An earlier post of the errors/misrepresentations in a recent Lorne Gunter column in the National Post has attracted a host of comments and a few that further debunk Gunter’s passionately inaccurate talking points.
DeSmog reader Dave Clark, for example, offers this:
Yet another whopper from Gunter:
“Snow coverage in North America this winter was greater than at any time in recorded history.”
In fact, (according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) the 2008 January coverage at 17.0 million square kilometers was identical to the average for that month from 1973-2008. Years having equal or greater January snow coverage include every year from 1974-1985, except the marginally lower years of 1976 and 1980.
An earlier post of the errors/misrepresentations in a recent Lorne Gunter column in the National Post has attracted a host of comments and a few that further debunk Gunter’s passionately inaccurate talking points.
DeSmog reader Dave Clark, for example, offers this:
Yet another whopper from Gunter:
“Snow coverage in North America this winter was greater than at any time in recorded history.”
In fact, (according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) the 2008 January coverage at 17.0 million square kilometers was identical to the average for that month from 1973-2008. Years having equal or greater January snow coverage include every year from 1974-1985, except the marginally lower years of 1976 and 1980.
So, Gunter says that Al Gore is “calling on his country to abandon all fossil fuels within 10 years.”
That’s not true. Gore challenged the U.S. “to commit to producing 100 percent of our electricity from renewable energy and truly clean carbon-free sources within 10 years.”
Gunter says that “worldwide, there are nearly half as many glaciers advancing as retreating.”
That’s not true. Gunter’s own reference source says, “Climate change is causing roughly 90% of the world’s mountain glaciers to shrink.”
Gunter says, “Greenland isn’t melting.”
That’s not true. This NASA report – the most recent available – shows “that 2007 marked an overall rise in the melting trend over the entire Greenland ice sheet and, remarkably, melting in high-altitude areas was greater than ever at 150 percent more than average.”
Gunter says, “Snow coverage in North America this winter was greater than at any time in recorded history.”
Per the comment and impeccable scientific source above: THAT’S NOT TRUE.
More than 50 per cent of Canadians believe that there is still a legitimate scientific debate about whether human activities are causing climate change. That’s not true and hasn’t been for a long time, but you can hardly blame Canadians for being confused; when journalists (and journals) of record have this much contempt for science, truth and their unsuspecting readers, it’s completely to be expected.
Somebody should sack this character and should start insisting that his paper (and all the papers in the CanWest Global conglomerate) carry stories that are, well, true from now on.
