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M O N D A Y , A U G U S T 1 5 , 2 0 0 5Global Warming: MSM Clouds Picture Againby Michael in New York on
8/15/2005 03:15:00 PMSurvey scientists and you'll discover that there is no debateabout global warming or how humans are affecting this process-- the only questions are how quickly it's occurring, what theeffects will be and the most effective ways to counteract it. OnFriday, many media outlets ran a story about three newscientific papers that undercut one of the remaining Alamos forthose who want to dispute the obvious -- that's the argumentthat the atmosphere had cooled in the tropics and not warmedin the troposphere. In short, the papers in the online journal of"Science" show that the scientists making this claim had madea simple mathematical error and that other measurementswere faulty for various reasons. But what a difference anewspaper makes.The New York Times presents the issue a tad confusingly onpage 12. It also quotes the scientists who developed theoriginal troposphere temperature records -- John R. Christyand Roy W. Spencer of the University of Alabama in Huntsville-- who concede mistakes but insist even revised calculationsproduced a warming rate that was no big deal.But read USA Today's story on page 3 and you get a muchclearer description of the mistakes.[Researchers] found that the satellites had drifted in orbit,throwing off the timing of temperature measures.Essentially, the satellites were increasingly reportingnighttime temperatures as daytime ones, leading to afalse cooling trend. The team also found a math error inthe calculations.That's pretty darn clear. How did the NYT describe it? "The satellites'orbits shift and sink over time, their instruments are affected bysunlight and darkness, and data from a succession of satellites has tobe calibrated to account for eccentricities of sensitive instruments."Also, USA Today also went to the front group funded by the big oilcompanies for a quote:Mark Herlong of the George C. Marshall Institute declined tocomment. The group, financed by the petroleumindustry, has used the data disparities to dispute theviews of global-warming activists. In recent years,however, the institute has softened its public statements,acknowledging that the planet is indeed getting warmer butstill maintaining that the change is happening so slowly thatthe impact is minimal.But what neither story tells you is that the original authors of thestudy (quoted by the NYT as sticking to their guns) are apparentlyfunded at least in part by that very same front group. The day beforethose stories ran, the George C. Marshall Institute posted a releasepooh-poohing the new studies and referring to the work by theAlabama researchers as "our (University of Alabama in Huntsville"UAH") satellite estimate for global lower tropospheric ("LT")temperature trends since 1979."In other words, one of the few minor islands of dissent is finallyanalyzed by others and found to have simple math errors, not tomention the rather obvious problem of taking temperatures at nightrather than day and not acknowledging that disparity (gee, thinkyou'd get lower temperatures at night?) and it's all apparently fundedby the oil industry.Why didn't the New York Times ask the researchers it quoted who
Political WireMcCain Lawyers Investigated Obama Citizenship -As we asked earlier this week, if questions overPresident Obama's citizenship were valid, wouldn'tthey have come out during the presidentialcampaign? D...3 minutes ago
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© 2009 - John Aravosis | Design maintenance by Jason RosenbaumSend me your tips: americablog@starpower.netAMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Globa...http://www.americablog.com/2005/08/global-warming-msm-cl...
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8/15/2005 03:15:00 PMSurvey scientists and you'll discover that there is no debateabout global warming or how humans are affecting this process-- the only questions are how quickly it's occurring, what theeffects will be and the most effective ways to counteract it. OnFriday, many media outlets ran a story about three newscientific papers that undercut one of the remaining Alamos forthose who want to dispute the obvious -- that's the argumentthat the atmosphere had cooled in the tropics and not warmedin the troposphere. In short, the papers in the online journal of"Science" show that the scientists making this claim had madea simple mathematical error and that other measurementswere faulty for various reasons. But what a difference anewspaper makes.The New York Times presents the issue a tad confusingly onpage 12. It also quotes the scientists who developed theoriginal troposphere temperature records -- John R. Christyand Roy W. Spencer of the University of Alabama in Huntsville-- who concede mistakes but insist even revised calculationsproduced a warming rate that was no big deal.But read USA Today's story on page 3 and you get a muchclearer description of the mistakes.[Researchers] found that the satellites had drifted in orbit,throwing off the timing of temperature measures.Essentially, the satellites were increasingly reportingnighttime temperatures as daytime ones, leading to afalse cooling trend. The team also found a math error inthe calculations.That's pretty darn clear. How did the NYT describe it? "The satellites'orbits shift and sink over time, their instruments are affected bysunlight and darkness, and data from a succession of satellites has tobe calibrated to account for eccentricities of sensitive instruments."Also, USA Today also went to the front group funded by the big oilcompanies for a quote:Mark Herlong of the George C. Marshall Institute declined tocomment. The group, financed by the petroleumindustry, has used the data disparities to dispute theviews of global-warming activists. In recent years,however, the institute has softened its public statements,acknowledging that the planet is indeed getting warmer butstill maintaining that the change is happening so slowly thatthe impact is minimal.But what neither story tells you is that the original authors of thestudy (quoted by the NYT as sticking to their guns) are apparentlyfunded at least in part by that very same front group. The day beforethose stories ran, the George C. Marshall Institute posted a releasepooh-poohing the new studies and referring to the work by theAlabama researchers as "our (University of Alabama in Huntsville"UAH") satellite estimate for global lower tropospheric ("LT")temperature trends since 1979."In other words, one of the few minor islands of dissent is finallyanalyzed by others and found to have simple math errors, not tomention the rather obvious problem of taking temperatures at nightrather than day and not acknowledging that disparity (gee, thinkyou'd get lower temperatures at night?) and it's all apparently fundedby the oil industry.Why didn't the New York Times ask the researchers it quoted who
Political WireMcCain Lawyers Investigated Obama Citizenship -As we asked earlier this week, if questions overPresident Obama's citizenship were valid, wouldn'tthey have come out during the presidentialcampaign? D...3 minutes ago
HuffPost PoliticsMichael J. O'Neil: The Gates/Crowley RorschachTest - Was this an instance of racial profiling? DidGates overreact to a reasonable police request?The truth is that we simply do not have enoughinformation to ...21 minutes agoThink ProgressLimbaugh: Obama has a ‘chip on his shoulder’because he’s ‘black.’ - In an interview with FoxNews’ Greta Van Susteren last night, right-wingradio host Rush Limbaugh said President Obamawas more “passionate” during Wednesd...21 minutes agoMatthew YglesiasBlogging as a Vocation - Alyssa Rosenberg onbeing a writer: My experience has been, as DanielStrauss says, that people become artists, or in thecase of journalists, artisans (I ...33 minutes ago
J O H N ' S P H OT O S
AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Globa...http://www.americablog.com/2005/08/global-warming-msm-cl...
