AP report on global warming is irrational hysteria

A recent Associated Press report on global warming has been criticized by many scientists as “irrational hysteria,” horrifically bad” and “incredibly biased.” The report contains sweeping scientific errors and is a one-sided portrayal of a complicated issue.

In the article, Obama Left with Little Time to Curb Global Warming, AP science writer Seth Borenstein wrote that global warming is “a ticking time bomb that President-elect Obama can’t avoid,” and that “global warming is accelerating.” In an interview, David Deming, a geology professor at the University of Oklahoma who has been critical of media reporting on the climate change issue said of the AP report.

If the issues weren’t so serious and the ramifications so profound, I would have to laugh at it.

According to Deming the mean global temperature as measured by satellite is the same now as it was in 1980. The seal levels have stopped rising in the last couple of years. Hurricane and cyclone activity in the northern hemisphere is at a 24 year low and sea ice globally is also the same as it was in 1980.

Deming goes on to say.

What he’s doing here is he’s writing a polemic and reporting it as fact. This reads like a press release for an environmental advocacy group like Greenpeace. It’s not fair and balanced.

Another scientist, Michael R. Fox, a retired nuclear scientist and chemistry professor, agrees with Deming.

There is very little that’s right about it. One guy like him can be very destructive and alarming. Yeah it’s freedom of speech, but it’s dishonest.

There is little evidence that man-made carbon dioxide is causing temperature fluctuation. It was El Nino in 1998 that caused the big spike in global warming. Other factors, including sun spots, solar winds, variations in the solar magnetic field and solar radiation could all be affecting temperature changes.

Claims by many that melting polar ice caps will lead to a rise in ocean levels and the flooding of coastal areas are overstated. Anyone who has taken a physics course in high school or college has heard of the Archimedes Principle. Take a glass of water, put some ice in it and measure the water level. Wait for the ice to melt and note that the level of water in the glass does not rise. While much of the Antarctic polar ice cap is primarily over land and thus could contribute to rising sea levels, the Arctic polar cap is all ice and would not. The type of ‘junk science’ that  Borenstein promotes in his article goes unchallenged by many yet is easy to discredit.

While we should not discount the potential effects that man is having on the environment, governments would be well advised to not make hasty decisions with regard to global warming. Throwing huge sums of money at a problem without understanding the real underlying causes can not only be ineffective but can damage the global economy.