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https://science.feedback.org/review/sea-levels-have-risen-throughout-the-20th-century-contrary-to-claim-in-online-article/ | Inaccurate | Breitbart, Signs of the Times, James Delingpole, Vicki Batts, 2019-05-28 | Scientists were caught 'adjusting' sea level data to create false impression of rising oceans | null | Factually Inaccurate: Multiple lines of evidence demonstrate that sea level rise occurred throughout the 20th century. Misleading: The claim that scientists were caught “adjusting” sea level data misrepresents the process scientists use to account for potential errors in historical sea level data. Cherry-picking: The c... | Global average sea level has risen throughout the 20th century and continues to rise at an accelerating rate. Sea level rise primarily results from glacial ice melting and the expansion of seawater as it warms. Scientists do not arbitrarily adjust sea level data, but instead compare sea level measurements to stable ben... | Scientists were caught 'adjusting' sea level data to create false impression of rising oceans [...] Scientists have found that sea levels are stable - and have been for the entirety of the 20<sup>th</sup> century. | null | Summary: The claim that sea levels have remained stable throughout the 20thcentury appeared in several outlets, including Breitbart and Signs of the Times, going viral in early 2020 with more than 800,000 views for the two articles on Facebook over the past three months. It contradicts numerous studies that clearly dem... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/noaa-does-not-fraudulently-adjust-data-to-create-the-illusion-of-a-global-warming-trend-investors/ | Inaccurate | Investors' Business Daily, Anonymous, 2018-03-29 | Using complex statistical models, [NOAA] change[s] the data to reflect not reality, but their underlying theories of global warming. | null | Factually Inaccurate: It is not true that data adjustments have falsely created the appearance of a global warming trend. Adjustments to temperature datasets are routinely performed to remove sources of error. Without these adjustments, the global warming trend since the late 1800s would in fact appear greater than it ... | Scientists routinely adjust temperature data to correct errors due to weather stations being moved to different locations or instruments being changed.. Historical changes to U.S. stations have caused the number of upward and downward temperature adjustments to be unequal, but this is not representative of the entire w... | Using complex statistical models, [NOAA] change[s] the data to reflect not reality, but their underlying theories of global warming[...] all of their temperature adjustments lean cooler in the distant past, and warmer in the more recent past. | null | Peter Thorne Professor, Maynooth University: [This comment was initially provided in response to a similar claim.] The central tenet of the claim appears to be that NOAA are nefariously adjusting past temperatures to be colder with the effect of making recent temperatures appear warmer. NOAA do, indeed, adjust historic... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/co2-emissions-from-human-activities-have-imbalanced-the-atmospheric-carbon-budget-significantly-contributing-to-climate-change-contrary-to-online-claim-issues-insights/ | Misleading | Issues & Insights, I&I Editorial Board, 2019-08-26 | Less than 5% of carbon dioxide emissions are produced by man [... they] can’t cause 30% of today’s atmospheric carbon dioxide | null | Fails to grasp significance of observation: Human activities produce less carbon dioxide than natural processes, but this does not mean that human-caused emissions are insignificant in the atmospheric carbon budget. Carbon dioxide emissions produced by humans since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution have brough... | Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas released by natural processes as well as by human activities. The rapid rise in carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels beginning during the Industrial Revolution upset the natural balance in the global carbon cycle. Human-caused carbon emissions outpaced the ability of natural car... | Less than 5% of carbon dioxide emissions are produced by man. [...] Human carbon dioxide, which is less than 5% of natural carbon dioxide, can’t cause 30% of today’s atmospheric carbon dioxide | 1 – Rubino et al (2013)A revised 1000 year atmospheric δ13C‐CO2 record from Law Dome and South Pole, Antarctica, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 2 – Climate Change 2014: Synthesis Report of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. Contribution of Working Groups I, II, and III to the Fifth Assessment Report of the... | Summary: This claim, which was published in August 2019 on the website Issues & Insights in an article titled “A Short List Of Facts Global Warming Alarmists Don’t Want To Face”, has been viewed more than 105,000 times on Facebook in the last three months. The article argues that, since human emissions of carbon dioxid... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/claims-of-a-coming-30-year-mini-ice-age-are-not-supported-by-science-the-sun/ | Incorrect | Express, The Sun, Harry Pettit, Sean Martin, 2020-02-02 | Earth about to enter 30-YEAR ‘Mini Ice Age’ | null | Factually Inaccurate: The most recent forecast from NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (from December 2019) predicts that the next solar cycle will be similar to the one that is currently ending. Misleading: Even if an extended "grand solar minimum" were to occur, it would not produce marked global cooling. | Scientists cannot predict whether grand solar minimum, which is a decades-long period of lower solar activity, is coming. But even if one occurred, the consequences for average global temperatures would be minimal. Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions will continue to impact average temperatures much more strongly tha... | EARTH could be braced for a ‘mini ICE-AGE' as experts warn a solar minimum could last until the 2050s. [...] According to Nasa, the Sun will reach its lowest activity in over 200 years in 2020. | null | UPDATE (12 Feb. 2020): The Sun has significantly rewritten this article, including changing the headline to “Claim that Earth will enter ‘mini Ice Age’ for 30 years is wrong, top scientists reveal“. It now reads, in part: “One researcher warned that the Sun entering a natural ‘hibernation’ would trigger food shortages ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/simple-measurements-demonstrate-that-co2-is-a-greenhouse-gas-tim-ball/ | Inaccurate | Technocracy.news, Tim Ball, 2018-09-13 | CO2 is not a greenhouse gas. | null | Factually Inaccurate: The behavior of CO2 as a greenhouse gas is a consequence of basic physics and can be confirmed by simple measurements. Flawed Reasoning: The fact that CO2 can act as a feedback to climate changes triggered by other factors in no way shows that it isn't a greenhouse gas. | Laboratory measurements first established that CO2 is a greenhouse gas in the 1850s—a result that is easily confirmed today. This means that it absorbs radiation at infrared wavelengths, allowing sunlight to pass through to the Earth but trapping heat that is emitted back to space. | The most important assumption behind the AGW theory is that an increase in global atmospheric CO2 will cause an increase in the average annual global temperature. The problem is that in every record of temperature and CO2, the temperature changes first. Think about what I am saying. The basic assumption on which the en... | null | Greenhouse gases are gases that allow sunlight to pass through, but absorb infrared radiation (heat) emitted by the Earth back toward space. They do this because the molecules are only excited by radiation at very specific wavelengths (a consequence of quantum mechanics). In greenhouse gases, those wavelengths are main... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/facebook-meme-incorrectly-claims-past-climate-variations-contradict-human-influence-on-current-climate/ | Incorrect | Facebook, Anonymous, 2020-01-02 | The idea that 'climate change' is new or is caused by Humans is nonsense. | null | Flawed reasoning: The existence of "natural" climate changes in the past does not mean human activities are incapable of causing climate change today. Fails to provide correct physical explanation: Multiple lines of evidence demonstrate that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are causing global warming. | Many lines of evidence have enabled scientists to conclude that humans are responsible for global warming. Physics dictates that increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere trap additional heat in Earth's climate system, and human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases have increased those concentratio... | The environment of Earth has been continually changing for 4.5 billion years! The idea that 'climate change' is new or is caused by Humans is nonsense. | null | A meme that has been widely shared on social media claims that human influence on climate is nonsense because the climate has changed in the past. Climate changes in Earth’s past are known because they have been studied by climate scientists and geologists. Past events have been caused by factors such as slow-changing ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/climate-change-bushfires-australia-breitbart-newspunch/ | Misleading | Breitbart, NewsPunch, Paul Joseph Watson, Sean Adl-Tabatabai, Thomas D. Williams, 2020-01-05 | the bushfires [in Australia] were caused by arsonists and a series of lightning strikes, not 'climate change' | null | Misrepresents a complex reality: While authorities in Australia are investigating the source of some of the bushfires, this does not preclude other factors from being important for some aspects of these fires. For instance, the magnitude of wildfires is controlled primarily by the conditions of the fuels. Unsupported: ... | The important contribution of climate change to fires is not in starting fires (although increases in lightning are possible) but in making fuels drier. The current fires in Australia are not so extreme because fires were sparked, but because 2019 was the hottest and driest year on record, with dry and windy weather pa... | Authorities in Australia have confirmed the bushfires were caused by arsonists and a series of lightning strikes, not 'climate change' as many activists have claimed. | 1- Mariani et al (2018) Climate Change Amplifications of Climate‐Fire Teleconnections in the Southern Hemisphere, Geophysical Research Letters 2- Di Virgilio et al (2019) Climate Change Increases the Potential for Extreme Wildfires, Geophysical Research Letters 3- Cai et al (2013) Projected response of the Indian Ocean... | Dozens of outlets, blogs and social media users have made the claim that climate change has no influence on the bushfires currently burning record areas in Australia because authorities are investigating who or what started some of these fires, suspecting some fires were ignited by people and many more by lightning. Th... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/volcanic-co2-emissions-are-known-to-be-much-smaller-than-human-caused-emissions-james-edward-kamis/ | Inaccurate | Principia Scientific, James Edward Kamis, 2018-11-07 | Discovery Of Massive Volcanic CO2 Emissions Discredits Global Warming Theory | null | Factually Inaccurate: Scientists have established that volcanic emissions are small compared to human-caused emissions. | This article claims that volcanic sources of carbon dioxide are poorly understood and could well be the cause of modern global warming, rather than human activities. In reality, current annual human-caused emissions are at least 100 times greater than all volcanic emissions. | Discovery Of Massive Volcanic CO2 Emissions Discredits Global Warming Theory [...] All indications are that Earth is currently experiencing another period of strong volcanic activity which is acting to infuse CO2 into our atmosphere thereby challenging the validity of the global warming theory. | null | Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere by volcanic eruptions—as well as by passive venting around volcanoes that are not erupting. The amount of CO2 emitted varies from one volcanic feature to another, and varies with time, which makes quantifying global emissions a challenge. However, there are multiple ways o... