Drudge Uses Sensationalist Headline To Distort Report On Consequences Of Climate Change
Drudge Uses Sensationalist Headline To Distort Report On Consequences Of Climate Change
In the Center For American Progress Action Fund’s Progress Report yesterday, the Wonk Room’s Brad Johnson wrote that “the evidence for the consequences of global warming is appearing with alarming frequency.” Citing the recent flurry of destructive storms, floods, heat waves, and droughts that have hit the U.S., Johnson argued that “the media are strangely reluctant to discuss severe weather events in the context of climate change.”
Ignoring the lion’s share of Johnson’s argument, the Drudge Report linked to the piece under the headline, “Deaths called ‘consequence of global warming’…“:
But, as Johnson explains at the Wonk Room today, Drudge’s sensationalist headline ignores the actual argument being made:
What we in fact reported, and what is scientifically established, is that these extreme weather events that caused death and destruction “are consistent with the changes scientists predicted would come with global warming.” The Progress Report cited findings from the National Climatic Data Center, UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and the University of California, San Diego.
This isn’t the first time the Drudge Report has used an over-the-top headline to make those concerned with the effects of climate change look foolish. In May, he pushed a doctored audio clip of former Vice President Al Gore that made it seem like Gore said the cyclone that struck Burma was a direct “consequence” of global warming.
Read Johnson’s full response to Drudge here.
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Mr. Drudge, this is your 15 minutes calling… tick tock tick tock…..
June 13th, 2008 at 10:43 amOnly idiots, imbeciles, morons, and cretins believe anything Drudge says. Everyone else reads him for entertainment value, sort of like watching the Jerry Springer show or “pro” wrestling even though everyone knows it’s fake.
June 13th, 2008 at 10:48 amAt this point, anyone who is still denying Global Warming might as well be denying that the Earth is a sphere that revolves around the sun.
June 13th, 2008 at 10:53 amSo Drudge now in the Science field also.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:01 amAnd what does qualify Drudge to write about weather and global warming?
He seems to be everywhere and plays the ‘know it all’ guy. People like him should be really ignored.
Unfortunately, there are still some people who give weight to what he says.
But here is a scary bit of information; Drudge gets as much traffic as almost any Rightie site.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:04 amhaha, here’s right_hick again with his sissy fears of science.
“ahm too a-sceert that theys gonna make me feel bad about driving this hummer, just because it’s bigger than the trailer i live in!”
“the buy-bull sez i have the right to drive whatever poor-handling, poorly-designed, slow, noisy, smelly, stupid-looking, traffic-blocking piece of crap i want!”
Why are right wingers so scared of EVERYTHING?
Are they ALL really as big of sissies as this right_hick dude?
June 13th, 2008 at 11:07 amIs ‘left hack’ Jason Hendler?
the deadliest year was 1953, with 519 deaths.
There is more to a death toll than the weather.
Building code have increased the safety factor, by requiring building to be more structurally sound.
Also, if 10 tornadoes hit unpopulated areas, they will kill less people than one tornado that hits a popukated area. Ten tornadoes might be less deadly, but are certainly an increase from one tornado.
The most lethal single tornado of all was even earlier, in the era when record-keeping was spotty: the Tri-State Tornado of 1925, which killed 695 people as it roared more than 200 miles across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.
It was more lethal by circumstance of its path.
La Nina weather phenomenon. La Nina refers to cooling in the Pacific that occurs every three to five years — the flip side of El Nino, in which the Pacific gets warmer. The Earth has been in a La Nina period since last summer.
It used to occur every seven to ten years. The fact that it happens more often and for longer durations is a sign of change.
demographics than climatology, and the increase in reports may not mean an increase in actual events.
This statement actually supports our position, not yours.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:08 amso, victor/victoria
Do you REALLY think you are fooling anyone or are you just like one of those dweebs that poops their pants and hangs around just to force everyone to smell you?
June 13th, 2008 at 11:10 amMr. Victor – This isn’t third grade, and Progressives don’t speak like you. Shoo!
June 13th, 2008 at 11:12 amLooks like TP cleaned up the vickie mess here. Thanx TP
June 13th, 2008 at 11:18 am(ignoring the silly a$$ trolls)
Can someone please explain to me why there is such a heated debate regarding Global warming/Climate change?
June 13th, 2008 at 11:19 amIs it purely political?
We can all agree that change is happening, correct?
Then can we not also agree that stopping the change may be beneficial to our planet, our children?
Why are we so complacent when cancer is on the increase, polar ice caps are melting at a phenomenal rate (causing serious weather changes), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is as high as ever (although, smoking played a large part in that one)?
I ask you this, wouldn’t our planet (and thus it’s inhabitants) benefit from taking these issues seriously.
Call me a tree hugger if you want, but I WANT my children breathing cleaner air, and not having serious UV exposure, and lawd knows what else that is creeping through the Ozone layer.
Drudge ~ the sad reality of low expectations.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:19 amleft_hack Says:
La Nina weather phenomenon. La Nina refers to cooling in the Pacific that occurs every three to five years — the flip side of El Nino, in which the Pacific gets warmer. The Earth has been in a La Nina period since last summer.
I am going to have to agree here. This is not the first time weather patterns like this have been seen. It seems extreme, granted, but that is because very few of us were alive in the 20’s and 30’s. Was the Dust Bowl created by Global Warming? Anyone?