1 of 57/24/09 6:25 PM
Ben SmithRegrets, sort of - Gibbs says Obama regrets hisGates comments, sort of, and blames he press: "Ithink he would regret if realized how much of an o36 minutes agoShow AllA M E R I C A B L O G T V
Visit our AMERICAblog TV site.see all 326 videos >I collect with
vodpod
Judge order San Diego toget rid of the seals
Massive brawl in SouthKorean parliament
Mormons may havesecretly baptized
Medieval helpdesk withEnglish subtitles
The Taco Bell dog hasdied
In honor of SenatorDeMintNext 6AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Globa...http://www.americablog.com/2005/08/global-warming-msm-cl...
2 of 57/24/09 6:25 PM
Wonk RoomBoehner Claims HeDoesn’t Know DoctorsWho Support HouseHealth Bill, Trashes AMAFor Endorsing It8 minutes agoEzra KleinFederalism: ObjectivelyPro-Recessions17 minutes agoThe TreatmentPaul Krugman Gets It(Shocking, I Know)1 hour agoManaged CareMattersFresh Health WonkReview awaiting yourperusal4 hours agoWalker ReportSimple Test ToG AY P O L I T I C S
Visit our new gay politicssection, AMERICAblog Gay.F E E D S
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Subscribe me!Failed toConnectFirefox can't establish a connection to the server at ad.doubleclick.net.Thoughthe siteseemsvalid,thebrowserwasunabletoestablishaTop AdAdvertise in this spot.H E A LT H C A R ER E F O R MAMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Globa...http://www.americablog.com/2005/08/global-warming-msm-cl...
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Blog ArchiveS I T E S W E L I K EAir America RadioAlan Colmes' blogAri Melber (The Nation)Ben SmithBicycleMark's blog &podcastBilericoBradBlogBring It OnCarrie FisherCrooks and LiarsDailyKosDan Savage's "Slog"Daou ReportDemocratic UndergroundEschatonEzra KleinFire Dog LakeFiveThirtyEight.comFreeway BloggerThe Gavel (SpeakerPelosi's blog)Good As YouGlenn GreenwaldHoly Bullies and HeadlessMonstersHuffington PostHullabaloo (Digby)Jack and Jill PoliticsJed ReportJesus' GeneralKenneth in the 212Margaret and HelenMatthew GrossMedia MattersMike Signorile's "The Gist"MudflatsMyDDOpen LeftPlum LinePolitical Punch (JakeTapper)Political WirePolitics 1Pop SurfingProgressive Blog DigestQueers UnitedRawStoryRex WocknerRude PunditSmirking ChimpTalk LeftTappedTaylor MarshThink ProgressTowleRoadVetVoice.comWashington NoteWayneBesen.comWonketteWorth Repeating
N E W S L I N K SUSWashington PostNYTAP PoliticsReuters PoliticsRasmussen PollsTimeNewsweekRoll CallThe HillABCNews
P L E A S E S U P P O RTA M E R I C A B L O GOne-time donation$
Recurring monthlydonation$
Donations are nottax-deductible.L A B E L S
Select a labelL A S T 1 0 0 V I S I T O R SRecent Visitors
A B O U TA M E R I C A B L O GWhy AMERICAblog?Because a great nationdeserves the truth.What issues do youcover?US politics overall with aparticular focus on theObama Administration, theradical right, and civilrights.Who are you?John AravosisEditorWashington, DCJoe SudbayDeputy EditorWashington, DCChris RyanAssociate EditorParis, FranceRobert ArenaContributing EditorBaltimore, MarylandJacki SchechnerContributing EditorWashington, DCAMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Globa...http://www.americablog.com/2005/08/global-warming-msm-cl...
4 of 57/24/09 6:25 PM
© 2009 - John Aravosis | Design maintenance by Jason RosenbaumSend me your tips: americablog@starpower.netAMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Globa...http://www.americablog.com/2005/08/global-warming-msm-cl...
5 of 57/24/09 6:25 PM