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/article-falsely-attributes-invented-quotes-to-james-hansen-dmitry-baxter/ | Inaccurate | NewsPunch, Principia Scientific, Your News Wire, Baxter Dmitry, 2018-07-08 | Father of Global Warming’ Scientist Finally Admits Theory Is Wrong | null | Factually Inaccurate: The headline and article attribute false quotes to scientist James Hansen, who never said them. Misleading: The article fails to accurately explain the characteristics of the greenhouse gas scenarios used in Hansen's 1988 model simulations, or how those scenarios compare to the emissions that actu... | This article falsely attributes quotes to NASA climate scientist James Hansen, when these statements are actually the opinions of others. It also misrepresents 1988 projections of global warming produced by Hansen and his colleagues, which were, in reality, accurate. | ‘Father of Global Warming’ Scientist Finally Admits Theory Is Wrong [...] a new study that compares real-world data to the original Scenario B model — finding no correlation — has received Hansen’s backing, with the “Father of global warming” admitting he is “devastated” by the way his data has been used by climate ala... | null | This article, republished from NewsPunch (formerly Your News Wire) by Principia Scientific, quotes a Western Journal commentary that itself quotes from a separate blog post and a Wall Street Journal op-ed. Along the way, claims made by other people were turned into quotes attributed to scientist James Hansen—but he nev... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/ice-cube-meme-misrepresents-physics-of-sea-level-rise-to-claim-melting-ice-has-no-effect/ | Incorrect | Facebook, Anonymous, 2019-12-11 | [Photo] A little science lesson for the #idiots at the global warming conference. Ice berg melts, ocean level remains the same. | null | Flawed Reasoning: Floating ice that melts does not appreciably raise the water level, but melting land ice—or placing ice cubes in a glass—does. | Global sea level rise is caused primarily by two processes: (1) the expansion of seawater as its temperature increases and (2) the melting of glacial ice on land. It is well known that the melting of floating ice does not play a role. | A little science lesson for the #idiots at the global warming conference. Ice berg melts, ocean level remains the same. | null | This meme, which has spread widely on Facebook, implies that the science of human-caused global sea level rise is based on the faulty assumption that floating ice raises sea level as it melts. However, a critical step is missing in this set of “before-and-after” photos: the water level before the ice cubes were placed ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/1977-coming-ice-age-time-magazine-cover-is-a-fake/ | Inaccurate | Facebook, Anonymous, 2019-12-11 | When the exact same group of 'experts' who claimed it was global cooling in 1977 now claim it's global warming you can easily see why I am skeptical | null | Factually Inaccurate: The 1977 Time magazine cover shown in this image is fake and it is not true that climate science predicted global cooling in the 1970s. | This meme utilizes a widely circulated fake image purporting to show a 1977 Time magazine story titled "How To Survive The Coming Ice Age". The cover is actually from 2007, for a story titled "The Global Warming Survival Guide". While a claim of global cooling did appear a couple times in the 1970s in popular media, th... | When the exact same group of 'experts' who claimed it was global cooling in 1977 now claim it's global warming you can easily see why I am skeptical | null | The images included as part of this meme. There are many versions of memes like this one (which is currently being shared widely on Facebook) seeking to disregard the conclusions of climate science on the false premise that the issue of human-caused global warming replaced warnings of global cooling from the 1970s. Mos... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/abc-article-effectively-illustrates-important-climate-trends-for-australian-readers-tim-leslie-joshua-byrd-nathan-hoad/ | 1.7 | Australian Broadcasting Corporation, by Joshua Byrd, Nathan Hoad, Tim Leslie, on 2019-12-05. | null | "See how global warming has changed the world since your childhood" | null | null | null | null | This interactive article at ABC allows readers to enter their year of birth and see how temperatures have changed in their lifetime in relatable ways. It also describes projections for future change in Australia, including extremes like heatwaves and bushfires. The article highlights the difference between projections ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/ian-plimer-op-ed-in-the-australian-again-presents-long-list-of-false-claims-about-climate/ | -2 | The Australian, by Ian Plimer, on 2019-11-22. | null | "Let’s not pollute minds with carbon fears" | null | null | null | null | This op-ed in The Australian by Ian Plimer, titled “Let’s not pollute minds with carbon fears”, makes many claims: that polar ice is not melting, that human-caused CO2 emissions can’t cause climate change, that all life on Earth would die if CO2 levels dropped to half of current levels, and so on. None of these things ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/bedrock-heat-flow-studies-made-no-claim-about-human-caused-melting-climate-change-dispatch-james-edward-kamis/ | Inaccurate | Climate Change Dispatch, James Edward Kamis, 2018-08-07 | [A] series of just-released studies by working-level scientists prove that geological and not atmospheric forces are responsible for melting of Earth’s polar ice sheets. | null | Misrepresents source: These studies do not support the article's claim and say nothing that challenges the human cause of glacial ice loss. | The studies that this article points to make no such claim. This research characterizes the varying temperature conditions at the base of glaciers that cause them to either freeze to the ground or sit on thawed ground. This has important implications for understanding how different portions of the ice sheet will respon... | In what amounts to dissension from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) climate change policy, a series of just-released studies by working-level scientists prove that geological and not atmospheric forces are responsible for melting of Earth’s polar ice sheets. | null | This article at Climate Change Dispatch points to two studies published on geothermal heat flow beneath ice sheets to support its claim: one on the Greenland Ice Sheet1 and one on a portion of Antarctica2. However, neither study makes or supports the claim that geothermal heat—rather than human-caused global warming—is... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/new-york-times-op-ed-claiming-scientists-underestimated-climate-change-lacks-supporting-evidence-eugene-linden/ | -0.8 | The New York Times, by Eugene Linden, on 2019-11-08. | null | "How Scientists Got Climate Change So Wrong" | null | null | null | null | This op-ed by author Eugene Linden, published under the headline “How Scientists Got Climate Change So Wrong”, argues that climate scientists have long underestimated climate change. The article discusses the state of science as far back as the 1950s but focuses on the period since the 1990s, claiming that we are now s... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/claim-of-a-coming-ice-age-misrepresents-the-study-it-relies-on/ | Incorrect | Daily Mail, Fox News, Chris Ciaccia, Stacy Liberatore, 2019-10-31 | Scientists studying Antarctica sea ice warn a rise in accumulation could spark the next ice age. | null | Misrepresents source: The study this article is based on does not make or support this claim. The study relates to changes in past ice age periods, which were driven by slow-changing cycles in Earth's orbit. Flawed reasoning: The fact that past changes in Antarctic sea ice extent can help explain natural ice age swing... | This article refers to a study of past ice ages, when warming or cooling caused by cycles in Earth's orbit was amplified by increasing/decreasing greenhouse gases. The study does not claim this process can trigger an ice age, nor does it claim that this could reverse modern warming. Scientists expect the world to conti... | Scientists studying Antarctica sea ice warn a rise in accumulation could spark the next ice age. Computer simulations show that an explosion in ice circling the frozen desert would act as a lid on the ocean and block it from exchanging carbon dioxide with the atmosphere. This is capable of causing a reverse greenhouse ... | null | The claim of a coming ice age was originally made by Stacy Liberatore at the Daily Mail and Chris Ciaccia at Fox News. However, the authors of the study have explained that these stories misunderstand their research, see Dr Jansen’s comment below and Dr Marzocchi’s on Twitter: Once again, we do NOT claim anything like ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/human-activities-release-far-more-carbon-dioxide-than-volcanoes-do/ | Inaccurate | Facebook, Anonymous, 2019-08-19 | That one little burp by Mt. Etna has already put more than 10,000 times the CO2 into the atmosphere than mankind has in our entire time on the Earth | null | Factually inaccurate: Each year, humans emit far more CO2 than all eruptions around the world combined. | It's true that carbon dioxide is among the gases emitted by volcanic activity. However, it's clear from several lines of evidence that human activities are producing far more carbon dioxide, and volcanoes are not responsible for the observed increase in greenhouse gases. | That one little burp by Mt. Etna has already put more than 10,000 times the CO2 into the atmosphere than mankind has in our entire time on the Earth but don't worry, a scam is in the works to tax you for your miniscule footprint… | null | Carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere by volcanic eruptions—as well as by passive venting around volcanoes that are not erupting. The amount of CO2 emitted varies from one volcanic feature to another, and varies with time, which makes quantifying global emissions a challenge. However, there are multiple ways o... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/letter-to-un-was-not-signed-by-500-experts-on-climate-science-breitbart/ | Misleading | Breitbart, Thomas D. Williams, 2019-09-24 | 500 Scientists Write U.N.: ‘There Is No Climate Emergency’.... More than 500 scientists and professionals in climate and related fields have sent a 'European Climate Declaration' to the Secretary-General of the United Nations | null | Misleading: The article gives the impression that these 500 signatories are scientists or experts in the field of climate science, but in reality very few have any research experience related to climate change. Most of the signers are engineers, business professionals, or study non-climate topics in other academic fiel... | The vast majority of those who signed this letter are either scientists without expertise in climate science or are not scientists. Most are professionals who work or worked in other science disciplines or non-science fields such as business and law. Moreover, most of the letter's claims about climate change are contra... | 500 Scientists Write U.N.: ‘There Is No Climate Emergency’.... More than 500 scientists and professionals in climate and related fields have sent a 'European Climate Declaration' to the Secretary-General of the United Nations | null | The headline describes the signers as “500 scientists”, and they are later described as “500 scientists and professionals in climate and related fields”. Both descriptions are false, as the list contains many people who are not scientists, and more importantly, almost none of them have research experience related to cl... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/photo-meme-of-sydney-harbour-incorrectly-claims-no-sea-level-rise-has-occurred/ | Inaccurate | Facebook, Anonymous, 2018-10-12 | Unprecedented climate change has caused sea level at Sydney Harbour to rise approximately 0.0 cm over the past 140 years. | null | Factually Inaccurate: Measurements at this location show that sea level rise has occurred. Misrepresents a Complex Reality: Because tides rise and fall along the coast, a pair of photos taken at different tide phases cannot show you whether long-term sea level rise has occurred. | This meme presents two photos of Fort Denison in Sydney Harbour, claiming they prove that no sea level rise has occurred. However, long-term tide gauge records at that very location (and elsewhere) clearly record sea level rise. These photos do not give the viewer enough information to determine how much sea level rise... | Unprecedented climate change has caused sea level at Sydney Harbour to rise approximately 0.0 cm over the past 140 years. | 1- White et al (2014) Australian sea levels—Trends, regional variability and influencing factors, Earth-Science Reviews 2- Peltier et al (2017) Comment on “An Assessment of the ICE‐6G_C (VM5a) Glacial Isostatic Adjustment Model” by Purcell et al, Journal of Geophysical Research – Solid Earth | Screenshot illustrating one version of this meme that has been shared online. John Hunter Research Associate, University of Tasmania: The maximum range of the variability in water level due to tides and storm surges at “Sydney Harbour” (the location shown is actually Fort Denison) is around 2 metres (i.e. it varies aro... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/telegraph-article-misleads-with-false-balance-mixing-in-unsupported-and-inaccurate-claims-sarah-knapton/ | -1.7 | The Telegraph, by Sarah Knapton, on 2019-10-15. | null | "Climate change: fake news or global threat? This is the science" | null | null | null | null | This article in The Telegraph attempts to discuss the science of observed global warming and the factors responsible. However, mixed in with some accurate factual statements are claims that give readers the impression that the answers are unknown, and climate science is “up for debate”. For example, the article present... