Loading ...Swindled: undermining the fragile consensus
 Travel and pollution by aminorjourne (flickr).jpgChannel 4's documentary 'The Great Global Warming Swindle’ has inflicted damage on what looked like the beginnings of a widespread consensus on climate change and upon our taking responsibility for it (the raison d'etre for OneClimate.net). This is sad because building such a consensus has taken years and many waverers will have been convinced by this programme's false polemics which appear to give a green light to our understandable desires to continue our energy-extravagant lifestyles.
George Marshall (COIN) writes: "this programme was a propaganda gift to the various vested interests who seek to undermine the fragile political and social will to take action on this global action. And it was sometimes very convincing, as strongly worded opinions often are when they are not subject to any verification or external challenge." In The Great Channel 4 Swindle, he looks in detail at what was claimed and who was saying it. Some of the names should be well known by now. They are the professional deniers who are skilled at misrepresenting climate science but, as Marshall says, you can "make up your own minds from their track records" which he presents.
RealClimate - 'climate science from climate scientists' - offers a detailed critique of the Channel 4 programme titled Swindled! In a post written by two climate modellers, one from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York and the other from the British Antarctic Survey, they (tongue in cheek perhaps) say "We were hoping for important revelations and final proof that we have all been hornswoggled by the climate Illuminati, but it just repeated the usual specious claims we hear all the time. We feel swindled." As one of the many comments on this thorough analysis notes, "yet another tin of red herrings to rebut".
And if RealClimate isn't enough proof for you, try Campaign against Climate Change (you may need to scroll down the page to see the article). Here, the red herrings get their comeuppance with numerous links to the detailed science behind the issues. As someone asks, what is Channel 4's agenda? Finally, this useful site gives an example of letters of complaint to C4 and Ofcom if you were 'outraged that Channel 4 aired the programme with no caveats'.
This piece also appears in It's the Planet, Stupid! blog. CommentsIn the old 'Peanuts' cartoon, the main character, Charlie Brown, said after yet another defeat on the playing field "How can we lose when we're so sincere?" Unfortunately for Charlie and for Global Warming activists, sincerity doesn't count in science either. Having just finished months of examining satellite and ground site temperature histories, core sampling results, texts on atmospheric dynamics, and having reviewed the latest publications in my own field of interest, solar and stellar physics, I have formed my own conclusion. Carbon dioxide does NOT drive climate to any appreciable extent. Look to the Sun for clues to our changing climate. My advice: don't count on Global Warming activism to retire your mortgage. That is one weather balloon that's due to burst. I agree with adb...
why is it that climate terrorists always come up with ad hominem attacks on any one that they disagree with, rather than working methodically and scientifically through the arguments?
Compare adb's substantive comments with Peter's vague and sweeping ones that are based on assumptions about the arguer rather than discussion of the argument. The "Jobs! Jobs! Jobs!" lobby has done it again. The more amazing thing about this is that the western world *was* put on notice in 1925, if no one was listening to Arrhenius' comments, and again in 1972 http://www.clubofrome.org/docs/limits.rtf
Maybe the only skill that humankind has is the ability to document its own demise, over and beyond the ability of every species to run up to the limit of its resources... 
Glad that such a detailed response is building up to this utterly metiricious programme. George's Monbiot's response in the Guardian has also provoked some intresting comments: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2032575,00.html was posted by Tremane Barr on March 13, 2007 at 7:39 pm and filed under Environment. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback:Trackback URL. « China’s growing underclass |
excellent documentary. its time that we here from some global warming skeptics instead of always hearing the same people, like Al Gore, filling our heads with false information about how the "world is coming to an end!!"