The Planet Keeps Warming, But U.S. Media Interest Cools

[defendandprotect]

The Planet Keeps Warming, But U.S. Media Interest Cools

By Miranda Spencer


After the anticlimax of the COP-15 climate-policy negotiations in Copenhagen last year (Extra!, 2/10)—in which the more than 190 UN-member nations walked away with a non-binding statement of intent cobbled together in secret by the U.S. and a few other wealthy nations—public and press expectations for this year’s COP-16 meeting (11/29–12/10/10) in Cancún, Mexico, were low.

At least in part reflecting this pessimism, there has been a “steep slide” in climate reporting this year, Columbia Journalism Review’s science blog (Observatory, 11/24/10) noted. Few major corporate news media outlets even planned to send reporters to Cancún; as Washington Post lead environmental writer Juliet Eilperin told Observatory, “It feels like there is absolutely no momentum…. What will there even be to cover in Cancún in terms of public policy or reader interest?”

Setting aside the oddness of an often-reactive news media predicting the (lack of) news, if a meeting of the world’s nations upon which the fate of the Earth potentially hinges isn’t a story, what is? As Bolivia’s UN ambassador, Pablo Solon, wrote in a Guardian (11/30/10) op-ed,


I wonder whose expectations are talking about. Do they think the 1 million people in the Bolivian city El Alto, who face increasingly chronic water shortages from the disappearance of glaciers, have low expectations? Do they think Pacific Islanders whose homelands will soon disappear beneath the rising sea have low expectations? I believe that the majority of humanity demands and has high expectations that our political leaders should act to stop runaway climate change.

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4237


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Probably about 10 years ago, I was astonished to hear a reporter on the Weather

Channel pointing out that we here in New Jersey were averaging 25 degrees above normal!

Don't think they have "hosts" anymore!

[spin]

1. Global warming was an unfortunate choice of words ...

It's hard to convince anyone to give a shit about global warming in the middle of an extremely cold winter. In fact, I've been known to mention that I could use a little Global warming when I get my electric bill.

Global Climate Chaos would have been a far more better term that would have caused less derision. Climate change doesn't work as a description as the climate is always changing. We have had ice ages and warming periods in our history. The last ice age occured from 110,000 to 10,000 years ago. The Medieval Warm Period (MWP) or Medieval Climate Optimum occurred from AD 950–1250 and was followed by the Little Ice Age.

If it makes anyone suffering from this year's bitter cold, the Little Ice Age was worse.

The Little Ice Age also had almost unimaginably profound effects on the settlement of North America. From about 800 to about 1250, the earth had undergone a mild, warm period that, not coincidentally, marked the era of Viking dominance of the seas. From their northerly realm, the Vikings explored the coast of North America and put down settlements; eventually their colony in Greenland grew to over 3000 people. But as the Little Ice Age set in, the Viking culture of seafaring was destroyed; much of the year, their ships were trapped at home. Their North American settlers were cut off and eventually lost completely. With the Vikings out of business, it fell to the more southerly European countries–Spain, Portugal, France, and England–to colonize the Americas.

In North America, old accounts show how much more severe the winters were for our colonial ancestors than they are today. Probably everyone has read about George Washington hauling his troops across the icy Delaware River, and marveled at the incredible cold endured by his troops at Valley Forge. In early America, rivers and coastlines routinely froze over in winter, meaning the fishing fleets had to stay home and travel was awful. Our ancestors really did have to walk to school through five feet of snow, and contend with snow drifts as high as 25 feet. In 1740, Boston Harbor froze over from December through April. One man even drove a sleigh across the ice from Cape Cod to New York City!
http://franceshunter.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/the-little-ice-age/

[defendandprotect]

2. No -- Global Warming is very descriptive of our condition --

and in 2002, the notorious GOP propagandist Frank Luntz suggested to W Bush that he

should change "Global Warming" to "Climate Change" which he did -- but not to make

anything clearer to the public -- to confuse them further.

The difference is that Global Warming makes clear that the HEAT is on --

and every year has been hotter than the last -- maybe not where you are standing --

but overall.

Climate Change makes it sound like something kinda normal is happening -- it's not.

But it was 50-60 years of propaganda by the Oil Industry to misinform and disinform

the public which has certainly confused the public -- And a purposeful lack of info

about it by the corporate-press.