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/letter-signed-by-500-scientists-relies-on-inaccurate-claims-about-climate-science/ | -1.8 | Clintel, by Ingemar Nordin, Viv Forbes, Terry Dunleavy, Rob Lemeire, Richard Lindzen, Reynald du Berger, Morten Jodal, Jim O'Brien, Jeffrey Fos, Guus Berkhout, Fritz Vahrenholt, Christopher Monckton, Benoit Rittaud, Alberto Prestininzi, on 2019-09-23. | null | "There is no climate emergency" | null | null | null | null | This letter presenting a short list of claims about climate change boasts a list of “500 scientists and professionals” who have co-signed it. The claims contradict or misrepresent the evidence uncovered by geoscientists, failing to provide support for its conclusions downplaying the threat of climate change.The letter ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/2c-not-known-point-of-no-return-as-jonathan-franzen-claims-new-yorker/ | Incorrect | The New Yorker, Jonathan Franzen, 2019-09-08 | The consensus among scientists and policy-makers is that we’ll pass this point of no return if the global mean temperature rises by more than two degrees Celsius | null | Misleading: While positive feedbacks exist that amplify temperature changes, scientists have not identified a "point of no return" at 2°C. | This statement makes a claim about the climate system that does not reflect our best understanding of how it works. The impacts and risks of climate change increase as warming continues, and limiting warming to the 2°C milestone has been chosen as an international goal, but it is not true that scientists expect runaway... | Our atmosphere and oceans can absorb only so much heat before climate change, intensified by various feedback loops, spins completely out of control. The consensus among scientists and policy-makers is that we’ll pass this point of no return if the global mean temperature rises by more than two degrees Celsius (maybe a... | null | UPDATE (25 August 2020): This section of the New Yorker article was edited at an unknown date, and now reads: “Some scientists and policymakers fear that we’re in danger of passing this point of no return if the global mean temperature rises by more than two degrees Celsius (maybe more, but also maybe less).” A correct... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/there-is-overwhelming-evidence-that-climate-change-is-human-caused-townhall/ | Incorrect | Townhall, Kurt Schlichter, 2019-09-09 | Human-produced carbon might be one of the factors [of climate change], but there’s simply no evidence that it is a significant one. | null | Misleading: The effects of these factors (the sun, volcanoes...) have all been quantified, and human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are clearly the dominant cause of current global warming. Inadequate Support: No research or data is provided to support the author’s assertion. | Natural factors have certainly caused climate changes in the past, but that does not mean human factors are not responsible for climate change now. Observations clearly show that incoming solar radiation and the effects of volcanic eruptions have not changed in a way that could explain global warming. Instead, research... | The planet gets hotter, it gets colder, sometimes quickly, sometimes over eons, and there are a bunch of reasons why, like the sun and volcanos. Human-produced carbon might be one of the factors, but there’s simply no evidence that it is a significant one. | null | Patrick Brown Assistant Professor, San Jose State University: [This comment comes from a previous review of a similar claim.] Careful analysis that attempts to take into account all major factors and their evolution in time indicates that anthropogenic increases in greenhouse gasses account for more than 100% of the ob... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/claim-that-the-earth-has-cooled-since-medieval-or-roman-times-is-false-marc-morano/ | Inaccurate | TFP Student Action, Marc Morano, 2019-08-13 | Peer-reviewed studies, geologic records, and all the studies have shown that we have actually cooled since the Roman Warming Period, and likely since the Medieval Warming Period. | null | Factually Inaccurate: Published research actually shows that the last century is the warmest of the last 2,000 years, globally. Fails to grasp significance of observation: The existence of warmer or cooler periods in individual records from a region does not, on its own, represent a global climate event. | There have been regional climate events over the past 2,000 years, which can be seen in records of past climate. However, analysis of global temperatures for this time period shows that current warming is unique in its extent and has exceeded earlier temperatures. | Peer-reviewed studies, geologic records, and all the studies have shown that we have actually cooled since the Roman Warming Period, and likely since the Medieval Warming Period. | null | A recent study1 analyzing a global database of paleoclimate records found that no previous warm or cool period in the last 2,000 years—including the Roman Warm Period and the Medieval Warm Period (also called the Medieval Climate Anomaly)—occurred globally and synchronously. But 20th Century temperatures were the warme... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/claim-of-no-us-warming-since-2005-is-directly-contradicted-by-the-data-it-is-based-on/ | Inaccurate | Powerlineblog, Real Clear Energy, WND, James Taylor, John Hinderaker, 2019-08-29 | the U.S. Climate Reference Network[...] finds there has been no warming for the past 14 years at least | null | Factually Inaccurate: It is simply false to claim that the data show no warming over that time period. There is a warming trend. Flawed Reasoning: Even if the US experienced a flat temperature change for 14 years, this would not prove that global warming isn't occurring. The US only covers a small portion of the plane... | This article highlights a particular dataset of surface temperature stations in the United States that it says differs from standard datasets, but in reality they match quite closely. Most importantly, the data presented in the article do exhibit a warming trend, making the article's claim simply false. | But a new, improved system to assess surface temperatures established in 2005 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, indicates otherwise. In fact, the U.S. Climate Reference Network -- comprised of 114 pristinely maintained temperature stations spaced relatively uniformly across the lower 48 stat... | null | This article at WND is based on a post by James Taylor at RealClearEnergy and an article at Power Line by John Hinderaker. The WND article, however, was the most widely shared of the three on social media. Zeke Hausfather Director of Climate and Energy, The Breakthrough Institute: USCRN is a state-of-the-art monitoring... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/earths-orbit-cannot-explain-modern-climate-change/ | Incorrect | Natural News, Ethan Huff, 2019-08-30 | changes in the solar orbit of the earth, along with alterations to the earth’s axial tilt, are both responsible for what climate scientists today have dubbed as “warming”[...]. In no way, shape, or form are humans warming or cooling the planet | null | Flawed Reasoning: Earth's orbital cycles are 20,000 years long—or longer. They cannot explain global warming occurring over a single century. Factually Inaccurate: Measurements show that incoming solar radiation has not increased over the last century to drive rising temperatures. Instead, greenhouse gas emissions are... | Slowly changing orbital cycles did, indeed, control the timing of ice ages over the last several million years, but they cannot explain the much more rapid climate change seen in the last century. Human-caused greenhouse gas emissions have strengthened Earth's greenhouse effect, and this is clearly the cause of global ... | [...]changes in the solar orbit of the earth, along with alterations to the earth’s axial tilt, are both responsible for what climate scientists today have dubbed as “warming” (or “cooling,” depending on their agenda). In no way, shape, or form are humans warming or cooling the planet by driving SUVs or eating beef, in... | null | This article draws from a NASA webpage explaining the work of Milutin Milankovitch, who developed an explanation for Earth’s ice ages based on calculated cycles in Earth’s orbit. These cycles, Milankovitch reasoned, altered the strength of summer sunlight in the high Arctic, causing great ice sheets to shrink or grow a... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/washington-examiner-op-ed-cherry-picks-data-to-mislead-readers-about-climate-models-patrick-michaels-caleb-stewart-rossiter/ | -1.6 | The Washington Examiner, Zero Hedge, by Caleb Stewart Rossiter, Patrick Michaels, on 2019-08-25. | null | "The great failure of the climate models" | null | null | null | null | This op-ed article published by The Washington Examiner (and republished by Zero Hedge) claims to provide evidence that climate models are not valid scientific tools able to inform decisions about climate change by focusing on a comparison with specific datasets from the upper atmosphere in the tropics. Scientists who ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/prediction-extinction-rebellion-climate-change-will-kill-6-billion-people-unsupported-roger-hallam-bbc/ | Incorrect | BBC News, Roger Hallam, 2019-08-17 | I am talking about the slaughter, death, and starvation of 6 billion people this century—that's what the science predicts. | null | Inadequate Support: While Hallam claims to be presenting a prediction from the scientific literature, this claim is not supported by published research. | Research shows that continuing climate change results in a broad array of serious threats to humans and other species. However, counter to Hallam's statement, published studies have not predicted 6 billion human deaths this century and there is no credible mechanism referred to justify how this could happen. | I am talking about the slaughter, death, and starvation of 6 billion people this century—that's what the science predicts. | null | Amber Kerr Researcher, Agricultural Sustainability Institute, University of California, Davis: Mr. Hallam’s claim that “the science predicts” that six billion people are headed for slaughter and starvation by 2100 is simply not correct. No mainstream prediction indicates anywhere near this level of climate-change-induc... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/rick-perrys-claim-that-us-is-leading-the-world-in-emission-cuts-is-misleading-fox-news/ | Misleading | Fox News, Rick Perry, 2019-08-13 | I think about all the 194 [countries] that signed onto the Paris accord, the U.S. is the one that's leading the world in reducing emissions | null | Misleading: It's true that US emissions have declined in recent years, in part because of newer natural gas power plants replacing inefficient coal plants, which emit more CO2. However, the claim that the US would be “the one” country leading in reducing emissions fails to acknowledge that many other countries are redu... | While Perry's statement isn't perfectly clear in its meaning, it suggests that the United States is reducing emissions the fastest—and that few other countries are reducing emissions at all. That is not true. Emissions in many EU nations are falling by a greater percentage than in the US (and they also emit much less p... | The reality is that the United States is lowering emissions—one of the only countries in the world. I think about all the 194 [countries] that signed onto the Paris accord, the U.S. is the one that's leading the world in reducing emissions... America [is] transitioning away from old inefficient power plants to natural ... | null | When asked for clarification, a spokesperson for the US Department of Energy told Climate Feedback, “The US leads the world in actual [greenhouse gas] emissions reductions by orders of magnitude compared to any other country since 2005.” Since the United States is the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, a 1% de... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/its-not-true-that-co2-only-increases-after-temperature-rises-william-happer-ice-age-now/ | Flawed reasoning | Ice Age Now, Robert W. Felix, William Happer, 2017-02-19 | CO2 does not cause climate change, it RESPONDS to it [...] temperature always changes first, and CO2 follows | null | Flawed Reasoning: A lag between the initiation of past warming due to other factors and rising CO2 does not mean mean that CO2 cannot have caused temperature to increase further. Misrepresents a complex reality: CO2 has been shown to begin increasing before temperature in some instances of past climate change, but also... | Because of the physics of the transfer of electromagnetic radiation, CO2 acts as a greenhouse gas, meaning that temperatures must increase as the concentration of CO2 increases. This is true whether natural factors initiate warming (as in many past climate changes) and the release of CO2, or the warming is initiated by... | CO2 does not cause climate change, it RESPONDS to it [...] temperature always changes first, and CO2 follows | null | Christopher Colose Research Scientist, SciSpace LLC, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies: This is both false and irrelevant. Claims that “CO2 led temperature in the past, therefore cannot have caused it to rise” originated over a decade ago from a misrepresentation of ice core research (that itself has been subjec... