“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.

You would think that this would be enough crazy for one man but oh no Peter Davies has a whole lot more up his sleeve. In a recent Daily Mail article he said ‘I’m not green and I’m not conned by global warming.’ essentially allying himself with Climate Change Denialists. In response to plans to erect wind farms in the Doncaster region he said “”These [wind farm] developments have little or no benefit in terms of contributing to decreased energy consumption, nor do they have any beneficial effect on the planet’s climate in response to the great global warming scam.” 

The weight of evidence in support of man made global warming is now irrefutable; the quicker people like this are removed from positions of power and influence the better. I hope that the people of Doncaster do the right thing in the next mayoral election and vote this guy out or better yet petition to have him removed from office early.