False claims that heatwave is bogus spread online
www.bbc.com
Weather forecasters wrongly accused of using misleading data to "drive fear".

False claims suggesting that the BBC has been misreporting temperatures in southern Europe have been spreading on social media.

A clip of Neil Oliver, a GB News presenter, accusing the BBC “and others” of “driving fear” by using “supposedly terrifying temperatures”, has been viewed more than two million times.

For the past few weeks, an intense heatwave has been sweeping through parts of southern Europe and north Africa, with extensive wildfires breaking out in Greece, Italy and Algeria - leading to more than 40 deaths.

Speaking about the fires on Rhodes on GB News on Monday, Mr Oliver accused the BBC, and other broadcasters, of trying to “make people terrified of the weather”.

  • IHeartBadCode@kbin.social
    33·
    1 year ago

    New York University professor Steven Koonin has presented data

    Who is also the chief scientist for BP. Just so we’ve got that out there.

    in his bestselling book, “Unsettled,” to show that the science is not as settled as many politicians would have us believe.

    Which many scientist have indicated is just being contrarian to seek more books and the arguments within the book are easily debunked.

    Koonin is a respected academic physicist

    Yeah in physics he knows his stuff.

    Koonin finds that daily record high temperatures have not increased over the past 100 years and daily record lows have become less common. This is directly at variance with media headlines.

    Yes, because his dataset is from the 1990s. There’s zero reason to think any conclusion he has is in step with modern data. His modeling method even pre-date the 90s. Everything he has used to provide argument is not via a method that is modern. His data is right just that is using methods no one uses because it’s wildly inaccurate. So right in this case just means he’s consistently inaccurate. Everyone please refer to your seventh grade science class on the difference between accuracy and consistency.

    The media covers climate change as though doomsday is approaching. Bad news sells, and well-funded organizations support the crisis message.

    The irony of this statement while completely missing the notion that someone can just say a lot of opposite things to sell a book is… Interesting.

    Even if rising “greenhouse gas” emissions were affecting the climate, actions by the United States will not be helpful in the absence of changes by China and India, the world’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases.

    Yes. Let’s not do something because China isn’t doing it. That’s fine argument. You know China isn’t doing human rights so I guess we can nix that here too.

    If the United States were to get rid of all fossil fuel emissions, this would only reduce global temperatures by 0.2 degrees Celsius by 2100.

    Just FYI, 0.2 is equal to 2,100 Tsar Bombas going off at once. That’s the largest nuclear device ever created by humans. Decreasing 0.2 is like not blowing that many nuclear bombs. 0.2 is super significant. This is what happens when you have some mid-sixty year old economist talking science.

    The EPA’s proposed tailpipe and power plant regulations will reduce economic growth by raising energy prices.

    Lady, I don’t know if you’ve had a change to exit your private jet, but fuel cost are going up, no matter what. Everyone was like “if you increase minimum wage food prices will go up!” And then we didn’t increase minimum wage and prices still went up. I’m just going say, I don’t think it really fucking matters what we do or don’t do at this point, prices are going up no matter what. I used to buy eggs for fifty-nine cents way back. What happen? I didn’t get any nice shit or saving the planet and eggs are $4, what happened?

    Raising the cost of energy at any time is poor economic policy, but especially when economic growth is slow. U.S. annualized gross domestic product growth was 2% in the first quarter of 2023, with data for the second quarter expected on Thursday. It’s summer, but now is not the time for Democrats to use the excuse of climate change to slow the economy further with more regulations.

    Well the cost of energy is going up anyway, so it doesn’t matter. And economic growth is slow, because for the last fifteen years its been at breakneck pace. So maybe look a bit more than just a single year for your data points. And also, y’all just hate regulation, that’s what it boils down to. But every time regulations get removed, “Oh no! The Housing Market crashed! The econmy is getting tanked!” There’s just been no demostrated self-restraint so, yeah, nah, I don’t trust you mfers. I think you all need more regulation.

    Also, the econmy is going be in more pain later than now if we can’t fucking grow food. I know, none of that is your 65 year old ass’ problem, but I mean people who are 12 right now, might want to eat when they get to their 50s. I know, you’ll be dead and all, so it won’t matter to you, but it kinda of matters to them. So I mean, pardon if we all take your perspective with a nonexistent grain of salt.