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/claim-that-cosmic-rays-are-a-crucial-player-for-current-climate-change-is-unsupported-nir-shaviv-electroverse-global-warming-policy-foundation/ | Incorrect | Electroverse, Cap Allon, Nir Shaviv, 2019-08-11 | Based on the increase of solar activity during the twentieth century, it should account for between half to two-thirds of all climate change | null | Misleading: Evidence shows that solar activity can explain very little of the observed warming since the Industrial Revolution. Inadequate support: The claim that cosmic rays are a "crucial player" for the climate is not representative of published research on the topic. | It is clear from many lines of evidence that human activities—not solar activity—are responsible for modern climate change. | 'Based on the increase of solar activity during the twentieth century, it should account for between half to two-thirds of all climate change'[...] Both Galactic and Solar Cosmic rays hitting Earth’s atmosphere create aerosols which, in turn, seed clouds (Svensmark et al) — making them a crucial player in earth’s weath... | null | The article mentions cosmic rays, claiming that changes in cosmic ray nucleation of clouds (via solar activity) can explain most of modern global warming. The effect of cosmic rays has been studied extensively1,2, leading to the conclusion that cosmic rays have not correlated with global cloud cover or temperature. Pie... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/yet-another-express-article-falsely-warns-of-a-solar-induced-ice-age-sean-martin/ | Incorrect | Express, Sean Martin, 2019-07-29 | The current solar minimum could last for more than three decades which could lead to temperatures plummeting across the globe, scientists have warned. | null | Inadequate support: The article quotes from a study (misidentified as published in Nature; it was actually published in Scientific Reports) but did not check with outside experts, who would have explained its key flaws. [UPDATE: That study was retracted by the journal on 4 March, 2020, for errors.] Misunderstanding of ... | Express articles repeat this claim frequently, but research does not support the idea of imminent global cooling due to low solar activity. It is not known that a "grand solar minimum" will occur, but even if it did, the temperature effect would be much smaller than human-caused warming. | The current solar minimum could last for more than three decades which could lead to temperatures plummeting across the globe, scientists have warned. | null | This article copies (in part) from previous Express stories making similar claims, such as this one previously reviewed by Climate Feedback. Similar stories from other outlets have been seen to propagate widely across the internet, despite lacking scientific credibility. UPDATE (8 August 2019): A correction has been ad... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/research-does-not-show-a-medieval-warm-period-warmer-than-the-present-day/ | Inaccurate | joannenova.com.au, Joanne Nova, 2019-07-26 | 18 proxies tell us the world was the same or warmer 1,000 years ago | null | Factually Inaccurate: Reconstructions of global temperature based on the available records indicate that the warmest period of the last 2,000 years is the current one. Flawed Reasoning: Finding individual records from single locations where temperatures were warmer 1,000 years ago would not demonstrate that these recon... | Although periods of regional warming or cooling can be caused by natural variability (or events like volcanic eruptions), human-caused warming of the entire planet has led to the highest global temperatures of the last 2,000 years. | This new global temperature reconstruction by The Pages Consortium miraculously agrees with the models yet disagrees with hundreds of stalagmites, corals, ice cores, trees, lake sediments, mud from the ocean floor, pollen dust and 6,000 boreholes[...] 18 proxies tell us the world was the same or warmer 1,000 years ago | null | A recent study1 analyzing a global database of paleoclimate records found that no previous warm or cool period in the last 2,000 years—including the Roman Warm Period and the Medieval Warm Period (also called the Medieval Climate Anomaly)—occurred globally and synchronously. But 20th Century temperatures were the warme... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/hosted-by-former-australian-senator-tony-heller-repeats-false-claim-that-scientists-fake-the-warming-trend/ | Inaccurate | EXOMATRIXTV, Tony Heller, 2019-07-20 | [T]he raw data, the actual thermometer data[...] shows that the US has been cooling for 80 to 90 years. But the graphs they release to the public show warming trend, and it's all because they've altered the data. | null | Factually Inaccurate: Necessary adjustments to temperature datasets have, in total, reduced the apparent global warming trend since the late 1800s. Many independent datasets support the accuracy of these adjustments. | Scientists constantly work to ensure that the data being used to estimate global average temperatures are as accurate as possible—a necessary and much-studied task. Despite the fact that different groups have developed different methods to do this, the warming trend is clear in all available datasets. | Right on the NASA website, you can look and see in the year 2000 they showed about 0.5C total warming. In the year 2012, they pushed it up to about 0.9C warming. Now they show about almost 1.5C warming over lands[...] [T]he raw data, the actual thermometer data, which comes from this incredible network of very good, co... | null | Differences between versions of NASA’s global temperature dataset can easily be viewed on the NASA website. Source: NASA The most significant adjustments to data relate to changing ship-based instruments and methods used to measure sea surface temperatures around the time of World War II. As the use of thermometers in ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/nbc-news-story-accurately-covers-research-on-two-millennia-of-climate-history-jaclyn-jeffrey-wilensky/ | 1.3 | NBC News, by Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky, on 2019-07-24. | null | "Climate scientists drive stake through heart of skeptics' argument" | null | null | null | null | A recent study working with a global database of paleoclimate records found that no previous warm or cool period in the last 2,000 years—including the Roman Warm Period and the Medieval Warm Period (also called the Medieval Climate Anomaly)—occurred globally and synchronously. But 20th Century temperatures were the war... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/the-earth-was-not-warmer-in-medieval-times-town-hall-gregory-rummo/ | Inaccurate | Townhall, Gregory Rummo, 2019-07-23 | Earth’s mean temperature over the last 2,000 years shows two previous periods when temperatures were warmer than they are now; from 1–200 A.D., an epoch called the Roman Warm Period, and more recently the Medieval Warm Period from 900–1100 A.D. | null | Factually Inaccurate: Available climate records show that recent global temperatures are likely the highest of the last 2,000 years and there is no data supporting the claim that, globally, the Earth was warmer during the Roman or Medieval eras. Flawed Reasoning: Natural climate change events in the past do not provid... | It's not true that the world has been warmer at other times during the last 2,000 years. But even if that were the case, it would not change the fact that human emissions of greenhouse gases are causing Earth's climate to warm. | A graph of the Earth’s mean temperature over the last 2,000 years shows two previous periods when temperatures were warmer than they are now; from 1–200 A.D., an epoch called the Roman Warm Period, and more recently the Medieval Warm Period from 900–1100 A.D.[…] It is worth noting that both of these climate optima occu... | null | UPDATE (31 July 2019): Following a correction posted by 27 July, Townhall has now retracted this article, replacing it with this short message: “An earlier version of this column incorrectly cited a graph of the Earth’s mean temperature over the last 2,000 years showing two previous periods when temperatures were warme... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/sky-news-australia-interview-falsely-claims-that-global-cooling-is-coming-soon/ | Incorrect | Sky News Australia, Alan Jones, Nils Axel-Mörner, 2019-06-17 | the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is misleading humanity about climate change and sea levels, and that in fact a new solar-driven cooling period is not far off | null | Inadequate Support: These claims contradict all the available data and published research on these topics. There is no support in the scientific literature for the claim that solar activity could significantly cool the climate in the decades to come. | Scientists have established that observed climate change and sea level rise are clearly caused by human activities, primarily the emission of carbon dioxide through the burning of fossil fuels. Solar activity cannot explain recent warming, and even the occurrence of low solar activity in the near future would have an i... | [Nils Axel-Mörner] is saying that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is misleading humanity about climate change and sea levels, and that in fact a new solar-driven cooling period is not far off [...] You're saying it's solar activity which is the dominant factor and not carbon dioxide? 'Yes, for sure.' | null | This video has been widely shared on YouTube (where it currently has nearly 250,000 views) as well as Facebook (with 15,000 shares in June and July). Both Sky News Australia host Alan Jones and his guest Nils Axel-Mörner make a variety of claims about climate change and climate science, with this quote representing the... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/non-peer-reviewed-manuscript-falsely-claims-natural-cloud-changes-can-explain-global-warming/ | Incorrect | Zero Hedge, Summit.news, Sky News Australia, Fox News, Paul Joseph Watson, Pekka Malmi, Jyrki Kauppinen, 2019-07-11 | During the last hundred years the temperature is increased about 0.1°C because of carbon dioxide. The human contribution was about 0.01°C. | null | Flawed Reasoning: The authors' argument claims a correlation between cloud cover/relative humidity and global temperature proves that the former caused the latter without investigating whether they have the relationship backwards. Inadequate support: The source of their claimed global cloud dataset is not given, and no... | Warming related to human activities is estimated to be around 1°C over the past century. This document claims to overturn decades of scientific findings but provides neither the source of the data it uses nor the physics responsible for the proposed relationship between clouds and global temperature. | Man-made Climate Change Doesn't Exist In Practice... During the last hundred years the temperature is increased [sic] about 0.1°C because of carbon dioxide. The human contribution was about 0.01°C. | null | Some news outlets are publishing articles stating that this claim is based on a new study. In reality, there is no new published study. The claim comes from a six-page document uploaded to arXiv, a website traditionally used by scientists to make manuscripts available before publication. This means that this article ha... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/on-fox-news-patrick-michaels-falsely-claims-humans-are-only-responsible-for-half-of-global-warming/ | Incorrect | Fox News, Patrick Michaels, 2018-10-21 | So that means that probably about half, maybe half of that nine-tenths of the degree [of total warming] might be caused by greenhouse gases | null | Misleading: Human-caused warming did not begin in 1976, as Michaels claims. Inadequate support: No evidence or research is provided to support this claim, which contradicts the published scientific literature. | Multiple factors—some human-caused and some natural—combine to influence global temperatures. However, human activities were already causing warming in the first half of the 20th century, and are responsible for approximately 100% of the more-rapid warming taking place after 1950. Thus, humans are responsible for most ... | There are two periods of warning, one in the early 20th Century that could not have been caused by human beings because we hadn't put enough CO2 in the air, and one in the later part of the 20th Century that either slows down or ends depending upon whose data you use somewhere in the late 1990s, only to resume with the... | 1- Haustein et al (2019) A limited role for unforced internal variability in 20th century warming, Journal of Climate 2- Hegerl et al (2018) The early 20th century warming: Anomalies, causes, and consequences, WIREs Climate Change 3- Callendar (1938) The artificial production of carbon dioxide and its influence on temp... | This claim is being reviewed months after the interview first ran because it has recently been recirculated by blogs dismissive of climate science, and has been one of the most highly promoted videos by YouTube’s suggestion algorithm in recent weeks. Zeke Hausfather Director of Climate and Energy, The Breakthrough Inst... