Bjorn Lonborg notes that the media routinely misrepresent the results of climate research:
None of this is news to many of us. What is significant to me is that Lonborg's article appeared in a decidedly left of center publication like Slate, which suggests that the era of Gorish hysteria about climate change is finally, and deservedly, over.
Read it here.
Scary climate stories rely on a simple narrative: More CO2 means more environmental damage and death—and the only way to address it is to cut carbon emissions. While this makes for a catchy political message, it has the distinct disadvantage of being wrong.In the process negative effects of global warming are grossly exaggerated while beneficial effects are ignored. The result is unwarranted public alarm and pressure to undertake foolish and counter-productive public policies. Lonborg is by no means a global warming denier, and he accepts that the IPCC data are generally pretty good, but he insists that they be interpreted in a reasonable manner, and that is where the media let us down. In search of scary headlines, they seriously distort the results of climate science and in doing so they perform a terrible disservice to the peoples of the world.
None of this is news to many of us. What is significant to me is that Lonborg's article appeared in a decidedly left of center publication like Slate, which suggests that the era of Gorish hysteria about climate change is finally, and deservedly, over.
Read it here.
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