Conservative Pseudo-Science Strikes Again

The anti-science right has been at it yet again. It’s the same pattern of multiple right wing blogs grasping onto something trivial and claiming that they have proven they are right and every scientist working on climate change is wrong. This all stems from a blogger reviewing NASA data and apparently finding a glitch in the temperatures reported in the United States. A report at Daily Tech which has been widely quoted by the conservative blogs concludes:

The effect of the correction on global temperatures is minor (some 1-2% less warming than originally thought), but the effect on the U.S. global warming propaganda machine could be huge.

Then again — maybe not. I strongly suspect this story will receive little to no attention from the mainstream media.

The report deserves to receive little to no attention at this point, but I fear it will receive media attention considering the way the media loves to cover things as a controversy even where no real controversy exists. The conservative bloggers who are latching on to this make the assumption that all the work on climate change collapses with this minor change in data. As even the author of the report above finally concedes by the end, all this has a very minor effect on studies of global temperatures. The work on global warming is based upon world wide studies, especially the changes at the poles, not a narrow set of data.

The Island of Doubt also expresses doubt as to the meaning of this:

…the revised list, reportedly due to some kind of Y2K recalculation, will not affect global averages significantly and is more properly relegated to the footnotes of obscure journals. The revised calculations after all, may have changed the rankings of the top warmest years in the U.S., but only by a wee bit, +0.02 degrees C in the case of 1934. Even in Fahrenheit, that’s only 4/100th of a degree. To put it all in perspective, we’re already 0.7 degrees C above pre-industrial levels globally, with another full degree in the inevitably pipeline due to climate inertia. But even those who probably do understand the math are happy to make a mountain out of this molehill.

Of course they are happy to make a mountain out of this molehill as they believe reality is a matter of debate. The real problem here, as in all the talk of climate change at the conservative blogs, is that they have little understanding of the scientific method, or ignore it if they do. Climate change is ultimately a matter of science, not a conservative vs. liberal debate as they pretend. Matters of science are evaluated in peer reviewed journals by objective investigators, not debated in blogs by people who have already made up their mind.

One thing I find ironic about the ideological aspect of this debate is how little confidence conservatives have in human ingenuity, and the power of the free market which they worship but have so little understanding of. Conservative blogs typically claim that efforts to prevent global warming will require Draconian restrictions and shut down our economy. In contrast, many liberals believe that establishment of goals to reduce global warming will generate new technologies and new businesses to fulfill the need. As added benefits, we even get cleaner air and can move towards energy independence.

2 Comments

  1. 1
    Andy B says:

    You are the only liberal blogger, to date, brave enough to even address these revelations. Good for you, Ron!

  2. 2
    Ron Chusid says:

    Andy,

    It’s not so much a matter of bravery as interest. Conservative blogs see global warming as a matter open for debate. Liberal bloggers are more likely to see it as a scientific matter and have little interest in a newspaper or blog item as opposed to actual scientific literature.

    The other difference is that liberal bloggers aren’t looking this from an advocacy mindset as conservtive blogs are. Conservative bloggers have made up their mind, and twist whatever evidence they can to justify their views. For most liberal bloggers it would be great if new findings showed that global warming wasn’t a problem. Of course we won’t pay any attention to such claims coming from conservative sources.

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