Here are some recent stories about Global Warming Climate Change.

Sister Toldjah starts it off:

I swear, the more I read things like this, the more I get disgusted with Al Gore and his ilk, as well as their pals in the press, on the global warming fraud they are so obviously perpetuating:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A new analysis of peer-reviewed literature reveals that more than 500 scientists have published evidence refuting at least one element of current man-made global warming scares. More than 300 of the scientists found evidence that 1) a natural moderate 1,500-year climate cycle has produced more than a dozen global warmings similar to ours since the last Ice Age and/or that 2) our Modern Warming is linked strongly to variations in the sun’s irradiance. “This data and the list of scientists make a mockery of recent claims that a scientific consensus blames humans as the primary cause of global temperature increases since 1850,” said Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Dennis Avery.

Other researchers found evidence that 3) sea levels are failing to rise importantly; 4) that our storms and droughts are becoming fewer and milder with this warming as they did during previous global warmings; 5) that human deaths will be reduced with warming because cold kills twice as many people as heat; and 6) that corals, trees, birds, mammals, and butterflies are adapting well to the routine reality of changing climate.

Despite being published in such journals such as Science, Nature and Geophysical Review Letters, these scientists have gotten little media attention. “Not all of these researchers would describe themselves as global warming skeptics,” said Avery, “but the evidence in their studies is there for all to see.”

This comes on top of a recent survey which indicated there was nowhere near a consensus on “man-made” global warming. Yet the myth persists, thanks, in large part, to “prophets” (profits?) like Al Gore, and the like-minded agenda-driven mainstream media. Remember, Gore actually stated back in March that “balanced reporting” on global warming will have severe consequences on the planet - as if to suggest that it was detrimental to our survival to hear both sides of the argument.

Of course they only want to tell one side of the story.  That’s the basis of their consensus: A single unchallenged voice.  And there are two ways to achieve that.  Solid irrefutable evidence or shout down the opposition.

Shouting down is cheaper.

Moving on, the Ice Melting theories take a hit:

“Reports of Record Arctic Ice Melt Disgracefully Ignore History”

 In the past couple of days, the media have reported “grim” melting of ice in the Arctic while disgracefully ignoring the history of the region prior to 1979 and explorations of the area as far back as 1903.

As the Washington Post reported Friday (emphasis added):

The Arctic ice cap is melting faster than scientists had expected and will shrink 40 percent by 2050 in most regions, with grim consequences for polar bears, walruses and other marine animals, according to government researchers.

Unfortunately, like the Post, most press outlets conveniently ignored a crucial element of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration study being cited. As reported by the Seattle Times Friday (emphasis added):

In an average August between 1979 and 2000, the Arctic Ocean was covered with about 3 million square miles of sea ice, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center. By Labor Day this year, the total had shrunk to a little more than half that, shattering the previous record low set in 2005.

Why is 1979 important? An August 28 National Post article on the subject explained (emphasis added):

The record melting of the passage comes two weeks after the NSIDC and two other ice-monitoring agencies in the U.S. and Japan declared that the Arctic Ocean ice cover has shrunk to its smallest size since regular satellite imaging of the polar cap began in 1979.

[...]

“[A]nalysts at the Canadian Ice Service and the U.S. National Ice Center confirm that the passage is almost completely clear and that the region is more open than it has ever been since the advent of routine monitoring in 1972.”

Getting the picture? Claims of “grim consequences” and “record low” ice levels are based on a satellite record which began in 1979, while routine monitoring of the region started in 1972.

Whoops.  Not much of a historical record.

And as ST notes, the other end of the planet has similar questions:

I read yesterday via Noel Sheppard at Newsbusters on how the media have ignored a new study which shows that “the Southern Hemisphere (Antarctica) has quietly set a new record for most ice extent since 1979″ choosing instead to highlight research from “government researchers” that that Arctic icecap is supposedly “melting faster” than scientists had predicted (a claim that is dubious, as Sheppard points out here).

This is what’s called “advocacy journalism” on the part of the press: choosing to highlight stories that prove the narrative they’ve written, while ignoring evidence to the contrary. It’s disgusting and offensive on its face, because mainstream media journalism is, of course, supposed to report *all* the facts, not just the ones favorable to one side or the other.

Yup.  “Supposed to” is correct.

Here is the real culprit:  Ford.

Pulitzer Prize Winner Claims Ford’s Model T Responsible for Iraq War and Pollution

Every now and then one has to read an article four or five times to actually believe someone could possibly write such nonsense.

The following item, from Time magazine’s special report “The 50 Worst Cars of All Time,” has to qualify as one of the most absurd pieces of…journalism I’ve come across so far this year (h/t NB reader Paul Head).

To set this up, it goes without saying that Ford’s creation of the Model T represents a seminal moment in American history as it made cars affordable to the general population for the very first time, and caused a huge economic explosion in our nation.

Alas, that’s not how Time sees it (emphasis added to really point out the stupidity):

The Model T - whose mass production technique was the work of engineer William C. Klann, who had visited a slaughterhouse’s “disassembly line” - conferred to Americans the notion of automobility as something akin to natural law, a right endowed by our Creator. A century later, the consequences of putting every living soul on gas-powered wheels are piling up, from the air over our cities to the sand under our soldiers’ boots.

No worries, I drive a Pontiac.  The UK gets a bit deranged:

UK City Sends Spy Planes Out To Determine If Your Home Is Wasting Energy

 City Sends Spy Planes Out To Determine If Your Home Is Wasting Energy

It’s no secret that not everyone realizes how wasteful they are of energy resources. However, apparently one city in the UK went to rather extreme measures to make that point clear to residents in the city. It hired a spy plane to fly over the city and take heat loss photos across the entire city. The photos were then matched to a city map, displaying which houses were leaking the most heat at the time the spy plane passed over. Eventually, the entire map was put online so everyone could see which buildings were wasting the most energy. What’s unclear is whether or not these heat maps convinced anyone to actually do anything (or if it just freaked people out).

Big brother says turn down the heat.  And since we all know TV is bad for the eyes….

UK to propose banning ‘energy-guzzling’ plasma TVs

THE Conservatives will propose banning plasma screens and other energy-guzzling electrical goods in a report to be unveiled next week.

The proposals target white goods like fridges and freezers, as well as TVs, personal computers and DVD players that use too much energy or operate on stand-by.

The ideas come from a Conservative group set up by David Cameron to develop policies to protect the environment and although the measures to make household electrical appliances more energy efficient are not binding on Mr Cameron, they are thought likely to be warmly received by the Tory leader.

Sigh.  OK, just more stupidity and overreaction.  But this last bit is just weird:

The group will also suggest scrapping Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of the nation’s success in favour of a model that measures people’s happiness drawn up up by Friends of the Earth.

Look mate, if you want to put little happy faces on your map, I’d start by not screwing with their TV’s.

Global warming must be real, because some of this seems like the people are suffering heat stroke.