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/popular-article-in-the-independent-accurately-summarizes-june-heat-in-europe-conrad-duncan/ | 1.7 | The Independent, by Conrad Duncan, on 2019-07-02. | null | "June was hottest ever recorded on Earth, European satellite agency announces" | null | null | null | null | This article in The Independent covers the release of June monthly average temperature data for Europe—which shows it was the warmest June on record by a significant margin—as well as an analysis of how climate change contributed to the extreme heat wave at the end of the month. The article was widely shared across soc... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/nasa-did-not-create-global-warming-by-manipulating-data-tony-heller-steven-goddard/ | Inaccurate | The New American, James Murphy, Tony Heller, 2019-06-26 | [NASA] has been adjusting temperatures from the past[...] downward, while adjusting current-day temperatures upward, and those changes are responsible for most of the claimed global warming during that time. | null | Factually Inaccurate: Necessary adjustments to temperature datasets have, in total, reduced the apparent global warming trend since the late 1800s. Many independent datasets support the accuracy of NASA's temperature record. | Scientists at NASA—as well as other groups—constantly work to ensure that the data being used to estimate global average temperatures are as accurate as possible. As time goes on, updates can lead to small changes to estimates for previous years. These changes, however, are much too small to cause the warming trend tha... | [NASA] has been adjusting temperatures from the past—temperatures from as long ago as the mid-1800s—downward, while adjusting current-day temperatures upward, and those changes are responsible for most of the claimed global warming during that time. | null | Differences between versions of NASA’s global temperature dataset can easily be viewed on the NASA website. Source: NASA The most significant adjustments to data relate to changing ship-based instruments and methods used to measure sea surface temperatures around the time of World War II. As the use of thermometers in ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/claim-that-electric-vehicles-cause-more-carbon-emissions-than-diesel-misrepresents-reality/ | Inaccurate | Infowars, Zero Hedge, Anonymous, 2019-04-22 | New Study Confirms EVs Considerably Worse For Climate Than Diesel Cars | null | Misrepresents a complex reality: While some studies find that electric vehicles can be worse from a climate standpoint than the most efficient conventional (internal combustion engine) vehicles in areas where electricity comes mostly from coal, they generate less emissions than the average conventional vehicle. Electri... | The general statement that electric vehicles result in greater CO2 emissions than diesel vehicles is not accurate, but there are specific situations where some diesel vehicles result in less emissions than some electric vehicles. | New Study Confirms EVs Considerably Worse For Climate Than Diesel Cars | null | Summary: Electric vehicles (EVs) are far from zero emissions, as both electricity generation and battery production are large sources of greenhouse gas. However, numerous studies show that EVs are responsible for considerably lower emissions over their lifetime than a typical conventional (internal combustion engine) v... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/financial-post-commentary-misrepresents-scientific-understanding-of-weather-extremes-ross-mckitrick/ | -1 | Financial Post, by Ross McKitrick, on 2019-06-07. | null | "This scientist proved climate change isn’t causing extreme weather — so politicians attacked" | null | null | null | null | This op-ed published by the Financial Post, written by Ross McKitrick, describes a presentation by University of Colorado Boulder researcher Roger Pielke, Jr. The article misrepresents analyses of trends in US weather extreme damages as indicators of global trends in the weather extremes, themselves. Researchers who re... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/iflscience-story-on-speculative-report-provides-little-scientific-context-james-felton/ | -1.4 | IFLScience, by James Felton, on 2019-06-04. | null | "New Report Warns "High Likelihood Of Human Civilization Coming To An End" Within 30 Years" | null | null | null | null | This article at IFLScience describes a report produced by an Australian think tank. The report attempts to describe a possible worst case climate scenario in 2050. The report claims this scenario leads to a “high likelihood of human civilization coming to an end”, but does not support this claim with evidence. Scientis... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/the-australian-commentary-by-ian-plimer-relies-on-false-claims-to-make-its-case/ | -2 | The Australian, by Ian Plimer, on 2019-05-16. | null | "The truth of climate change is revealed at school" | null | null | null | null | This commentary by Ian Plimer, published by The Australian, criticizes a political leader’s stance on climate change, but makes a number of verifiably false claims about climate science and energy systems as the foundation of that argument. Scientists who reviewed the article found that it repeated common false claims ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/its-true-that-the-current-carbon-dioxide-level-is-higher-than-any-time-in-human-existence/ | Accurate | NBC News, Denise Chow, 2019-05-14 | the concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere has climbed to a level last seen more than 3 million years ago — before humans even appeared on the rocky ball we call home | null | Accurate: It is possible that the concentration of atmospheric CO2 was this high a little less than 3 million years ago, but it is certainly true that this was before the appearance of humans. | The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is increasing several parts per million each year, and has already reached levels not seen since much warmer climates in the geologic past. | the concentration of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere has climbed to a level last seen more than 3 million years ago — before humans even appeared on the rocky ball we call home | null | Scott Wing Curator and Research Scientist, Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution: This NBC piece is good and the quotes are apropos and accurate. I wouldn’t want to detract from the good reporting and good comments in the story from Ralph, Rob, Dana, and Gavin, but there are two points that could be added... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/video-falsely-claiming-to-be-barron-trump-also-falsely-claims-humans-arent-causing-climate-change/ | Flawed reasoning | "Ivanka_Trump" Facebook account, Dan Peña, 2019-05-04 | Fifty-five thousand years ago the whole world was 2°C warmer than it is today[...] It's all cyclical; [human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are] not a fart in the wind. Sea level rise is not going to happen. | null | Factually Inaccurate: The speaker likely means to refer to a climate period known as the Eemian, but this was about 125,000 years ago, not 55,000 years ago. The slow-changing cycles of Earth's orbit were in a different configuration then, leading to warmer temperatures. Flawed Reasoning: The existence of past climate c... | The claim that natural climate changes in Earth's past indicate that humans today aren't changing the climate is based on fallacious reasoning. Similarly, the argument that sea levels are not going to rise since coastal investors don’t yet take it into account is also flawed. | Fifty-five thousand years ago the whole world was 2 degrees C warmer than it is today[...] It's all cyclical; [human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are] not a fart in the wind. Sea level rise is not going to happen. | null | The idea that the existence of a warm climate in the past proves humans aren’t responsible for modern warming is simply a logical fallacy. There are several climate forcings (factors that can alter Earth’s average temperature), including the sunlight reaching the Earth, the greenhouse gases that retain heat energy leav... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/there-are-clear-evidence-for-climate-change-contrary-to-claims-by-john-coleman/ | Incorrect | Derek Utley, John Coleman, 2019-02-22 | Climate change is not happening, there is no significant man-made global warming now, there hasn't been any in the past, and there's no reason to expect any in the future. | null | Factually inaccurate: The warming of Earth's climate has been unequivocally documented by measurements of many types, including surface station and ocean records, multiple sources of satellite data, and effects like shrinking glaciers. Inadequate Support: Based on multiple lines of evidence, scientists have concluded t... | Coleman's central claim in this video—that there is no human-caused climate change—is contradicted by a wealth of evidence and decades of published, peer-reviewed, scientific research. There is no evidence to support his claim. | There's no question about it. Climate change is not happening, there is no significant man-made global warming now, there hasn't been any in the past, and there's no reason to expect any in the future. | null | Stephen Po-Chedley Research Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: [This comment is taken from an earlier review of a similar claim.] This claim is not accurate. Global temperature datasets, developed by a number of independent research groups, show robust warming in the troposphere and at the Earth’s surfa... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/claim-in-the-express-that-low-solar-activity-is-bringing-cold-weather-is-false/ | Inaccurate | Express, Sean Martin, 2019-04-15 | Cold weather to grip world as solar minimum to deepen, NASA says | null | Factually inaccurate: The headline and article misrepresent the solar activity forecast presented by US science agencies. Misunderstanding of science: A solar minimum would not cause cold weather around the world. | This headline (and the article below it, as scientists who reviewed the article detail below) misrepresents a NOAA press release by inventing a claim that appears nowhere in that source—the idea that a coming minimum in the Sun's natural 11-year cycle of solar activity will cause cold weather around the world. There is... | Cold weather to grip world as solar minimum to deepen, NASA says | null | Rasmus Benestad Senior scientist, The Norwegian Meteorological institute: The NOAA release says nothing about Earth’s weather or climate in the normal sense, but only discusses “space weather”, which is about solar conditions and effects on the upper atmosphere. Hence, the headline of “Cold weather to grip WORLD as sol... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/breitbart-article-baselessly-claims-a-study-of-past-climate-invalidates-human-caused-climate-change-john-nolte/ | -1.9 | Breitbart, by John Nolte, on 2019-04-09. | null | "Scientists Prove Man-Made Global Warming Is a Hoax" | null | null | null | null | This Breitbart article comments on a story by ThinkProgress about a study related to past climate, mistakenly concluding that it invalidates the science that shows human activities are currently altering the climate of our planet. Scientists who reviewed the article explain that it builds on a fallacious reasoning, as ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/blaze-article-badly-misrepresents-study-of-greenlands-jakobshavn-glacier/ | Flawed reasoning | The Blaze, Chris Enloe, 2019-03-26 | [O]ne of the previously fastest shrinking glaciers in the world is growing again, calling into question the narrative that rapid climate change [...] poses a significant threat to the existence of the human race | null | Fails to grasp significance of observation: A temporary re-advance of a glacier driven by variability of ocean currents is not a reversal of the long-term, human-caused trend of warming and ice loss. Flawed reasoning: Observing the multi-faceted behavior of an individual glacier does not enable one to conclude that gl... | This claim badly misrepresents a study showing that a temporary movement of cooler ocean water against Greenland's Jakobshavn Glacier caused the previously retreating ice to re-advance slightly. The study does not, in any way, imply that global climate change and sea level rise are not dangerous. It simply illustrates ... | [A]ccording to new data from NASA, one of the previously fastest shrinking glaciers in the world is growing again, calling into question the narrative that rapid climate change — i.e., global warming — poses a significant threat to the existence of the human race, let alone the entire planet. | null | Lauren Simkins Assistant Professor, University of Virginia: “…from NASA…“: Although NASA-based scientists and NASA-funded data are strongly involved in the study, scientists from other domestic and international institutions are also involved. This is a minor point, but readers might be inclined to think NASA is solely... