Stating the bleeding obvious about climate science earns headlines
Tony Abbott merely states what no real scientist could argue with. Things are not quite as settled in climate science as people say. For this tiny deviation from the permitted line he is isolated and depicted in a headline as “questioning science” when he’s really just questioning propaganda lines.
The editors of both AAP and The Australian could have chosen a different headline: Abbott declares “we only have one planet”. But in headline-world, which is often the only line people will read, Abbott is made out to be saying something risky. Imagine, I am Spartacus, if every single conservative politician said “of course — Climate science isn’t perfect.” But almost none of them have the balls.
Abbott questions climate change science
AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS, The Australian
Tony Abbott has questioned the “so-called settled” science about climate change, a month after dropping his view that Australia should pull out of the Paris climate agreement.
The former prime minister insisted he was a realist when asked about his position on climate change during his election campaign launch in Manly on Friday.
“The so-called settled science is not quite as settled as people say, and that’s my position,” he told reporters.
“Nevertheless we have only got one planet; we should do what we reasonably can to rest lightly upon it.”
Despite this questioning, Mr Abbott said he does believe climate change happens and that mankind makes a contribution.
“We should do what we reasonably can to reduce emissions,” he said.
“What we shouldn’t do though, is turn our economy upside down in what turns out to be a futile green gesture.”
It’s hard to believe with statements so banal and ordinary are worth a mention, let alone a headline. But such is the paralyzing grip of fashion and religion in Australia.
The climate science tally of failure:
The IPCC’s top scientists can’t predict the climate on a local, regional, or continental scale, 98% of Climate Models cannot explain why global warming slowed for years, models get the core assumptions wrong – the hot spot is still missing, (that’s the only fingerprint they said mattered, right up until they couldn’t find it). They can’t explain the pause, the cause or the long term historic climate movements either. Measurements of satellites, cloud cover changes, 3,000 ocean buoys, 6,000 boreholes, a thousand tide gauges, and 28 million weather balloons looking at temperature or humidity can’t find the warming that the models predict. In the oceans, the warming isn’t statistically significant, sea-levels started rising too early, aren’t rising fast enough, aren’t accelerating, nor are warming anywhere near as much as they predicted. Antarctica was supposed to be warming faster than almost anywhere but they were totally wrong. The vast Southern Ocean is cooling not warming. The only part of Antarctica that’s warming sits on top of a volcano chain they prefer not to tell you about.
Some scientists are behaving badly: hiding data, declines, history, adjustments and methods. Thousands of other scientists are protesting all over the internet. Tony Abbott is merely saying what most engineers and geologists, and half of the worlds meteorologists, and climate scientists would say.