After publishing my article on the BBC story that revealed global temperatures have not risen since 1998, I noticed that the original story on the BBC website had been changed by the addition of contrary material, though nothing that altered its claim about no warming for a decade.
Suspicious that the BBC had been “got at” by some of the more fervent believers in man-made global warming, I emailed its author, Roger Harrabin, the BBC News environment analyst.
I have just received his reply and he assures me there was “no conspiracy.” I reproduce it in full:
“Thanks for your note. The original story was misleading. To measure climate change, scientists measure temperature not against the previous year but against long term average. 2008 will be well above that so I do not want to suggest there in no longer warming. There is no conspiracy. All you have caught by capturing our first version [is] a sub-optimal piece of writing. We changed it because we like to get it right. There is a scientific debate about how much it will warm, but not whether warming is still with us. Please see also the nasa note on uncertainty. Do us all a favour and let our first version r.i.p. Best wishes Roger Harrabin.”
I am not prepared to let Roger’s first version rust in peace, because that is also the version that appeared on the BBC World News bulletin and regardless of what else has been added to it, he has not retracted the revelation that global temperatures have not risen since 1998, which is something I believe needs to be on the record. It is not “the previous year” but an entire decade ago.
11 Comments
April 6, 2008 at 7:34 pm
he has not retracted the revelation that global temperatures have not risen since 1998, which is something I believe needs to be on the record.
Why are you so hung up on one particular year? Trends. The whole picture is viewed by trends. And there are plenty here for you to draw some conclusions…one of which is that it is pretty clear this planet is warming up.
http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs/
[Poneke says: It's not a year, it's a decade. It is the global warming fanatics who get excited by something that happens in a year, or even a day if it's a hurricane or an iceberg. I'm not saying that even a decade proves anything, but it is damned interesting nonetheless. ]
April 7, 2008 at 10:59 am
Sorry Poneke, I’m afraid there is no conspiracy here. 1998 was an unusually warm year, and even though we haven’t gotten any warmer since then, we are still above the long term trend — even though we have la nina which should make it cooler than average.
I like your blog because you are always careful to be journalistic and present the facts fairly. Please don’t go all DPF on us.
April 7, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Poneke says: It’s not a year, it’s a decade. It is the global warming fanatics who get excited by something that happens in a year, or even a day if it’s a hurricane or an iceberg. I’m not saying that even a decade proves anything, but it is damned interesting nonetheless
Could it be that conspiracy is actually that in the face of a decade of no warming, they have now decided that 30 years is the benchmark?
That would suggest that interested parties aren’t going to change their minds for another 20+ years.
April 7, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Poneke, I think part of the problem here is your own apparent insistence that global temperatures rise year-on-year or climate change isn’t real. The point has already been made that the last decade is the warmest ever on record and that the temperatures remain above the average with no sign they will abate. If we were looking at 12-month time-scales for determining whether or not the climate is changing, I’d suggest we sell any beach houses we might own and move inland as the consequences of such a steep and rapid curve would be very noticeable. The issue for you seems to be that the rise in temperatures isn’t as steep or rapid as YOU (for clarity – not shouting) think it should be to validate the claims being made. That’s how it looks to me, anyway. Temperatures are demonstrably higher and staying high.
[Poneke says: Please don't tell me what I am apparently insisting. I'm not insisting anything. Except that words not be put in my mouth.]
April 8, 2008 at 5:44 am
A significant number of scientists/environmental experts doubt global warming and/or doubt that it is a man-made phenomenon. When Al Gore first came out with the big announcement that the sky was falling and that the evidence was undeniable he had only about 17% supp0rt from the scientific community according to poll done by a professional polling company at the time. A few articles of interest on the topic:
1
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4
April 8, 2008 at 9:31 am
After years and years of every single event being tied to global warming, no, we will not let this go. We will counter now with every single cooling story in what is the start of the most awesome and glorious Rubbing-It-In-Your-Face movement in living memory. We have waited a long time for this…
April 8, 2008 at 9:50 am
mick, you sound…fanatical…
Never mind, here’s an interesting piece by Gareth to cheer you up:
http://hot-topic.co.nz/2008/04/08/winter-wonderland/
April 8, 2008 at 11:25 am
Poneke, you’re not the only one concerned about the story changing. Here’s what Devil’s Kitchen thinks…
http://devilskitchen.me.uk/2008/04/bbc-activists-and-lies.html
April 9, 2008 at 12:12 am
eco terrorists pure and simple. the church of global warming will not stop their jihad even when true science proves them wrong. they are out for nothing short of the destruction of the industrialised world. glen beck went into deeper detail of what transpired to change the article. the bbc should be ashamed bowing to these thugs.
american thinker reveals how the story has changed and why stunning simply stunning
April 9, 2008 at 6:23 am
“eco terrorists pure and simple. the church of global warming will not stop their jihad even when true science proves them wrong. they are out for nothing short of the destruction of the industrialised world.”
Someone’s baiting me right? Deliberately making fanatical, lunatic comments so I’ll bite. Well I fell for it, I bit.
This on Beck:
http://rabett.blogspot.com/2008/03/beckies-as-tonstant-weader-knows-eli.html
[Poneke says: Sorry to disappoint you, but it probably isn't all about you. The centre of the galaxy is a black hole.]
May 7, 2008 at 1:33 pm
At the risk of repeating myself, according to the best available data, the average temperature of the lower troposphere has not changed significantly for the past 30 years. That is three complete decades. The only reason that I cite this particular period is that is the entire period for which the accurate satellite-derived data are available. These data are also confirmed by direct temperature measurements from weather balloons. Any effect from increasing CO2 concentrations must therefore be minor and hidden in the noise.
We have much more important things to worry about than the non-existent “dangerous man-made global warming”.