Psyche, Science, and Society

New York Times continues to shill for the global warming deniers

March 24th, 2006

The New York Times has a new article [Earth's warming likely irreversible, scientists say] reporting on new studies suggesting there may be massive effects of global warming in the not too distant future.

“Within the next 100 years, the growing human influence on Earth’s climate could lead to a long and irreversible rise in sea levels by eroding Earth’s vast polar ice sheets, according to new observations and analysis by several teams of scientists.

One team, using computer models of climate and ice, found that by about 2100, average temperatures could be 4 degrees warmer than today and that over the coming centuries, the world’s oceans could rise 13 to 20 feet — conditions last seen 130,000 years ago, between the last two ice ages.”

Yet the Times cannot resist the disingenuous claim that there is considerable doubt in the scientific community as to whether global warming is due to human activity.

“But significant disagreements remain over whether recent changes in sea level and ice conditions cited in the new studies could be attributed to rising concentrations of the greenhouse gases and temperatures linked by most experts to human activities.

Sea levels have been rising for thousands of years as an aftereffect of the warming and polar melting that followed the last ice age, which ended about 10,000 years ago. Discriminating between that residual effect and any new influence from human actions remains impossible for the moment, many experts say.”

They fail to point out the that it is extremely unlikely that trends that have been occurring for thousands of years explain the massive changes we have witnessed in the last 20 years or so, or those described here as likely to occur in the next 100 years. After all, the article earlier said “the growing human influence on Earth’s climate could lead to a long and irreversible rise in sea levels.” The study they reported did not talk of long-term natural trends.

Given these potential massive effects, it is very dangerous to feed the corporate-sponsored “all is doubt” view of climate “science.” When the paid doubters no longer exist, many areas of the world will already have joined Atlantis at the bottom of the sea.

Entry Filed under: Environment, Research Methods, Science, Social Issues