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/caleb-rossiter-falsely-claims-that-climate-models-are-running-very-hot/ | Inaccurate | The Hill, Caleb Rossiter, 2019-03-06 | The models predicted about three times the amount of warming in the world we’ve seen since [1988]. | null | Factually Inaccurate: Observed warming has consistently fallen within the range of climate model simulations over time. | Climate scientists use models to simulate and study different aspects of Earth's climate system, and to project the rate of global warming caused by human activities. These models do, in fact, simulate the rate of global warming well, and models run in the past accurately projected the rate of warming we are currently ... | The models started in about 1988 to make predictions 30 years hence. Guess what? The models predicted about three times the amount of warming in the world we’ve seen since then. So the models are running very hot. | null | Reto Knutti Professor, ETH Zürich: [This comment is taken from an evaluation of a similar claim.] The statement that climate models overestimate the warming in response to CO2 is incorrect; it is based on either too short time periods that are dominated by natural variability, by the comparison of models with datasets ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/senator-sanders-claim-that-climate-change-is-making-tornadoes-worse-isnt-supported-by-published-research/ | Misleading | Facebook, Bernie Sanders, 2019-03-04 | The science is clear, climate change is making extreme weather events, including tornadoes, worse. | null | Overstates scientific confidence: Research clearly shows that certain types of weather extremes are increasing as a result of climate change, but it is not clear how tornadoes are responding to a warming climate. | Human-caused climate change is known to be having an influence on some types of weather extremes, including heat waves and intense rainstorms. However, scientists aren't certain about certain other types of weather, either because historical data are insufficient to detect trends or because it's unclear how those weath... | The science is clear, climate change is making extreme weather events, including tornadoes, worse. | null | Andreas Prein Project Scientist, National Center for Atmospheric Research: Sen. Sanders’ is partly correct since there is a lot of scientific evidence that climate change increases the frequency and intensity of many extreme events such as heat waves, droughts, wildfires, or extreme rainfall. However, it is not clear i... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/western-journal-op-ed-deceives-readers-with-completely-unsupported-claims-jay-lehr-tom-harris/ | -2 | The Western Journal, by Jay Lehr, Tom Harris, on 2019-02-20. | null | "Media Hysteria: Climate Change ‘Heat Records’ Are a Huge Data Manipulation" | null | null | null | null | This op-ed published by The Western Journal, written by two members of think tanks opposed to the conclusions of climate science, makes several different types of claims about global temperatures and global temperature data. The authors attempt to argue that global temperatures are not increasing by cherry-picking some... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/claim-about-climate-impacts-of-cows-vs-cars-needs-a-little-explanation-financial-times/ | Lacks context | Financial Times, Barclay's, 2019-02-19 | Burping cows are more damaging to the climate than all the cars on this planet. | null | Lacks context: This statement can be accurate or inaccurate depending on the timeframe you select. Just considering the next couple decades, it's true, but in the longer-term it is not. | Because methane is a more potent—but much shorter-lived—greenhouse gas than CO2, the timeframe has to be defined for this statement. Methane lasts about a decade before breaking down, while CO2 can stay in the atmosphere for centuries. This means that cows do have a greater impact in the near-term, but are responsible ... | Burping cows are more damaging to the climate than all the cars on this planet. | null | Ilissa Ocko Climate Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund: As written, this claim is missing key information that would make it accurate. It is in need of a timescale over which the climate impacts of “burping cows” are compared to the climate impacts of passenger vehicles. If the statement specified that “burping cows... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/new-york-times-coverage-of-ipcc-report-clearly-presents-conclusions-coral-davenport/ | 1.5 | The New York Times, by Coral Davenport, on 2018-10-07. | null | "Major Climate Report Describes a Strong Risk of Crisis as Early as 2040" | null | null | null | null | This story inThe New York Times covered the October release of the IPCC’s “Global Warming of 1.5 °C” report. The report, which was requested by governments during the 2015 Paris Agreement negotiations, details the impacts of 1.5°C compared to 2°C and the emissions cuts required to limit warming to either of those level... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/guardian-story-on-climate-impacts-of-diet-gets-mixed-reviews-from-scientists-damian-carrington/ | 0.2 | The Guardian, by Damian Carrington, on 2018-05-31. | null | "Avoiding meat and dairy is ‘single biggest way’ to reduce your impact on Earth" | null | null | null | null | This article in The Guardiancovers a study published in Science[1] that investigated environmental impacts related to the production of different types of foods in a number of regions around the world, finding that impacts could vary significantly from one place to another. Scientists who reviewed the article gave it v... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/story-on-congressmans-incorrect-claims-about-sea-level-rise-could-have-corrected-them-more-explicitly/ | -0.3 | E&E News, Science Magazine, by Scott Waldman, on 2018-05-17. | null | "Republican lawmaker: Rocks tumbling into ocean causing sea level rise" | null | null | null | null | This article in the news section ofScience—syndicated from E&E News—covers a hearing of theU.S. House of Representatives Science, Space, and Technology Committee. During the hearing, some committee members made a number of incorrect claims about climate change and sea level rise. Most notably, Representative Mo Brooks ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/bbc-article-on-ipcc-report-is-mostly-accurate-but-could-use-some-clarification/ | 1.0 | BBC, by Matt McGrath, on 2018-10-08. | null | "Final call to save the world from 'climate catastrophe'" | null | null | null | null | This BBC story covered the October release of the IPCC’s “Global Warming of 1.5 °C” report. The report, which was requested by governments during the 2015 Paris Agreement negotiations, details the impacts of 1.5°C compared to 2°C and the emissions cuts required to limit warming to either of those levels. Scientists who... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/cnn-accurately-covers-latest-ipcc-report-brandon-miller/ | 1.5 | CNN, by Brandon Miller, on 2018-10-08. | null | "Planet has only until 2030 to stem catastrophic climate change, experts warn" | null | null | null | null | This CNN story covered the October release of the IPCC’s “Global Warming of 1.5 °C” report. The report, which was requested by governments during the 2015 Paris Agreement negotiations, details the impacts of 1.5°C compared to 2°C and the emissions cuts required to limit warming to either of those levels. Scientists who... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/usa-today-story-updates-readers-on-trend-in-monthly-global-temperatures-doyle-rice/ | 2 | USA Today, by Doyle Rice, on 2018-05-17. | null | "Earth just had its 400th straight warmer-than-average month thanks to global warming" | null | null | null | null | This article in USA Todaynotes that April 2018 was the 400th straight month that global temperatures were above the 20th century average, and correctly identifies human activities as the cause of this trend. It also highlights several regions that saw record-high April temperatures. Scientists who reviewed the article ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/washington-post-article-accurately-discusses-warm-arctic-weather-event-jason-samenow/ | 2 | The Washington Post, by Jason Samenow, on 2018-02-26. | null | "North Pole surges above freezing in the dead of winter, stunning scientists" | null | null | null | null | This article in The Washington Post describes a pattern of unusually warm weather in February 2018, during which the North Pole saw above-freezing air temperatures. The article also places this event in context of past weather variability, explaining that there is an increasing trend of warm temperature extremes. Scien... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/friends-of-science-video-promoted-by-youtube-presents-long-list-of-climate-myths-steve-goreham/ | -2 | YouTube, Friends of Science, by Steve Goreham, on 2017-07-01. | null | "Climate Science and the Myths of Renewable Energy - FOS Steve Goreham" | null | null | null | null | This video of a talk by author and speaker Steve Goreham, posted by the YouTube channel “Friends of Science” has been viewed over 250,000 times and has been widely promoted by Youtube recently. In it, Goreham claims that climate change is not dangerous, and is not caused by humans. Scientists who reviewed the talk foun... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/popular-story-fox2news-accurately-describes-2017-global-temperature-sea-ice-extent-cnn/ | 1.3 | CNN, Fox News, by Brandon Miller, on 2018-02-26. | null | "NASA releases time-lapse of the disappearing Arctic polar ice cap" | null | null | null | null | This February 2018 article on the website of Fox 2 St. Louis—based on an article syndicated from CNN—reported on 2017 climate data released by NOAA and NASA. It notes that 2017 ranked as the second/third (depending on dataset) warmest year on record, and annually averaged sea ice extent in the Arctic was at its second ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/metros-claims-of-coming-mini-ice-age-have-no-basis-in-reality/ | Incorrect | Metro, Jasper Hamill, 2018-11-16 | [S]unspot activity on the surface of our star has dropped to a new low. It’s feared this could herald the arrival of a uniquely grim ‘mini Ice Age’. | null | Misleading: The temperature effect of this low solar activity is primarily felt in the far upper reaches of the outer atmosphere, and is not expected to have any effect on the surface temperatures we experience. Fails to grasp significance of observation: A low point ("minimum") in the normal 11-year solar activity cyc... | Observations have shown that solar flare activity on the surface of the Sun is in the quiet phase of its continuing 11-year cycle. This causes cooling of the thermosphere—a layer of the atmosphere that starts 65 miles above the surface—and will not cause noticeable cooling at the surface. | Humanity could soon face a long, cold winter which could see temperatures across the planet plunge to depressing lows. <br />A Nasa scientist who [<em>sic</em>] fears sunspot activity on the surface of our star has dropped to a new low. <br />It’s feared this could herald the arrival of a uniquely grim ‘mini Ice Age’. ... | null | UPDATE (22 Nov. 2018): This article was updated after this review was published. The author completely changed the title and the main claim of the article, making it clear that no mini ice age would be imminent,and appended an update statement. See details below. Martin Mlynczak, Senior Research Scientist, NASA Langley... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/washington-post-accurately-describes-ocean-warming-study-with-potential-implications-for-future-carbon-budget-chris-mooney-brady-dennis/ | 1 | The Washington Post, by Brady Dennis, Chris Mooney, on 2018-10-31. | null | "Startling new research finds large buildup of heat in the oceans, suggesting a faster rate of global warming" | null | null | null | null | This article in The Washington Post covers a new study estimating the amount of heat energy that has accumulated in the ocean in recent decades. Such estimates have been limited because the most complete network of ocean temperatures did not exist until the 2000s. The new study uses an indirect method, instead relying ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/guardian-story-accurately-describes-study-on-environmental-impacts-of-our-food-system-damian-carrington/ | 1.5 | The Guardian, by Damian Carrington, on 2018-10-10. | null | "Huge reduction in meat-eating ‘essential’ to avoid climate breakdown" | null | null | null | null | This story in The Guardian covers a newly published study in the journal Nature on the environmental impacts of the food system as global population grows and diets change. The study examines possible changes including reducing the consumption of red meat (which has a large greenhouse gas and water footprint) and reduc... