In this article the journalist/reporter presents all the major script lines of the man made climate change message.
It is an example of what Donna LaFramboise referred to here
“Experts imagining they know what will happen next. Journalists pretending that experts know what they’re talking about.”
Chris Arsenault parroted the academic ‘experts’.
His first sentence contains the unjustified belief that gets repeated as if it were true and unchallenged.
Despite a scientific consensus that human activity is causing the planet to warm up
Does Chris assume there is a consensus because that’s what he has heard? Is he unaware that there are scientific challenges to this assertion? We are told incessantly, as if it is their most prized and irrefutable argument for man made climate change, that there is a consensus among climate scientists that the climate is changing and it is our fault.
Was it Aquinas who advised: Ask not who made the claim ask if the claim is true. If it were possible to resurrect him and bring Aquinas forward into our age it is probable that he would like to add a corollary to his epithet. Ask not how many made the claim ask if the claim is true. The who and how many are red herrings designed to draw your attention away from whether the claim is true. Consensus is an argument for the simpleminded and if presented as a valid argument on a logic exam it would attract an ‘X’ in the margin.
Who would use such invalid arguments? Why would they need them?
Mutual agreement proves mutual agreement. It does not prove truth.
Bertrand Russell knew about consensus: "The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a widespread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible.”
Has Russell identified the phenomenon of groupthink?
Chris understands the following correctly:
Both groups generally agree that climate change is real, according to the study based on an Internet survey of U.S. residents. But the two camps differ on whether human activity is causing warming.
But is he aware of the ruckus that was raised by the statement from NOAA that Chris alludes to?
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in January that 2014 was the warmest year since records began in the late 19th century.
Chris continues the party line.
U.N. experts believe it’s 95 percent likely that human activities, including the burning of fossil fuels, are causing the planet to warm.
And what do the experts say caused the planet to warm in the past? Are they sure that the same forces aren’t responsible for the late 20th century warming they are so concerned about? With the divergence between their global climate models which expect a warmer world than reality is providing perhaps it is 95% certain that they don’t know what they are talking about.
Some scientists may say the following but some do not. Is Chris aware of the skeptic objections to these beliefs or is he deliberately leaving them out? Is he a parrot, biased or ignorant?
Inaction is leading to serious consequences including rising sea levels, wild weather patterns and a loss of biodiversity, scientists say.
Sea levels have been rising since the end of the last ice age long before we were driving SUVs. What caused them to start rising? Chris?
Some recent research points to a slowdown in the rise of the seas. From ClimateDepot.com:
Parroting the script gets you an easy article but are you concerned about the truth in it?
Data destroys dogma and the truth is in the details.
We need fewer “journalists pretending that experts know what they’re talking about.”
