What can we learn about global warming from poor reporting?

http://wmbriggs.com/blog/2008/01/15/what-can-we-learn-about-global-warming-from-poor-reporting/ ^ | WM Briggs

[mattstat]

From today’s Syndney Morning Herald comes the headline: “Global warming to impact health“.

First, by impact the reporter almost certainly means influence, a more accurate, but far less energetic and “actionable”, word. But never mind that. Our lesson instead comes from the story, one of a breed which appears almost daily in some major newspaper somewhere in the world.

But before we can get to it, you first have to learn, if you do not already know it, the definition of tautology. A tautology is a statement which is always true; that is, no matter what happens in the word, no matter what conditions eventually hold, a tautology will be true. Some examples: “Either it will rain tomorrow or it won’t” and “Marxism is a stupid theory or it is not.”

Here, from the article we are studying, is the lead sentence; it is a tautological fragment...

[steelyourfaith]

"Hot Air Cult"

~~Anthropogenic Global Warming ™ ping~~

[Vaquero]

The REAL Story

[antiRepublicrat]

They also tabulate rates of kidney disease and mental illness under non-heat wave and heat wave conditions, finding these maladies increase during heat waves.

This is insane. Uncommon severe heat causes stress to those not used to it, which can trigger mental illness. It also tends to cause dehydration in those not used to it, which can aggravate a previously unknown kidney condition. This is for uncommon heat within an area. You'll probably get this spike if it hits 100 degrees for a few days in Michigan, probably not if it happens in Arizona.

And, guess what, I'll bet you the incidence of frost bite went down during these heat waves.