Oct 2009: Losing Their Religion: 2009 officially declared year the media lost their faith in man-made global warming fears

Climate Depot Editorial – Serving as the Media’s Ombudsman

It has finally happened. We have reached the “tipping point.”

2009 can now be officially declared the year the media lost their faith in man-made global warming fears.

Significant organs of the mainstream media are now officially abandoning one-sided man-made global warming fear promotion and alleged claims that the “debate is over.”

The stunning media reversal has accelerated in recent weeks as top UN scientists have raised the specter of continued global cooling. See: UN Fears (More) Global Cooling Commeth! IPCC Scientist Warns UN: We may be about to enter ‘one or even 2 decades during which temps cool’ – Sept. 5, 2009

It appears at long last that media’s faith is waning. Appeals to authority about the alleged global warming “consensus” are now being met with a healthy dose of skepticism by increasing large portions of the mainstream media. Statements like UN IPCC lead author Kevin Trenberth that the UN IPCC “has spoken” no longer have the comforting effect on many key members of the journalistic flock. [Disclaimer: This declaration does not mean the battle to improve the media’s coverage of global warming is over. But it does mean that there have been significant developments in 2009 with the media’s coverage of climate change. Promoters of man-made climate fears will now need a major reformation to win back the faith of key members of the media.]

A steady stream of peer-reviewed studies, a continued lack of global warming, real world data and scientists continuing to dissent, have finally moved major establishment media outlets to report that the debate not only is “not over” but that skeptics may have been correct all along. [Note: Journalists are now sensing what Atmospheric physicist James A. Peden, formerly of the Space Research and Coordination Center in Pittsburgh, warned about in 2008. “Many [scientists] are now searching for a way to back out quietly (from promoting warming fears), without having their professional careers ruined,” Peden said.]

Close followers of climate science development foresaw this collapse of the science is “settled” reporting way back in 2006. Here is a breakdown of how the science of man-made global warming and the alleged “consensus” has fared since 2006.

1) 2006: Year of Vindication for Skeptics: Renowned Scientist Defects From Belief in Global Warming – Caps Year of Vindication for Skeptics

Ignorant Skeptics?: UN Scientist Prof. Trenberth says only ‘poorly informed’ scientists disagree with UN – Appeals to Authority: ‘The IPCC has spoken’

Climate Depot Editorial

Dr. Kevin Trenberth — head of the Climate Analysis Section at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, in Boulder CO and a UN IPCC lead author, claimed dissenting scientists were ignorant of the science behind man-made global warming. Trenberth also declared the debate over and wrote ‘the IPCC has spoken.”

“I have found that the only scientists who disagree with the IPCC report are those who have not read it and are poorly informed,” Trenberth, declared in an October 10, 2009 written debate with Hurricane guru Dr. Bill Gray, Professor Emeritus of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. See: Another climate debate: Dr. William Gray vs. UN IPCC’s Dr. Kevin Trenberth – October 10, 2009

The ‘IPCC HAS SPOKEN”

Trenberth appealed to authority in order to convince readers that man-made climate change was a threat to mankind.

“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has spoken: ‘Warming of the climate system is unequivocal’ and it is ‘very likely’ due to human activities,” Trenberth asserted.

Trenberth also claimed that the “IPCC process is very open.” Trenberth also added his own policy prescriptions to address global warming. “There is much that can be done, and America should lead. If done in the right way, benefits to the climate through reduced emissions save energy and promote the economy, while increasing sustainability,” he expalained.

Back in 2007, Trenberth surprised many with his candid comments about climate models. He admitted that the climate models touted by former Vice President Al Gore, the UN, the media and scientists are not predictions, but merely “story lines.”Climate Depot Response to Trenberth’s claim that only ‘poorly informed’ scientists disagree with UN IPCC’s spoken word.

“In fact there are no predictions by IPCC at all. And there never have been. The IPCC instead proffers ‘what if’ projections of future climate that correspond to certain emissions scenarios,” Trenberth wrote in journal Nature’s blog on June 4, 2007. Trenberth also admitted that the climate models have major shortcomings because “they do not consider many things like the recovery of the ozone layer, for instance, or observed trends in forcing agents. There is no estimate, even probabilistically, as to the likelihood of any emissions scenario and no best guess.” (LINK)

Climate Depot Responds

The simplest way to respond to Trenberth’s assertion is to let the latest scientific data, peer-reviewed studies and the UN’s own IPCC scientists speak for