csua.org/u/l8g -> newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2008/04/07/climate-activist-got-bbc-change-global-temperatures-decrease-article
reported Sunday, the third paragraph of what previously had been a very balanced piece about how global temperatures have been declining since 1998 was totally reworded in order to make the report just another hysterical climate change pronouncement.
From Jo, April 4, 2008 Climate Changers, Remember to challenge any piece of media that seems like it's been subject to spin or scepticism. The BBC actually changed an article I requested a correction for, but I'm not really sure if the result is that much better. stm 1 "A minority of scientists question whether this means global warming has peaked" This is incorrect. Several networks exist that question whether global warming has peaked, but they contain very few actual scientists, and the scientists that they do contain are not climate scientists so have no expertise in this area. For example, the ocean systems of temperature do not change in yearly timescales, and are massive heat sinks that have shown gradual and continual warming. It is only near-surface air temperatures that will be affected by La Nina, plus a bit of the lower atmosphere. Thank you for applying your attention to all the facts and figures available, jo. Would you be willing to publish information that expands on your original position, and which would give a better, clearer picture of what is going on ? Personally, I think it is highly irresponsible to play into the hands of the sceptics/skeptics who continually promote the idea that "global warming finished in 1998", when that is so patently not true. I have to spend a lot of my time countering their various myths and non-arguments, saying, no, go look at the Hadley Centre data. There have been what look like troughs and plateaus/x before. It is true that people are debating Climate Sensitivity, how much exactly the Earth will respond to radiative forcing, but nobody is seriously refuting that increasing Greenhouse Gases cause increased global temperatures. I think it's counterproductive to even hint that the Earth is cooling down again, when the sum total of the data tells you the opposite. As time goes by, the infant science of climatology improves. The Earth has never experienced the kind of chemical adjustment in the atmosphere we see now, so it is hard to tell exactly what will happen based on historical science. However, the broad sweep is : added GHG means added warming. Please do not do a disservice to your readership by leaving the door open to doubt about that. It is appearing reguarly now in general media Best to tackle this - and explain it, which is what we have done Or people feel like debate is being censored which makes them v suspicious Roger =x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x= from Jo Abbess to Roger Harrabin , date Fri, Apr 4, 2008 at 11:12 AM subject Re: Correction Demanded : "Global temperatures 'to decrease'" Hi Roger, When you are on the Tube in London, I expect that occasionally you glance a headline as sometime turns the page, and you thinkg "Really ?" You don't read the whole article, you just get the headline. A lot of people will read the first few paragraphs of what you say, and not read the rest, and Dismiss your writing as it seems you have been manipulated by the sceptics or Jump on it with glee and e-mail their mates and say "See ! They only got the headline, which is why it is so utterly essentialy to give the full picture, or as full as you can in the first few paragraphs. The near-Earth surface temperatures may be cooler in 2008 that they were in 2007, but there is no way that Global Warming has stopped, or has even gone into reverse. The oceans have been warming consistently, for example, and we're not seeing temperatures go into reverse, in general, anywhere. I don't think you should worry about whether people feel they are countering some kind of conspiracy, or suspicious that the full extent of the truth is being withheld from them. Every day more information is added to the stack showing the desperate plight of the planet. They are deliberately obstructing the emergence of the truth. I would ask : please reserve the main BBC Online channel for emerging truth. Otherwise, I would have to conclude that you are insufficiently educated to be able to know when you have been psychologically manipulated. I am about to send your comments to others for their contribution, unless you request I do not. They are likely to want to post your comments on forums/fora, so please indicate if you do not want this to happen. You may appear in an unfavourable light because it could be said that you have had your head turned by the sceptics. The World Meteorological Organization's secretary-general, Michel Jarraud, told the BBC it was likely that La Nina would continue into the summer. This would mean global temperatures have not risen since 1998, prompting some to question climate change theory. But experts have also forecast a record high temperature within five years. Rises 'stalled' La Nina and El Nino are two great natural Pacific currents whose effects are so huge they resonate round the world. This year, the Pacific is in the grip of a powerful La Nina. It has contributed to torrential rains in Australia and to some of the coldest temperatures in memory in snow-bound parts of China. Mr Jarraud told the BBC that the effect was likely to continue into the summer, depressing temperatures globally by a fraction of a degree. This would mean that temperatures have not risen globally since 1998 when El Nino warmed the world. Watching trends A minority of scientists question whether this means global warming has peaked and argue the Earth has proved more resilient to greenhouse gases than predicted. But Mr Jarraud insisted this was not the case and noted that 1998 temperatures would still be well above average for the century. "When you look at climate change you should not look at any particular year," he said. "You should look at trends over a pretty long period and the trend of temperature globally is still very much indicative of warming. There has always been and there will always be cooler and warmer years, but what is important for climate change is that the trend is up; the climate on average is warming even if there is a temporary cooling because of La Nina." Adam Scaife, lead scientist for Modelling Climate Variability at the Hadley Centre in Exeter, UK, said their best estimate for 2008 was about 04C above the 1961-1990 average, and higher than this if you compared it with further back in the 20th Century. Mr Scaife told the BBC: "What's happened now is that La Nina has come along and depressed temperatures slightly but these changes are very small compared to the long-term climate change signal, and in a few years time we are confident that the current record temperature of 1998 will be beaten when the La Nina has ended." The World Meteorological Organization's secretary-general, Michel Jarraud, told the BBC it was likely that La Nina would continue into the summer. This would mean global temperatures have not risen since 1998, prompting some to question climate change theory. But experts say we are still clearly in a long-term warming trend - and they forecast a new record high temperature within five years. The WMO points out that the decade from 1998 to 2007 was the warmest on record. Since the beginning of the 20th Century, the global average surface temperature has risen by 074C. While Nasa, the US space agency, cites 2005 as the warmest year, the UK's Hadley Centre lists it as second to 1998. Researchers say the uncertainty in the observed value for any particular year is larger than these small temperature differences. Rises 'stalled' La Nina and El Nino are two great natural Pacific currents whose effects are so huge they resonate round the world. This year, the Pacific is in the grip of a powerful La Nina. It has contributed to torrential rains in Australia and to some of the coldest temperatures in memory in snow-bound parts of China. Mr Jarraud told the BBC that the effect was likely to continue into the summer, depressing temperatures globally by a fraction of a degree. This would mean that temperatures have not risen globally since 1998 w...
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