What Environmental Reporting Leaves Out

[AverageJoe90]

41. That's not quite what I'm reading.

The main reason for this is the rather cold winters we had in 2009, 2010, and 2011.....while I don't disagree that overall winters are probably going to get warmer, especially up north(because that's where the science points), there is some speculation that we may actually see more extreme winters, too, as the Arctic warms up.

What the information does say, at least from what I can read; is that summers are definitely getting warmer, as well: especially in more 'temperate' areas like Western Europe.

The biggest problem really, is that the forecasts were once way too conservative. But I must say that too much pessimism, will not only be just as harmful, but will also actually give a huge amount of ammunition to those special interest groups that benefit from seeding disinformation, and right now, we're actually seeing this in action. Were it not for that, it would be significantly harder for Watts, Monckton, et al. to push their wares.

Being too conservative may have made people complacent, but being too extremely pessimistic is not only also not based in reality, but has the additional costs of scaring people off and, again, giving ammo to our opponents.

It is true, of course, that some things have progressed faster than predicted, and that is true. However, though, this does not give any credence to these "we're doomed for sure!" arguments which have been floating around, just as if the deniers wouldn't have gotten any credence if we had been luckier than we expected.

That's why I tend to stick to Skeptical Science, Peter Sinclair, and people like them, because they don't hold back on the truth either way; they don't go to extremes, and they're more than willing to effectively debunk denier myths, half-truths, and propaganda. I can personally attest to how effective that is.....