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It’s like a game…which mainstream media outlet will jump on the global warming alarmist bandwagon next?
Sports Illustrated is publishing a cover story regarding the implications of climate change on the sports world. But they aren’t just discussing climate change - they’re going after “environmental crisis” that is created by humans. What about natural causes for climate change? Nah - no mention of those. What about the impossibility of meaningful prediction? That’s just a minor detail not worthy of mentioning. No - those aren’t important…instead, they lean on many of the tired, token doom-and-gloom catch phrases:
If we continue to spew greenhouse gases as we are, the Earth could become five degrees warmer this century. The last time Earth was that warm, three million years ago, sea level stood 80 feet higher than it does now.
Humans are accelerating global warming …
Decrease the burning of fossil fuels…
and my personal favorite:
Every organism on the planet is already feeling its impact.
After the usual rant, including the warnings about how disastrous the Earth will be by 2100, they get specific, giving an example that is entirely at odds with published, refereed research. Sports Illustrated says:
Tropical storms become more powerful over a warmer Gulf, turning a category 4 storm, for example, into a category 5, like Katrina, which transformed the symbol of sports in New Orleans, the Superdome, into an image of epic disaster
Yet, reports to the contrary have been available for over a year. In mid-2006, National Geographic Magazine published an article questioning the global warming and hurricane intensity link:
An expert with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is questioning the connection between climate change and the appearance of more intense hurricanes in recent years. Historical data on hurricanes is too crude to determine long-term trends in intensity, says Christopher Landsea, a science and operations officer with NOAA’s National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.
And in late 2005, NOAA attributed the strength of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season (the one that included Katrina) to “naturally-occuring climate variability“:
There is consensus among NOAA hurricane researchers and forecasters that recent increases in hurricane activity are primarily the result of natural fluctuations in the tropical climate system known as the tropical multi-decadal signal. The tropical climate patterns now favoring very active hurricane seasons are similar to those seen in the late 1920s to the late 1960s.
More concisely (NOAA):
No individual tropical cyclone can be directly attributed to climate change.
In fact, the article goes on to cite specific, anecdotal events (those of us in the meteorology field refer to this as “weather”) rather than long term trends (also known as “climate”). A primary rule in the climate change discussion is that single, isolated events can not be deemed evidence as long-term change.
So remind me again what qualifications the Sports Illustrated staff has when it comes to climatology?
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Update (03/08/07 1:25pm CST):
The author of the Sports Illustrated cover story apparently (assuming there is just one Alexander Wolff employed by AOL Time Warner - the parent company of Sports Illustrated) has been a generous contributor to Howard Dean and the DNC. A search for the individual “Wolff, Alexander” on OpenSecrets.org yields 6 results over the last several election cycles: A $500 donation to Howard Dean in addition to a total of $1120 in campaign contributions directly to the DNC. (h/t “Trailer” commenting on this NewsBusters thread)
Update (03/09/07 6:25am CST):
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Technorati Tags: Global Warming, Climate Change, Sports Illustrated
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March 8, 2007 at 8:26 am
Steve Baarda
Sports Illustrated doing global warming cover stories!?! I don’t know whether to laugh or be completely frightened. Then again, with the attention span of the modern media and the 24 hour a day need for new news, how long will it be before the boredom factor sets in and people move on to the next big thing?
March 8, 2007 at 8:35 am
Jake
That is one factor that I think some have begun to realize: the public is quickly tiring of this alarmist attitude and such methods are going to quickly fail to be as effective as they once may have been.
At least we can hope that’s the case…
March 8, 2007 at 9:14 am
Randy
All the sleaze, advertising, drugs and other sh*t that plagues major league sports these days, and those twitheads come out with some pathetic cover story about “Global Warming”? “Changes in the Planet”? LOL, what is this? Are they NUTS? What are they referring to, exactly… beach erosion? Some 0.6-degree-above-’normal’ heat wave twenty years from now? ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? Those idiots. How insanely stupid are they? Do they judge their readers to be so apathetic as to be somehow deaf to all the other wall-to-wall, 24/7 ‘global warming’ propaganda that’s already being forced upon them from EVERY direction? They are deranged. I can’t believe a SPORTS MAGAZINE is putting out this trash out now. It’s TIMEINC, owners of the flailing CNN and failing TIME magazine. And there it is. What utter nonsense. These people are sick.
March 9, 2007 at 5:18 am
Aakash
Thank you so much for this information… for this helpful - and very informative! - analysis of this media coverage of this issue.
March 9, 2007 at 7:20 am
trailrunner
Thank you for pointing out yet another publication that has jumped onto the global warming bandwagon-and a sports magazine? Obviously, TIME magazine inc. wanted to use every possible avenue they have to preach their propaganda.
March 9, 2007 at 1:57 pm
PhilConners
Funny, I thought the latest SI issue involved swimsuits. I’m not one to completely dismiss our (collectively) impact on the planet’s environment, but I do not agree with and am getting frustrated by what seems to be an increasingly alarmist call to action over this particular point. I don’t plan on reading the article, since I am positive there will be no new, useful information contained within. (although the warmer summer temperatures may result in a need for more comfortable baseball uniforms made of new materials, which could have dramatic ramifications on the fashion industry as we know it:)
On the other hand, I think some people (Rush) do miss the bigger picture when make flip remarks about a ‘cold’ February WRT a warming climate and overlook how ‘warm’ Dec/Jan were. That notwithstanding, one day/month/season can’t be cited as evidence in a climate-based discussion anyway. In the short-term, it’s just weather.
March 9, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Flip
yes when it came in the mail yesterday, I about fell over with the assertions they made….Needless to say, subscription is now cancelled, and they know why
March 10, 2007 at 5:20 pm
novoburgo
Gee Randy, don’t hold back. Let us know exactly how you feel! Can we assume that high tide won’t be a concern in your future planning?
March 19, 2007 at 8:58 am
Joe Whatever
You all have fallen into the hype by this rubbish rebuttal. The SI article clearly states, “A warming planet doesn’t create hurricanes…” so your NOAA quotes merely restate what the other already claims.
I study energy and climate at Harvard. I’m a grad student there and I care about this stuff. I’m taking a class from a guy who has been writing the literature on global warming for 30 years and is a lead author of the World Energy Assessment. He also says you can’t “blame” global warming for hurricanes; what you can do is see from empirical evidence that frequency and intensity of natural climactic events is increasing, which is all the SI article claims.
My summary is this: the academic establishment at the world’s leading universities is behind the science. I commend SI for taking a risk connecting climate with sports. It’s not a partisan issue. Too bad you folks have to make it one.