Antinuclear

Crikey’s Graham Readfern refutes climate sceptic Lord Monckton

the core of what sceptics such as Monckton wish to achieve in their ideologically-driven and fossil-fuel backed quest (including Exxon funding). That mission is to spread doubt and it is being aided by our only national newspaper The Australian.

Is The Australian addicted to Monckton’s denial? January 28, 2011 ,  Crikey,  Graham Readfearn His choice of the Gershwin song It Ain’t Necessarily So was unfortunate, if not a little ironic. In an opinion article published in The Australian, professional climate change denier Christopher Monckton tried his hardest to convince readers that “thoughtful” politicians were beginning to ask “privately, quietly” if a supposed climate crisis was not “necessarily so”.

They were beginning to ask the “Gershwin question” mused Monckton, referring to the song in the 1935 musical Porgy and Bess — a song delivered, ironically, by the musical’s drug dealing character Sportin’ Life.

An addiction to a drug can be a terrible and debilitating experience and just as it is in the case of The Australian’s apparent addiction to climate denial, it can be degrading, embarrassing and professionally damaging.

Christopher Monckton is one of the world’s most charismatic climate deniers, yet he has no qualifications at all in climate science. Among his beliefs are that the UN is attempting to create a world government and young climate campaigners are like the Hitler Youth. Others have also examined Monckton’s creative CV.

This lack of genuine expertise and tendency towards conspiracy theories don’t in themselves deny Monckton the right to an opinion, but the thrust of his views have been roundly rejected by practically every climate scientist currently researching and publishing in peer-reviewed journals.

Over and over, scientists working in the field and opening their own research to the rigours of peer review (which Monckton has never done) have gone to great lengths to debunk Monckton’s “analysis” of climate change (small selection of examples here, many here and here). They have explained his persistent misrepresentations and errors in calculations, but still Monckton repeats them and still — after alarm bells have been ringing for half a decade – The Australian provides him a forum.

It was possibly predictable that Monckton should appear in The Australian in January — they gave him a spin last January too (at the time Monckton was touring Australia and among others, received backing from mining billionaire Gina Rinehart). This time around, Monckton’s polemic comes as NASA confirms that 2010 tied with 2005 as the warmest year since records began.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also found 2010 to be tied with 2005 as the warmest year ever…………….

the core of what sceptics such as Monckton wish to achieve in their ideologically-driven and fossil-fuel backed quest (including Exxon funding). That mission is to spread doubt and it is being aided by our only national newspaper The Australian.

The reader is not left enlightened or well informed. Rather, readers are left somewhere between confused and conned.

The mission of the sceptic lobby is — for the most part — nothing to do with scepticism. There is no noble cause to reveal truth, but rather just an empty mission to spread doubt and confusion and water-down concern.

Is The Australian addicted to Monckton’s denial? – Rooted

January 30, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, climate change - global warming, media, people | climate change - global warming