ABC's Alarmist morning current affairs program AM reports on claims that extreme weather is linked to man made climate change. The research is called "robust" yet the time frame of the study (1950-1999) hardly covers more than one climate cycle and the paper makes the mistake of taking for granted that recent warming is not mainly due to natural variation.
My guess is that this paper will not live up to expectations (see update below) . Given that many scholarly articles in climate science that pass peer review end up being refuted we look forward to ABC informing its audience when it occurs. However given their past performance I don't hold out much optimism that the stranglehold that activists have on ABC's news coverage will relax its vice like grip. Think I'm wrong, well you may recall that ABC were quick to cover a story that found warming in Antarctica extended beyond the Antarctic Peninsula early in 2009. The story "Scientists find evidence Antarctica is warming" included the claim:
"On average the entire continent is warming and especially it is warming in winter and spring. Finally, west Antarctica, just like the Antarctic peninsula, is warming in all seasons."
The West Antarctic claims of Steig et al were refuted by an article published by the Journal of Climate in 2010 by O’Donnell, Lewis, McIntyre and Condon. ABC have never corrected their coverage. How will those who solely rely on the ABC ever know the truth?
See also
Debunking the Antarctic Myths in The Spectator
and
O’Donnell et al 2010 Refutes Steig et al 2009
Doing it ourselves
UPDATE 18/2/2011. Took less than a day for Roger Pielke Jnr to point out the major flaws. Now will ABC provide some balance? Roger Snr also weighs in HERE. Andy Revkin also provides some comment on the media response.
An eye on ABC NEWS: Keeping the bastards who keep the bastards honest - honest.
ABC online continues its misleading coverage by following up the headline "Study links extreme weather to climate change" with a cherry picked quote from Roger Pielke Jnr that infers support for the warmist position.
ReplyDelete"Professor Roger Pielke Jr of the University of Colorado says: "It is exciting to see the application of innovative approaches to connecting the dots between greenhouse gas emissions and damage from extreme events."
"But he warns the methods used in the study are still in their "infancy".
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/17/3141472.htm
cheers
Loaded Dog
Nice to see ABC finally getting around to asking Pielke a question. Pity they go on to take him out of context! thanks for the link.
ReplyDelete