De rigueur though it may be to describe Sir David Attenborough as a “national treasure” and our “greatest living naturalist”, it really is time he was called to account for the shameless way in which he has allowed himself to be made the front-man for one particular propaganda campaign that has stood all genuine scientific evidence on its head. Last week yet another report picked up on the part Sir David has played in promoting what the facts show to have been no more than a colossal scare story.
It is now seven years since Sir David was first wheeled out by the BBC as the main cheerleader in its campaign to whip up panic over man-made global warming. In two documentaries, he presented himself as a one-time “climate sceptic” who had now been convinced by the evidence. The only problem was that, as he repeated a series of familiar alarmist mantras, there was little sign that he had checked the evidence for any of them: not least his claim that, thanks to the melting of Arctic ice, the world’s polar bear population, already down by a quarter, could be facing extinction.
Pressure groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth had already made polar bears the most iconic image for their crusade to save the planet. WWF, in its relentless pursuit of funds, was moving on from pandas to appealing to the public to “pay £3 a month to adopt a polar bear”.
A couple of days have gone by since Leo Hickman revealed to us that David Attenborough had exaggerated the temperature record in Africa, and James Delingpole was quick off the mark not only to point out the BBC Error that Leo had corrected but also that good old Leo was going to be added to Dellers Christmas card list:)
I have no idea what has come over Mr Hickman in recent months (that's correct he is a journalist from the Guardian), but one thing I can confirm he did NOT stitch Piers Corbyn up last year when he posted Whatever happened to the 'coldest May in 100 years'?. Silly me at the time discarded the report as being bias, as I just assumed a journalist from the Guardian couldn't possibly have anything good or objective to say about a failed forecast from a denier:(the Piers Corbyn forecast came to an end due to exceptional an unforeseen solar event) the rest is history, but take time out and read what "Leo" had to say at the time, much to my regret I didn't.
Anyway, I now consider Leo Hickman to be a "Climate Realist", not one you would call from the right wing or centre but non the less I will take an objective look at what he has to say in the future and not use any "Green" marks as there is more then a chance I could agree with some of the things he has to say, yes some, NOT ALL:)....take a look at his update, for the AttenboroughGate story
The BBC has been forced into an embarrassing climbdown over climate change claims made in Sir David Attenborough's groundbreaking Africa series.
In the last episode of the series, entitled 'Future', Sir David discussed the challenges facing the region.
Speaking over footage of Mount Kilimanjaro, Sir David made the assertion that 'some parts of the continent have become 3.5C hotter in the past 20 years'.
However, figures from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change show that since 1850 global temperatures have risen by 0.76C, causing widespread concern among viewers.
The comment, first broadcast in the final episode of the Africa series last Wednesday, was removed from Sunday night’s repeat of the show.
A BBC spokesman said: 'There is widespread acknowledgement within the scientific community that the climate of Africa has been changing as stated in the programme.
It's not often one looks to the Guardian's environment pages for an incisive and thorough critique of green propagandising. But hats off – really – to Leo Hickman for this ruthless deconstruction of an erroneous claim made by David Attenborough on his latest BBC nature documentary that in the last twenty years Africa has warmed by 3.5 degrees C.
3.5 degrees C in two decades? That would indeed be a remarkable temperature rise in anybody's money. (Remember, since 1850 global mean temperatures have risen by about 0.8 degrees C – and we're supposed to find that worrying and significant). Which is why, you might have thought, the BBC would have spotted so obvious an error and removed it before the programme went out.
To his credit, this troubled Leo Hickman, too.
I'd never heard this arresting claim before. If that rate of temperature rise continued over, say, a century, then those parts of Africa would see a deathly rise of 17.5C?! Could that claim really be true?
In case you have not seen this recording of Penn & Teller and what they have to say about "Global Warming" your in for a treat.
It's worth taking time out to see this Youtube (28:00)
Note: At the end of the show they make a point of saying they are not certain about the topic in general terms but don't have much doubt as to what they feel about Al Gore! Enjoy
This Weather Documentary for the UK Climate during 2012 made by Channel4, puts a predictable emphasis on "man made" climate change". As far as I'm concerned it shows how powerful some of the recent solar events have been, namely the Wettest Drought and the December of 2010. One day in the future (sooner then later I hope) when it is common knowledge that the Sun is responsible for extreme weather changes to our climate, we will be able to look back on these documentaries and see how silly people thought co2 was the cause of these events - NOTE This Documentary may not be available outside the UK and there is a time lock after 30 days...
In Britain we love to moan about the weather. And over the past decade we have experienced some extraordinary weather conditions, with 2012 no exception.
It has led many people to wonder if our weather really is getting worse.
The year started with storms and gale-force winds tearing across much of the UK, before our driest spring in a century left 35 million people in the UK suffering from drought.
Al Gore’s credibility took yet another beating this week, as meteorologist Anthony Watts documented evidence that Gore lied through his teeth about the number of people allegedly watching the latest version of his 24 Hours of Climate Reality Internet television show. The question arises: If Al Gore so cavalierly lies about his viewership numbers because – in his eyes – the ends justify the means, then how can we take seriously his claims on other global warming-related topics?
On his “Watts Up With That?” webpage, Watts shows how Gore claimed there were more than 16 million viewers for his Climate Reality show last week. Take a moment and contemplate that number. Considering there are only about 500 million people in primarily English-speaking nations, that would mean fully 1 in 30 people in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, and Australia watched the show. Heck, I would bet all my material possessions, and lay 10-to-1 odds on top of that, that 1 in 30 people in these nations did not even KNOW about Gore’s show.
USTREAM tabulates the viewer numbers for Internet broadcasts such as Gore’s. Watts observed that USTREAM would have set a single-day viewership record had Gore actually generated the viewing audience he claimed. As Watts explained, “if USTREAM had a new record day with 16 million views, more than doubling their previous record traffic day of March 11, 2011, don’t you think they would be saying something about it? So far, not a peep.”
A few of you have emailed me asking for the link to the Alan Titchmarsh TV show that had Piers Corbyn saying it would be "Very Cold" in the UK at the end of October.
If you click source and Fast Forward to 25 mins (after the commercial intro) you will find out what he said, the actual start of the Alan Titmarsh Interview is at 17 mins [NOTE: this is for UK users Only]
Also, take a look below at what he headlined for the month at WeatherAction.com
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