The Perils of Cassandra

One of the things that costs global warming scientists credibility - other than the CRU data leak - is how the science gets reported in the news. I've linked to explanations of how science reporting gets done to show you the wincing scientist's side.

Another person has gathered up a tool that scrapes all the hyperbolic claims of the disasters due to befall us should we Not Do Something Now!

I give you the Catastrophe List.

Most of my readers are probably able to read a scientific report and look at an error bar. I want you to imagine how this looks to someone who gets most of their science news from breathless exhortations on CNN or Fox News.

Always there's something cited as proof of global warming; sometimes it is. Sometimes (like the Kilimanjaro glaciers), it turns out not to be the case....but the follow ups never happen because the 24/7 news cycle constantly needs New Crises To Alarm You and Keep You Tuned In! Like the comment from Orwell that the primary function of a state is to manufacture new existential threats to protect you from, the same applies to the 24/7 news services.

Can you say "Climate Apocalypse Fatigue"?