Do we really need to explain the difference between weather and climate and national and global? It would appear that we do since the press seem determined to use this current bout of cold weather to fuel the fire of climate change denial. The Daily Express are probably the worst culprit with their front page headline directly using the current snow as evidence against global warming, never mind the fact that North-east America, Canada, North Africa, the Mediterranean, and south-west Asia are all experiencing temperatures above the norm. To take the recent weather of a country that’s land mass makes up less than 0.2% of the world’s total and use that as evidence against global climate change is so ridiculous it is a wonder anyone could read that and take it seriously. If they had bothered to do an ounce of research they might have taken the time to go to the Met Office website which has a nice little article explaining the cold snap and stating;
“The current cold weather in the UK is part of the normal regional variations that take place in the winter season. It doesn’t tell us anything about climate change, which has to be looked at in a global context and over longer periods of time.”
Do you see that Daily Express? The current cold weather doesn’t tell us anything about climate change stupid.
The Mail on Sunday and The Sunday Telegraphhave been quick to jump on the anti global warming bandwagon albeit a little more underhandedly. Both featured articles about research by Mojib Latif, a climate expert at the Leibniz Institute at Kiel University in Germany. His research, according to the Mail, challenges the global warming orthodoxy’s most deeply cherished beliefs. Although the Telegraph’s report was slightly better I especially liked the way they referred to our current temperatures as ‘Arctic’ (with a capital ‘a’) you know that place where average winter temperatures can be as low as ?40 °C? Not that I would want to accuse them of exaggerating. The problem with these articles is that the Leibniz Institute research doesn’t challenge global warming at all, and despite clarifications from the scientists, who stressed that the research did not challenge the predicted long-term warming trend, they went ahead and misrepresented it anyway. I’m picturing a petulant child right now with his fingers in his ears going ‘NAH NAH NAH I can’t hear you’.
It’s been a busy week for The Mail on Sunday and The Sunday Telegraphwho, not content with being on the global warming denial bandwagon, decided to jump on the anti health and safety bandwagon as well when they accused the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) of issuing warnings to businesses not to grit public paths because this could lead to legal action. Was this more evidence of a heath and safety conscious society gone mad? Was it balls. In actual fact the IOSH position on gritting public areas is almost exactly the opposite. The Sunday Telegraph did take the time to contact the IOSH before they printed the article who were only happy to provide a statement from their Policy & Technical Director Richard Jones but this was ignored. ‘NAH NAH NAH I can’t hear you’.
What is the point in contacting people to clarify a story if all you are going to do is completely ignore them? When are there going to be measures in place to stop this sort of behaviour? At the moment newspapers can just carry on fitting stories to suit their political agenda regardless of whether the evidence or story supports it or not. Without proper punishments and legislation the media is free to essentially make shit up and get away with it time and time again. Its a disgrace and the public deserve better from their news outlets regardless of their political bias.
