Last week, UK's Channel 4 ran a documentary called "The Great Global Warming Swindle." It was standard hackery, exciting and titillating to all the standard hacks.
Should you have nothing better to do, you can drop by RealClimate for a debunking of some of the doc's claims, and also hear from a scientist whose views were (shockingly!) completely distorted by the producers -- apparently they conned the guy into participating.
The long, ugly decline of the denialists ...
Update [2007-3-12 15:37:31 by David Roberts]: Oh, and while you're over there, take note that climate change isn't caused by cosmic rays, though cosmic rays did cause some warming in this guy.
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scatter Posted 8:00 pm
12 Mar 2007
http://snipurl.com/swindle
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dotcommodity Posted 11:35 pm
12 Mar 2007
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Junkk Male2 Posted 12:16 am
13 Mar 2007
For those who may not have had a chance to see it, you can get a flavour of the offending piece here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6IPHmJWmDk ... for now.
I'm afraid that no matter what else I may think, I would feel unable to dismiss it as standard hackery, even if I think I understand what that term is trying to conjure up.
I'd hazard that, to your average Joe on their sofa, this is slick, calm, considered, credible, easy on the eye and ear, with a large selection of talking heads with impressive titles (the co-founder of Greenpeace! That blew me away, I have to admit, though being unaware for now what the back story is or may be. Doubtless I will be advised that he is 'discredited'). I also have to say that some of the factual footage of techniques used to discredit these 'deniers' was handled... convincingly.
I might add that it's all a bit like stuff I get fed by what might call the 'other side'.
So I was/am seduced in part, and will have to delve more to try and weigh what is said and by whom against alternatives. Hence I will try to get what may approximate to actuality inbetween the two, sadly usually as served up by compliant and/or often complicit media with agendas of their own (principally this is a rating point rather than any desire to educate or inform objectively, else we would see well-balanced debates stocked with all sides. So the remark about the environmental journalism industry having a vested interest in keeping the frenzy at fever pitch is noted, but rather undermined by the fact that there seems a very healthy anti-environmentalism industry turning a healthy buck too. It would be nice to get past all this, move on and let the whole lot get a real job at Starbucks).
Most time-poor folk are unlikely to do so.
So it's possibly a shame that the majority of the UK population, and even those who tuned in to Against Nature, won't ever read George Monbiot's rebuttal, as opposed to watching a primetime TV show or even a more highbrow niche news piece, such as BBC 2's Newsnight - http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/newsnight/2007/03/monday_12_ma ...
If it caused a sensation anywhere, it's not too much of one as that was about all I could find here by way of mass media.
He makes good points, but it's also a pity all comment is closed on Mr. Monbiot's piece (the link is to his own site) already. However, I am not sure he is too worried about critics: http://junkk.blogspot.com/2007/03/george-of-rumble.html Look out Richard Branson (and those who stand beside him), George is watching!
I just wanted to ask what 'syllogism' meant. I'm personally of the view that staying so highbrow is not the best way to get the punters onside with anything else you may go on to say, though I'm sure it makes your posh mates dead impressed and start blogging away in awe.
But, if we are really trying to effect positive change, whose interests are being served first, if at all, by such an approach?
If you can be bothered, here's a link to another very heavy set of academic to & fros to see an example of death match shuffleboard on the Titanic, with the winner left to rearrange the deckchairs.
http://junkk.blogspot.com/2007/03/weekend-of-planet-repor ...
All together now... hit it, Celine...!
Back to the shed. I don't know what I don't know. But I do know that it has to be worth any and all ways to do things to reduce waste, improve efficiencies and, at least, consider acceptable ways to start reduction.
Ignoring GW/CC completely, simple maths shows the value of this. One spherical planet, with a finite livable area with an equally finite area for sustaining resources. And an ever-expanding population, many of whom can afford and even more of whom will soon be able to afford all sorts of 'stuff' and travel.
There has to be a point where that circle cannot be squared.
Do before you talk. Then share. If it's also fun and inspiring, people will want to read more. They may even be inspired follow your example.
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scatter Posted 12:28 am
13 Mar 2007
I agree that not many will see the rebuttals. I've spoken to a few of my friends in real life and others on forums who've seen this and I was staggered by how readily they accepted this programme.
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Delay And Deny Posted 2:18 am
13 Mar 2007
You offer a rebuttal without an argument!
Silly, Grist, tricks are for kids...
The Texeme Construct offers international text memetics construction and textcasting services. http://www.you-read-it-here-first.com
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scatter Posted 2:40 am
13 Mar 2007
Pt2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D2WB71k44o
Pt3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROpkcESEXPc
Pt4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ0DD5xUvuw
You can find Parts 5,6,7 and 8 yourself. It does go on a bit...
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Delay And Deny Posted 3:05 am
13 Mar 2007
Global Warming Swindle Bittorents
The Texeme Construct offers international text memetics construction and textcasting services. http://www.you-read-it-here-first.com
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GreyFlcn Posted 7:51 am
13 Mar 2007
Patrick Moore is not a GreenPeace CoFounder
He's paid greenwashing consultant, and has been for the past 15 years.
Here's his website
http://www.greenspiritstrategies.com/F6.cfm
And here's Moores history
http://www.freepress.org/columns/display/7/2007/1502
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Various Debunking of this show:
http://www.jri.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&ta ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,2032570,00 ...
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/03/swi ...
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TokyoTom Posted 10:14 pm
13 Mar 2007
http://www.medialens.org/alerts/07/0313pure_propaganda_th ...
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GreyFlcn Posted 4:44 am
17 Mar 2007
"Dr Leroi was concerned about..a correlation between solar activity and global temperatures..revealed as flawed by subsequent research by Peter Laut"
In an e-mail exchange leaked to The Times, Martin Durkin, the executive producer of The Great Global Warming Swindle, responded "Never mind an irresponsible bit of film-making. Go and f*** yourself".
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article1 ...
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GreyFlcn Posted 10:01 am
17 Mar 2007
Goes off to explain how the graphs used were factually wrong, and based off of outdated distorted information from a climate skeptic group.
Infact the last few years of the graph were actually drawn in by the producers.
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/climate_change/ ...
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Overall what a load of bull.
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Werdna Posted 4:08 pm
18 Mar 2007
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4520665474899458 ...
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GreyFlcn Posted 5:07 pm
18 Mar 2007
http://www.climatescience.gov/Library/sap/sap1-1/finalrep ...
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2005/08/et- ...
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/03/swi ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_temperature_measur ...
http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/03/swi ...
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You guys need to make a "Tropospheric Temperatures" section on your Climate Skeptic primer.
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GreyFlcn Posted 5:10 pm
18 Mar 2007
Linking up each arguement in the film with it's associated debunk.
_
Would be an awesome quick reference to refer the malinformed to.
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GreyFlcn Posted 4:41 pm
19 Mar 2007
Grabbed that clip of the reply to this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0qlXDkRKxE
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GreyFlcn Posted 5:04 am
21 Mar 2007
Turns out this film was put together by diehard members of the Revolutionary Communist Party.
Martin Durkin is a genuine communist in this day and age :P
http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q= ...
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GreyFlcn Posted 10:12 am
13 Jul 2007
http://greyfalcon.net/durkin
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