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/on-bbc-newsnight-myron-ebell-falsely-claims-climate-models-exaggerate-warming/ | Inaccurate | BBC, Myron Ebell, 2018-10-08 | The rate of warming according to the data is much slower than the models used by the IPCC | null | Factually Inaccurate: This claim is simply not true—climate models run in the past have accurately predicted the current rate of warming. | Climate scientists use models to simulate and study different aspects of Earth's climate system, and to project the rate of global warming caused by human activities. These models do, in fact, simulate the rate of global warming well, and models run in the past accurately projected the rate of warming we are currently ... | The rate of warming according to the data is much slower than the models used by the IPCC | null | Reto Knutti Professor, ETH Zürich: [This comment is taken from an evaluation of a similar claim.] The statement that climate models overestimate the warming in response to CO2 is incorrect; it is based on either too short time periods that are dominated by natural variability, by the comparison of models with datasets ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/guardian-conveys-statement-scientists-stressing-role-of-deforestation-climate-change-oliver-milman/ | 0.7 | The Guardian, by Oliver Milman, on 2018-10-04. | null | "Scientists say halting deforestation 'just as urgent' as reducing emissions" | null | null | null | null | This story in The Guardian covers a statement released by a group of scientists to highlight several ways in which forests are important to climate change—both because deforestation releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and because regrowing and managing forests can help us remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphe... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/usa-today-op-ed-ignores-evidence-to-claim-climate-change-had-no-role-in-hurricane-florence-roy-spencer/ | -1.5 | USA Today, by Roy Spencer, on 2018-09-14. | null | "Hurricane Florence is not climate change or global warming. It's just the weather." | null | null | null | null | This op-ed in USA Today makes the claim that Hurricane Florence has no appreciable contribution from human-caused climate change. Scientists who reviewed the article found that it ignores the evidence for trends in tropical cyclone behavior, including slower movement speed and more intense rainfall. Additionally, sea l... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/guardian-story-accurately-covers-sea-ice-event-but-makes-unsupported-connection-weather-patterns-gulf-stream-jonathan-watts/ | 1.3 | The Guardian, by Jonathan Watts, on 2018-08-21. | null | "Arctic’s strongest sea ice breaks up for first time on record" | null | null | null | null | This article in The Guardian describes unusual Arctic sea ice conditions north of Greenland, where an area normally covered by old and thick ice expected to be the last to melt due to global warming has broken up this year. Scientist who reviewed the article found that this event was accurately discussed, but the end o... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/ian-plimer-wrongly-claims-that-carbon-dioxide-emissions-do-not-cause-climate-change/ | Incorrect | The Australian, Ian Plimer, 2018-08-07 | there is no relationship between temperature and carbon dioxide emissions by humans[...] carbon dioxide has had a minuscule effect on global climate | null | Misleading: Water vapor accounts for a significant portion of the total greenhouse effect, but the water cycle means that temperature controls the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere. Water vapor emissions do not cause climate change; CO2 emissions do. Inaccurate: There is, in fact, a clear relationship between tem... | While CO2 constitutes a small percentage of the gases in the atmosphere, it is a critically important "knob" controlling Earth's climate. When the concentration of CO2 increases, more outgoing heat energy is absorbed, raising surface temperatures. | Even in our own lifetimes, there is no relationship between temperature and carbon dioxide emissions by humans, yet there is a very close relationship between solar activity and temperature. <br />Since the beginning of time, water vapour has been the main greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide has had a minuscule effect ... | null | Mark Richardson Research Associate, Colorado State University/NASA JPL: It’s expected that cumulative human emissions and temperature will correlate1. They do. Since 1970 the correlation is extremely strong: almost 90% of all temperature change correlates with human emissions. About 0.2% correlates with solar activity,... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/ian-plimers-op-ed-incorrectly-claims-human-caused-emissions-are-short-lived/ | Misleading | The Australian, Ian Plimer, 2018-08-07 | The atmospheric residency time of carbon dioxide is five years and it is quickly sequestered into plants, marine life, oceans and sediments. | null | Misleading: The residence time of a molecule of CO2 is not the same as the length of time that human-caused emissions keep the amount in the atmosphere elevated. | Carbon dioxide flows through the atmosphere, ocean, land ecosystems, and rock of the Earth. Human emissions have pushed these flows out of balance, causing CO2 to accumulate in the atmosphere, strengthening the greenhouse effect for hundreds to thousands of years. | The atmospheric residency time of carbon dioxide is five years and it is quickly sequestered into plants, marine life, oceans and sediments. | null | Peter Landschützer Group Leader, Max Planck Institute for Meteorology: This statement of the “short residence time” has been misused in the past. This statement ignores the fact that there is a dynamic exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean. See e.g. Figure 6-01 in the IPCC 2013 report(copied below)—while the oc... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/op-ed-in-the-australian-gets-nearly-every-fact-wrong-ian-plimer/ | -2 | The Australian, by Ian Plimer, on 2018-08-07. | null | "Repeat after me: carbon dioxide is good for us" | null | null | null | null | This op-ed published by The Australian, written by Ian Plimer, makes a large number of claims that run counter to science and observations or are the expression of fallacious reasoning. The title of the op-ed—”Repeat after me: carbon dioxide is good for us”—reflects how it rejects evidence of harmful consequences of hu... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/guardian-potential-future-hothouse-climate-generally-accurate-but-misstates-details-jonathan-watts/ | 1 | The Guardian, by Jonathan Watts, on 2018-08-07. | null | "Domino-effect of climate events could move Earth into a ‘hothouse’ state" | null | null | null | null | This article in The Guardian covers an essay published by a group of scientists in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The paper describes previously existing research but discusses the possibility that feedbacks could commit Earth’s climate to long-term warming even if human-caused emissions ceased. S... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/president-trumps-claim-that-water-supply-policy-has-worsened-california-wildfires-is-baseless/ | Inaccurate | Twitter/X, Donald Trump, 2018-08-05 | California wildfires are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amounts of readily available water to be properly utilized. It is being diverted into the Pacific Ocean. | null | Factually inaccurate: There is no connection between the management of California's surface water supply and wildfires. There is no restriction on the use of water to fight fires, and the dryness of wildlands depends solely on weather, as they are not irrigated. | California's wildfires are the result of hot, dry weather that has left the landscape dry and vulnerable to ignition. Wildlands are not irrigated, so water supply policy has no relation to wildfires. Climate trends have contributed to make fires more likely and more extreme in California, as have past fire-fighting pra... | California wildfires are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amounts of readily available water to be properly utilized. It is being diverted into the Pacific Ocean. Must also tree clear to stop fire from spreading! | null | Eric Kennedy, Assistant Professor, York University: As CalFire has confirmed, water allocations are not influencing how wildfires are being fought in California. There’s enough access to water as it stands, and firefighters are effective in using a wide variety of other methods to augment water: chemical retardants, cu... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/washington-post-story-puts-recent-weather-extremes-in-accurate-climate-change-context-joel-achenbach-angela-fritz/ | 1.7 | The Washington Post, by Angela Fritz, Joel Achenbach, on 2018-07-26. | null | "Climate change is supercharging a hot and dangerous summer" | null | null | null | null | This story in The Washington Post lists a variety of extreme weather events seen around the Northern Hemisphere recently. The article explains that some of these types of weather are known to be connected to human-caused climate trends. Scientists who reviewed the article found that this scientific context was accurate... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/npr-story-accurately-describes-ecological-consequences-of-altered-spring-timings-in-a-warming-climate-nathan-rott/ | 1.5 | NPR, by Nathan Rott, on 2018-07-23. | null | "Spring Is Springing Sooner, Throwing Nature's Rhythms Out Of Whack" | null | null | null | null | This article at NPR discusses what happens when warm spring weather arrives earlier because of climate change. Animals must adjust to changes in the timing of plant flowering, for example, leading to noticeable desynchrony in the ecosystem, e.g. “Flowers are blooming before there are bees to pollinate them. Hard frosts... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/fred-singer-incorrectly-claims-sea-level-rise-is-not-caused-by-climate-change/ | Incorrect | The Wall Street Journal, Fred Singer, 2018-05-15 | Sea-level rise does not seem to depend on ocean temperature, and certainly not on CO2 | null | Flawed Reasoning: Singer cherry-picks an arbitrary time period (1915-1945) and a single estimate of sea level rise published 28 years ago to inaccurately claim that sea level rise has not accelerated. He then incorrectly concludes that this means global temperature does not affect sea level rise. | Global sea level has risen significantly over the last century, and at an accelerating rate. Multiple lines of evidence clearly demonstrate that this is largely due to the expansion of warming seawater (an inescapable consequence of the laws of physics) and the melting of glacial ice on land. | Currently, sea-level rise does not seem to depend on ocean temperature, and certainly not on CO2. We can expect the sea to continue rising at about the present rate for the foreseeable future. | null | Fred Singer’s opinion is based entirely on a cherry-picked comparison of sea level rise between 1915 and 1945 and a single study published in 1990, claiming a lack of accelerating sea level rise despite continued warming. But in fact, modern research utilizing all available data clearly indicates that sea level rise ha... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/usa-today-paleoclimate-study-mostly-accurate-lacks-clarity-doyle-rice/ | 0.8 | USA Today, by Doyle Rice, on 2018-07-06. | null | "Global warming could be far worse than predicted, new study suggests" | null | null | null | null | This story in USA Today covers a new study that compared past climate changes to model simulations, concluding that models can underestimate future warming over thousands of years. Scientists who reviewed the article found that it described the study accurately. However, it implies relevance for projections of future c... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/financial-post-commentary-misleads-warming-effect-greenhouse-gas-emissions-cherry-picking-studies-ross-mckitrick/ | -1 | Financial Post, by Ross McKitrick, on 2018-06-20. | null | "Ross McKitrick: All those warming-climate predictions suddenly have a big, new problem" | null | null | null | null | This opinion published by the Financial Post, written by economist Ross McKitrick, claims that Earth’s climate is much less sensitive to additions of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide than climate scientists think. The article further claims that global warming is, therefore, not an important problem—and may even be... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/washington-post-article-accurately-describes-latest-estimate-accelerating-antarctic-ice-loss-chris-mooney/ | 1.3 | The Washington Post, by Chris Mooney, on 2018-06-13. | null | "Antarctic ice loss has tripled in a decade. If that continues, we are in serious trouble." | null | null | null | null | This article in The Washington Post describes an important study from a project called the Ice sheet Mass Balance Intercomparison Exercise (or IMBIE), which synthesized many existing records of Antarctic ice based on different types of measurements. The resulting estimate shows that Antarctica alone lost enough ice bet... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/national-geographic-hurricanes-moving-slower-global-warming-craig-welch/ | 1.8 | National Geographic, by Craig Welch, on 2018-06-06. | null | "Hurricanes Are Moving Slower—And That's a Huge Problem" | null | null | null | null | This National Geographic article covers a result reported in two recent studies: global warming seems to be causing the movement rate of hurricanes to slow. One study shows this trend in data going back to about 1950, while the other simulates hurricanes in an even warmer world using a climate model. While the process ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/new-york-times-story-accurately-describes-rio-grandes-climate-context-henry-fountain/ | 1 | The New York Times, by Henry Fountain, on 2018-05-24. | null | "In a Warming West, the Rio Grande Is Drying Up" | null | null | null | null | This article in The New York Times discusses water supply issues along the Rio Grande in New Mexico, and the projected impacts of climate change. Scientists who reviewed the article generally found it to be an accurate description of research on this topic. However, they note that it’s important to remember that precip... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/wall-street-journal-commentary-grossly-misleads-readers-about-science-of-sea-level-rise-fred-singer/ | -1.8 | The Wall Street Journal, by Fred Singer, on 2018-05-15. | null | "The Sea Is Rising, but Not Because of Climate Change" | null | null | null | null | This commentary published by The Wall Street Journal, written by Fred Singer, claims that warming (and therefore greenhouse gas emissions) has no effect on global sea level rise. Although Singer concedes the physical fact that water expands as its temperature increases, he claims that this process must be offset by gro... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/business-insider-highlights-health-impacts-climate-change-aspects-are-misleading-kevin-loria/ | -0.2 | Business Insider, by Kevin Loria, on 2018-05-08. | null | "The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere just hit its highest level in 800,000 years and scientists predict deadly consequences" | null | null | null | null | This article at Business Insider describes the impacts of climate change on human health which covering the fact that the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere recently passed 410 parts per million. Scientists who reviewed the article found that many of the listed impacts were described accurately and supported with l... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/the-australian-coverage-great-barrier-reef-perception-scientists-divided-global-warming-graham-lloyd/ | -1.3 | The Australian, by Graham Lloyd, on 2018-04-19. | null | "Not all scientists agree on cause of Great Barrier Reef damage" | null | null | null | null | This article in The Australian covers a new study published in Nature that concludes global warming played a key role in the recent large-scale bleaching and mortality of corals in the Great Barrier Reef. Based on the comments of a single oceanographer (Prof. Kaempf), the article was headlined “Not all scientists agree... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/investors-business-daily-editorial-misrepresents-study-to-claim-plants-will-prevent-dangerous-climate-change/ | -2 | Investors' Business Daily, by Anonymous, on 2018-04-09. | null | "A Startling New Discovery Could Destroy All Those Global Warming Doomsday Forecasts" | null | null | null | null | This editorial by Investor’s Business Daily centers on a recent study published in Science, which concerns the sources of nitrogen cycling through Earth’s ecosystems. The editorial then claims that this study shows that plants will be able to soak up future human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide because nitrogen is p... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/rush-limbaugh-falsely-claims-there-is-no-evidence-of-human-caused-global-warming/ | Inaccurate | The Rush Limbaugh Show, Rush Limbaugh, 2018-04-02 | There isn’t yet any empirical evidence for their claim that greenhouse gases even cause temperatures to increase. | null | Factually Inaccurate: It is an unequivocal fact that Earth’s climate has warmed over the past century. Also, the conclusion that the human-caused increase of greenhouse gases is causing warming is supported by a wide range of empirical data. | Human-caused global warming is not a theoretical, future prediction—it has already occurred. Warming of the atmosphere and oceans is extensively documented, and the role of increased greenhouse gases in this warming has been determined from multiple lines of evidence. | There isn’t any warming. All they’ve got is computer model predictions, folks. There isn’t yet any empirical evidence for their claim that greenhouse gases even cause temperatures to increase. There isn’t any empirical data for that. | null | Stephen Po-Chedley Research Scientist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: This claim is not accurate. Global temperature datasets, developed by a number of independent research groups, show robust warming in the troposphere and at the Earth’s surface. The radiative effect of carbon dioxide has also been observed1.... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/washington-post-accurately-covers-permafrost-study-albeit-under-a-somewhat-sensational-headline-chris-mooney/ | 2 | The Washington Post, by Chris Mooney, on 2018-03-19. | null | "The Arctic’s carbon bomb might be even more potent than we thought" | null | null | null | null | This article in The Washington Post describes new research on greenhouse gas emissions from thawing permafrost—specifically the balance of carbon dioxide vs. methane released from waterlogged permafrost soils. Scientists who reviewed the article found that it accurately described the study and provided context on its o... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/financial-post-publishes-misleading-opinion-misrepresents-science-polar-bears-peril-susan-crockford/ | -1.7 | Financial Post, by Susan Crockford, on 2018-02-27. | null | "Polar bears keep thriving even as global warming alarmists keep pretending they’re dying" | null | null | null | null | This article in the opinion section of Financial Post, written by Susan Crockford, claims that rather than being threatened by declining Arctic sea ice, polar bears are “thriving”. Three scientists who reviewed the article explained that this article fundamentally misrepresents research on the topic. The author exhibit... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/satellite-measurements-accelerating-sea-level-rise-cnn-accurately-reports-brandon-miller/ | 1.5 | CNN, by Brandon Miller, on 2018-02-13. | null | "Satellite observations show sea levels rising, and climate change is accelerating it" | null | null | null | null | This article at CNN reports on a new study that calculates the acceleration of sea level rise that has become apparent in the record of satellite measurements, which began in 1993. Because the satellite record is so short, this acceleration has not been clear until recently. Figure – Global mean sea level (blue), after... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/president-trumps-claim-growing-ice-not-reflect-reality/ | Inaccurate | ITV, Donald Trump, 2018-01-28 | The ice caps were going to melt. They were going to be gone by now, but now they're setting records | null | Factually inaccurate: Arctic sea ice and the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica are setting record lows as they decline—not record highs. Antarctic sea ice has also been quite low in the last few years, but is naturally more variable from year to year. Imprecise: The term “ice caps” makes it unclear what President ... | Human-induced warming at the poles has caused a reduction in sea ice extent, notably in the Arctic, and a continuous shrinking of glaciers on land. President Trump has probably been misled by inaccurate articles like this one published by Forbes. | There is a cooling and there's a heating -- I mean, look, it used to not be climate change. It used to be global warming. That wasn't working too well because it was getting too cold all over the place. The ice caps were going to melt. They were going to be gone by now, but now they're setting records, okay? They're at... | null | Emma Boland Physical Oceanographer, British Antarctic Survey: This claim is misleading in the extreme—the ice caps are indeed setting records, but not in the way President Trump is implying. The USA’s own National Snow and Ice Data Center shows that December 2017 was the second lowest December extent on record for Arct... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/national-geographic-video-starving-polar-bear-should-have-clarified-uncertain-link-climate-change-sarah-gibbens/ | 0.3 | National Geographic, by Sarah Gibbens, on 2017-12-07. | null | "Heart-Wrenching Video Shows Starving Polar Bear on Iceless Land" | null | null | null | null | This widely-shared December 2017 article at National Geographic featured emotional footage of a starving polar bear, highlighting the plight of polar bears as the extent of Arctic sea ice declines. Scientists who reviewed the article explained that the connection to climate change should have been explained more carefu... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/atlantic-climate-implications-reduced-beef-consumption-provide-clearer-context-james-hamblin/ | 0.3 | The Atlantic, by James Hamblin, on 2017-08-02. | null | "If Everyone Ate Beans Instead of Beef" | null | null | null | null | This August 2017 article in The Atlantic covered a study of the greenhouse gas emissions that could be avoided if beef consumption was reduced in the United States. Beef is a particularly resource-intensive food, due in part to the fact that the conversion of plant foods into beef is much less efficient than obtaining ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/new-york-times-iceberg-larsen-c-size-delaware-jugal-patel-justin-gillis/ | 1.7 | The New York Times, by Jugal K. Patel, Justin Gillis, on 2017-07-12. | null | "An Iceberg the Size of Delaware Just Broke Away From Antarctica" | null | null | null | null | This July 2017 article in The New York Times described a remarkable iceberg calving event at Antarctica’s Larsen C ice shelf. Scientists who reviewed the article found it to be essentially accurate and informative, clearly explaining how this event relates to ongoing changes in the region (with minor exceptions, detail... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/new-york-times-accurately-covers-2017-record-low-arctic-winter-sea-ice-extent-henry-fountain/ | 1.3 | The New York Times, by Henry Fountain, on 2017-03-22. | null | "Arctic’s Winter Sea Ice Drops to Its Lowest Recorded Level" | null | null | null | null | This March 2017 story in the New York Times described the record low extent of Arctic sea ice at its annual maximum. Scientists who reviewed the article found it to be accurate and informative, with only a couple details that could potentially be further clarified.See all the scientists’ annotations in context This is ... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/conservative-tribune-post-falsely-claims-cancelled-arctic-research-cruise-is-evidence-against-climate-change-benjamin-arie/ | -1.5 | Conservative Tribune, by Benjamin Arie, on 2017-06-22. | null | "Global Warming Study Canceled After Humiliating Discovery" | null | null | null | null | In June 2017, an Arctic research cruise had to be postponed because of unusually thick sea ice that had drifted near Newfoundland. Polar field work frequently battles difficult conditions, but several outlets wrote derisive articles (analyzed by Climate Feedback at the time) based on the assumption that such conditions... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/iflscience-story-florida-sea-level-rise-somewhat-unclear-generally-correct/ | 0.7 | IFLScience, by Robin Andrews, on 2017-08-11. | null | "The Sea Level Around Florida Is Rising Six Times Faster Than Average" | null | null | null | null | This story by IFLScience covered an August 2017 study published in Geophysical Research Letters that examined variability of sea level rise rates along the US East Coast. Scientists who reviewed the article found that its summary of the study was largely correct, but was unclear or somewhat misleading in several detail... |
https://science.feedback.org/review/new-york-times-news-coverage-2016-global-temperature-data-accurate-summary-justin-gillis/ | 2 | The New York Times, by Justin Gillis, on 2017-01-18. | null | "Earth Sets a Temperature Record for the Third Straight Year" | null | null | null | null | In January 2017, NASA and NOAA released their data for average global temperature in 2016, which ranked as the warmest year on record. This story in the New York Times described the new record and provided some context for rising temperatures. The scientists who reviewed this article found that it accurately described ... |
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