[spin]

3. The problem is that the public ridicules the term Global Warming ...

when it is extremely cold where they live.

WINTER MAY BE COLDEST IN 1000 YEARS
30th December 2010



BRITAIN’S winter is the coldest since 1683 and close to being the chilliest in nearly 1,000 years.

Latest figures reveal that the average temperature since December 1 has been a perishing -1C.


That makes it the second coldest since records began in 1659.


The chilliest on record was 1683/84, when the average was -1.17C and the River Thames froze over for two months.


But with January and February to come, experts believe we could suffer the most freezing cold winter in the last 1,000 years.

***snip***

Although official weather records only go back to 1659, weather experts said the centuries from 1100 to 1500, dubbed the “Medieval warm period”, would not have produced winters as cold as today.


So 2011 could end up being the coldest winter of the last millennium.
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/169577/Winter-may-be-coldest-in-1000-years/

Georgia eyes coldest winter ever
By Pam Knox, University of Georgia
Feb. 8, 2011 7:44am

Cold temperatures and heavy snow crippled north Georgia in January. Despite heavier-than-normal snowfall, precipitation amounts were below normal, increasing drought conditions across the state.

***snip***

If colder-than-normal temperatures continue into February, this winter could possibly set records for the coldest winter ever in some parts of Georgia. Record low temperatures were set at Macon, Savannah and Alma Jan. 14. Macon reported 16 degrees, breaking the old record of 19 degrees set that date in 1970. Savannah and Alma reported 18 degrees, surpassing the old records of 20 degrees set at both locations in 1964.
http://southeastfarmpress.com/management/georgia-eyes-coldest-winter-ever

Climate Change, Global Warming, and Global Change Defined

Q. How are the terms climate change, global warming, and global change different?

A. The term climate change is often used as if it means the same thing as the term global warming.

Climate change refers to any distinct change in measures of climate lasting for a long period of time. In other words, “climate change” means major changes in temperature, rainfall, snow, or wind patterns lasting for decades or longer.

Climate changemay result from:

• natural factors, such as changes in the Sun’s energy or slow changes in the Earth’s orbit around the Sun;

• natural processes within the climate system (e.g., changes in ocean circulation);

• human activities that change the atmosphere’s make-up (e.g, burning fossil fuels) and the landsurface (e.g., cutting down forests, planting trees, building developments in cities and suburbs, etc.).

Global warming is an average increase in temperatures near the Earth’s surface and in the lowest layer of the atmosphere. Increases in temperatures in our Earth’s atmosphere can contribute to changes in global climate patterns. Global warming can be considered part of climate change along with changes in precipitation, sea level, etc.

Global change is a broad term that refers to changes in the global environment, including climate change ozone depletion, and land use change.
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/downloads/Climate_Basics.pdf

I still prefer Global Climate Chaos. If we used this term, everybody would agree with us that the climate is AFU. Nobody would be laughing at a conference on global warming being held on a record setting cold day.

Irony alert: The unusually chilly global-warming summit Cancun is hosting the U.N. conference on man-made climate change — amid record cold temperatures

posted on December 9, 2010, at 11:57 AM

Best Opinion: Wall St. Pit, Independent

The irony: As negotiators from nearly 200 countries met in Cancun to strategize ways to keep the planet from getting hotter, the temperature in the seaside Mexican city plunged to a 100-year record low of 54° F. Climate-change skeptics are gleefully calling Cancun's weather the latest example of the "Gore Effect" — a plunge in temperature they say occurs wherever former Vice President Al Gore, now a Nobel Prize-winning environmental activist, makes a speech about the climate. Although Gore is not scheduled to speak in Cancun, "it could be that the Gore Effect has announced his secret arrival," jokes former NASA scientist Roy W. Spencer.

http://theweek.com/article/index/210181/irony-alert-the-unusually-chilly-global-warming-summit

[truebrit71]

4. I am freezing my arse off in Chicago today at -12F, but even I know that

it's supposed to be frigging cold in february...'Global warming' as a pharase is fine..it's the idiots that act as though because it's cold and snowy in winter that Al Gore is full of shit...without realising that the important word in the phrase is the GLOBAL one, not the WARMING one..