Technocrat

BBC Charged With Being One Sided in Climate Change Report

zogger
Sun Sep 28 16:09:00 -0700 2008
Environment.
manage

One of the scientists interviewed for a BBC broadcast on climate change is saying that the report was edited unfairly and that his and some other "skeptics" views were not represented fairly.

'We do not dispute that there is more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but we do dispute its effects' he said. 'The data shows that 2008 is the same temperature as 1980 and that the effects of these changes in the atmosphere are not negative but more likely to be beneficial.'

Not a Scientist but a Politician

Bhima
Mon Sep 29 00:35:43 -0700 2008
 manage

This guy that the Beeb interviewed and who is making the charges is not a scientist.  He is a Politician with a degree in Journalism.  He is also a Climate Change Obstructionist.

Not a Scientist but a Politician
StonePiano
Mon Sep 29 02:25:26 -0700 2008
 manage

He is also a Climate Change Obstructionist.

Isn't that exactly what we need - someone who can obstruct climate change?

BBC Charged With Being One Sided in Climate Change Report
StonePiano
Mon Sep 29 03:33:25 -0700 2008
 manage

Zogger, well done for referencing this article.  I note that even the Mail Online managed to find a photo with umbrella and bowler (where the guy was clearly hamming it up to look like a caricature) to again reinforce the image of an out-of-touch old-school peer.

I'm very concerned for two reasons.  1 - we may be causing the climate to become less habitable for ourselves.  And - 2 - we have such an orthodoxy of acceptable opinion that we have labels like "climate change denier" and the like for those who question.  This second point concerns me more because it prevents the public from arriving at an informed understanding of point 1.

The data on this stuff is very much open to debate.  This is not like the evolution/creation controversy where the science is mature and the debate is in fact over.  The climate data in the 90s looked very different from this decade.  Temperatures have cooled again.  This is a valid and relevant point to be making.

BBC Charged With Being One Sided in Climate Change Report
Beryllium Sphere(r)
Mon Sep 29 08:41:21 -0700 2008
 manage

Here's the temperature record from 1850. Doesn't have 2008 data, which early reports say is going to be below the trend line.

Notice how many pairs of years you can find where the later year is cooler than the earlier year, and how little that tells you about the trend.

BBC Charged With Being One Sided in Climate Change Report
Alan
Mon Sep 29 09:17:36 -0700 2008
 manage

The data on this stuff is very much open to debate.

No, it is not.

And certainly not by someone whose qualification is as a journalist who inherited a peerage. Who the hell submitted this story and described him as a "scientist"?

 

Do you have questions about the site? Write to bruce at perens.com . List of all articles we've ever published. Source Code Developer's Documentation RSS XML Sitemap XML News Sitemap Valid XHTML 1.0 Strict Valid CSS! [Valid RSS]