The NYT corrects a global temperature mistake – meanwhile, James Hansen’s ‘Jor-el’ complex worsens
Posted on January 20, 2013 by Anthony Watts
First, here is a letter from Harold Ambler which went ignored, he writes:
When I found a rather major error in a New York Times article about climate change, I took the trouble to write the editors. I did so via two channels. One of the two ways was sending a letter to the editorial page editors; the other was writing the Times‘ public editor. As I have not heard back from either, I have decided to publish my own letter below. I will add that it has been my experience that if I don’t hear back quickly from editors then I don’t hear back from them at all.
Dear Editor:
There is a tendency among those declaring the seriousness of global warming to equate small pieces of the climate puzzle, when those pieces support a narrative of disaster, with the whole picture, but this is neither good science nor good journalism.
In the Jan. 15 online edition Jada Smith falls prey to the temptation: ”With record-breaking global temperatures in 2012, severe droughts and several storms and hurricanes on the East Coast, some members of the American clergy are saying that human decisions that contribute to the extreme weather associated with climate change can no longer be left in the hands of politicians.”
The year 2012 was not a record-setting one for global temperatures. The United States, 1.5% of Earth’s surface, did experience record temperatures, and indeed clicking the first link for “global temperatures” brings one to another Times article about the American record.
The United States is a wonderful country, but it is not the world.
Harold Ambler
East Greenwich, RI
p.s. The global temperature ranking for 2012 is available here:
http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-blogs/climatechange/the-global-results-are-in-for/4206223
Second, Ambler adds today:
Sunday, January 20, 11:43 a.m. EST, update: Andy Revkin kindly took the time to make sure the right set of eyes fell on a third letter I wrote, and the Times has fixed the piece and issued a formal correction. To Andy I offer my sincere thanks. With my book focusing in part on a century-long habit of promulgating climate fear at the Times it is gratifying to have the paper catch an accurate glimpse of its own reflection in the blogosphere mirror, if even for a moment. By the way, a screencap of the original article with the mistake is below (beneath that the original blog post can be found).
Read his entire post here: New York Times Sets Bar Just a Little Higher for Climate Misinformation
Here’s what the NYT eco-reporter, Jada F. Smith, added to the end of the story:
An earlier version of this post misstated the nature of a temperature record set in 2012. It was the hottest year ever in the United States, not in the world as a whole. (Global temperatures were the ninth or 10th hottest ever, depending on the basis of the measurements.)
Kudos to both Harold Ambler and Andrew Revkin for working to fix this bit of unwarranted alarmism. I have to laugh though, reading the article, because it clearly links climate alarmism and religion together. The photo that was widely distributed of the “pray in” march is hilariously iconic, worthy of some of the parades seen in San Francisco.
Leading the religious parade at the front is NASA GISS Dr. James Hansen, who’s “ got the whole world in his hands“.
 Activists march on the White House demanding action on climate change – Erika Bolstad /McClatchy
Carrying a beach ball-sized Earth, Hansen led the interfaith protesters the two blocks from the church to the White House. Others carried banners saying “God calls to us all: Heal the Earth.” The march along wet streets was silent but for a small troupe of Buddhist drummers.
“We have a dream that our president will understand the intergenerational injustice of human-made climate change,” Hansen said when they arrived. “That he will recognize our duty to be caretakers of creation, of the land, of the life on our planet. And that he will give these matters the priority that our young people deserve.”
Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2013/01/15/2591369/climate-change-activists-turn.html#.UPwo3KxZO20#storylink=cpy
As Steve McIntyre once quipped, Hansen clearly has a “Jor-el” complex, and it seems to be worsening:
It’s as though Hansen, who grew up in the 1930s and 1940s, has a Jor-El complex: Jor-El being familiar to young boys of a certain age as Superman’s father who (per Wikipedia):
“was a highly respected scientist on the planet Krypton before its destruction. He foresaw the planet’s fate, but was unable to convince his colleagues in time to save their race. Jor-El was, however, able to save his infant son, Kal-El, sending him in a homemade rocketship to the planet Earth just moments before Krypton’s demise.
It is worthwhile to go back and review McIntyre’s essay from 2007:
Hansen and the “Destruction of Creation”
Maybe when things get ‘really desperate’ NASA’s Dr. James Hansen will send Scott “super” Mandia off in a rocket ship?
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