This year, I intend to shine the odd spotlight on planet
cooking propaganda pieces written by hyperventilating, wheelbarrow-pushing
journalists. A practice currently rife
in some sectors of our not-so-balanced mainstream media.
Last year, there were a number of examples of Press Release
Journalism covering the subject of Global Warming, (GW) Dangerous Global
Warming (DAGW) or straight-out Catastrophic Anthropogenic Global Warming (CAGW)
that were drip-fed to unsuspecting viewers or readers without due diligence
applied to research of the subject,
fact-checking, corrections where applicable or follow-up reports. I believe it is the duty of responsible
bloggers to open up the windows and let in some light and fresh air. We can no longer rely on mainstream media to
simply report the facts. There’s too
much spin out there.
Having opened up a Suspect Global Warming Tales File, I’ll
begin 2013 with this delightful article appearing on the ABC website that is
bound to scare the stuffing out of you if you are one of those people who
believe the anthropogenic planet cooking spin without question because the
Government tells you the science is settled, when clearly it’s not and the
planet is heating up at an unprecedented rate when it’s not. A lovely example of journalistic engineering which is a bit
similar to social engineering from our wonderful, reliably accurate,
taxpayer-funded, unbiased and balanced ABC.!
MIA – a reporter interested in evidence and has experience with
fact-checkers and how they work. See
below for link.
Jellyfish numbers on the rise, expert says
A marine stinger researcher says there has been a disturbing
increase in jellyfish numbers around Australia.
Dr Lisa Gershwin has confirmed the deadly irukandji was
responsible for several recent attacks off Fraser Island in south-east
Queensland.
Two men were stung and hospitalised on Wednesday while
swimming on the western side of the island.
A five-year-old boy was stung in the same area on New Year's
Day.
Dr Gershwin says there have been huge, unexplained jellyfish
blooms across the country.
"All over the country we were seeing unseasonably large
blooms of jellyfish and we don't know exactly what is causing these blooms
because we don't have enough data," she said.
She says there is a lot of good overseas research about the
causes of jellyfish blooms.
"It tends to be things like over fishing, climate
change pollution too much fertiliser and too much sewage in the coastal
waters," she said.
……………………………………………..
Meanwhile, a peer-reviewed study appearing in the most
recent issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS manuscript #
2012-10920R). has been released in collaboration with the University of
Southampton which appears to refute some of what Dr Lisa Gershwin had to say.
Thanks to WUWT
for the heads-up with regard to this Paper.
Too bad the writer of this ABC piece didn’t bother to question our very
own Marine Researcher, Dr Gershwin regarding this Paper although she admits
“there is a lot of good overseas research about the causes of jellyfish
blooms.” Nope – the trusty scribe just
went with the flow! But who am I to
speculate as to any perceived motives on behalf of the journalist in
question? I’m just an interested
observer who is not always given the facts by the ABC and Fairfax Media. And that annoys me!
This paragraph from the Paper:-
The key finding of the study shows global jellyfish
populations undergo concurrent fluctuations with successive decadal periods of
rise and fall, including a rising phase in the 1990s and early 2000s that has
contributed to the current perception of a global increase in jellyfish
abundance. The previous period of high jellyfish numbers during the 1970s went
unnoticed due to limited research on jellyfish at the time, less awareness of
global-scale problems and a lower capacity for information sharing (e.g. no
Internet).
And...
Increased speculation and discrepancies about current and
future jellyfish blooms by the media and in climate and science reports formed
the motivation for the study. “There are major consequences for getting the
answer correct for tourism, fisheries and management decisions as they relate
to climate change and changing ocean environments,” says Dr Lucas. “The
important aspect about our work is that we have provided the long-term baseline
backed with all data available to science, which will enable scientists to
build on and eventually repeat these analyses in a decade or two from now to
determine whether there has been a real increase in jellyfish.”
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