - July 26, 2009
Moment of Clarity: BBC Wakes Up To Benefits Of Warming -- And To Climate Skepticism! - July 30, 3009
National Geographic's Moment of Clarity: 'Emerging evidence' reveals 'rising temps could benefit millions of Africans in the driest parts of the continent' - July 31, 2009
Shock from NYT: Missing Its Spots: 'Sun may be on verge of falling into an extended slumber' -- could cause 'extended chilly period' - July 20, 2009
Wash. Post reporting makes progress! Article concedes sea level computer model 'predictions could be flawed or flat wrong' - June 9, 2009
Wash. Post's Moment of Clarity: 'Carbon emissions will not be reduced by international bureaucrats sitting in a room and signing a piece of paper' - July 14, 2009 - Excerpt: 'They will not be reduced by public relations campaigns or by Oscar-winning documentaries...or by a complex treaty that neither the UN nor anyone else can possibly supervise'
Wash. Post's Moment of Clarity: In Poorer Nations, Energy Needs Trump Climate Issues -- 'Dearth of power hinders prosperity' - September 9, 2009 - Excerpt: 'Millions of people are eager to buy their first washing machines, refrigerators and air conditioners'
Sen. McCain's Moment of Clarity: Climate bill is a 'Farce' -- 'I would not only not vote for it. I am opposed to it entirely' - August 4, 2009
GOP Gov. Pawlenty's Moment of Clarity: 'Shifts on Climate...used to make soaring speeches...now he's making jokes'- August 24, 2009
Moment of Clarity: Florida Gov. Crist tables climate summit to avert GOP heat: 'He won't be touting the work he did with Sheryl Crow' - August 12, 2009
Moment of Clarity for 'GOP's Al Gore'! Gov. Charlie Crist may cancel summit on climate...backing away from cap-and-trade: 'It may be a tax' - August 7, 2009
And will the Congress nix the stupid Cap and Tax bill? I’m not optimistic.
When you have researchers all lying about the core set of data, refusing to unveil what amounted to, at best, “cherry-picked” data, you realize this has always been one huge screwing in the butt to help liberal interests.
Liberalism is a mental disease that appears to appeal to people who want ultimate control over others while bankrupting the people they seek to lead.
Right about the same time that Lindsay Graham is finding his.
“2009 can now be officially declared the year the media lost their faith in man-made global warming fears.”
No. It can’t. And saying it don’t make it so.
Is Al Gore going to commit hara-kiri? or just babble on into obscuity?
Don Gorxote will keep after his most prized Oscar-winning windmills.
Gore has made his millions—someone tell him that he can retire now.
Sure, right. And Obamacare is dead.Keep wishing.
Enviro Ping
Who will take this on?
SI needs to get off of it’s knees.
Great article...all of us can now do a chorus of, Naa, Naaa, we told you so; although I don’t expect the climate religious nut-jobs to go quietly into the night.
This is beginning to look like a lopsided football game where half time is celebrated but the stands are already beginning to empty.
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