In the Idaho Panhandle we set records for snowfall this year. Local forecasters told us La Nina would result in such a winter and also in a very cold and rainy summer. We’ll get north of 70 for the first time in June today. La Nina accomplished.
The thing I love about Global Warming is every single weather event can be chalked up to it. Extreme Cold? GW. Extreme Rain? GW. Extreme Heat? Same deal. Never mind the fact that this is a cycle meteorologists have seen before.
As far as bagging on Drudge goes, his editorial spin is nothing compared to what TP does on a daily basis. He provides links to a wide array of national and international news sources, many of them screamingly liberal. Attacking him shows TP’s envy that he gets more hits in 10 minutes than you will get all day.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:22 am;eft-hack: The Earth has been in a La Nina period since last summer
Headlines I must have missed:
La Nina To Blame for Drought in Ethiopia
June 13th, 2008 at 11:22 amLa Nina Brings Massive Flooding to Bangladesh
Australia Battered By La Nina
Swizerland Prepares For La Nina
Can Polar Bears Predict La Nina?
Beckham Blames Foot Injury on La Nina
So Keltoi, what you are saying is an increase in temperature produces no effect on anything? And that the rate of increase or decrease in temperature has no effect on anything? And their is no exchange of energy where differentials of temperature occur? and that pressure and temperature are unrelated?
June 13th, 2008 at 11:33 amAccording to you weather is a constant, energy doesn’t transfer and convection and induction are just fairy stories to scare the kids.
I could use a heat Island theory by now.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:34 amIt’s the Sun’s fault!
June 13th, 2008 at 11:37 amunbelievable Says:
At this point, anyone who is still denying Global Warming might as well be denying that the Earth is a sphere that revolves around the sun.
June 13th, 2008 at 10:53 am
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Well, to be fair – the Earth is not actually a sphere, but an oblate spheroid. Also, though it does revolve around the Sun, the more accurate description is that both Sun and Earth orbit a shared barycenter a few hundred kilometers from the actual center of the Sun.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:39 amThe fairness doctrine would not silence anyone, but require them to include both sides of the news stories.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:39 amleft_hack Says:
I hope Obama bans the Drudge Report. We need the fairness doctraine to silence the Right. Global Warming is real, that’s why its so hot outside.
Me too. I hope Obama rounds up all right wingers into little compounds until they can think like we do! Hope
June 13th, 2008 at 11:38 am
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Why do you conservatives hate free speech so much?
June 13th, 2008 at 11:40 amTricky Nicky’s dicky sticky.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:40 amPlaying pretend is fun…
June 13th, 2008 at 11:40 amForTruth Says:
The fairness doctrine would not silence anyone, but require them to include both sides of the news stories.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:39 am
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Which is exactly the problem with Climate Change coverage. The media’s “fairness” bias introduces a false dichotomy: if there is an overwhelming consensus of scientists who support the theory of human-induced climate change, there must therefore be an overwhelming consensus of scientists who oppose the theory of human-induced climate change. This gives the small fringe group of climate deniers equal weight with the consensus.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:44 amI have a feeling if guys like Dredge were required to present both sides of any given news story, they would just quit, and then claim they were silenced by the StalinistLeft.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:47 amTake a look at
Ice Shelf Instability
for a peek at the latest in GW bad effing news…
June 13th, 2008 at 11:47 amDRxJ Says:
Can someone please explain to me why there is such a heated debate regarding Global warming/Climate change?
Is it purely political?
June 13th, 2008 at 11:19 am
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No, there’s also a profit motive. The Conservative Politicking Industry is intimately connected with the Agribusiness Industry, the Shipping Industry, the Extractive Industry, the Fossil Fuel Industry, and many other industries whose bottom lines depend on denying the science of climate change.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:48 amLeftHack (pukeboy)
Your post makes no sense son.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:49 amLeftyHackmeister, if you’d like some free speech, please take up residence on the nearest street corner and spout your horse manure all you like.
This is a web site that is moderated for content.
So, please take time to blow it out your ass if you don’t like it here.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:50 amleft_hack Says:
Why don’t you ask this taxed exempted organization why they erase none offensive post they just don’t agree with? Sounds like Progressives are the ones with the free speech problem!
June 13th, 2008 at 11:47 am
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Are you suggesting that an organization should not have the right to decide what content is appropriate for placement on its own web site?
Interesting. So now you people are against free speech and private property. What are you going to propose next, book burnings?
June 13th, 2008 at 11:51 amDoes LeftHack’s confused and asynchronous grammar remind us of anyone?
June 13th, 2008 at 11:51 amLooks like LH has been self-medicating again.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:53 amIn what way is this:
Not consistent with this:
Isn’t this article saying that the deaths of the Boy Scouts are a consequence of global warming?
June 13th, 2008 at 11:53 amBecause, of course, there are only two sides to any news story.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:54 amOnly knuckle-draggers believe his BS. Anyone with a brain, the other 75% of America, think he’s a joke.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:54 amtaxed exempted organization why they erase none offensive post they just don’t agree with?
Let me count the ways in which this was mangled:
1) taxed exempted should be tax exempted
2) whey they erase none offensive post should be, well, if I could figure out what it was trying to say, I might be able to offer a correction.
3) they just don’t agree with might be better rendered without the word just added, since it doesn’t work as an adjective in the context.
I can’t really put my finger on which historical troll this reminds me of….hmmmm…….
June 13th, 2008 at 11:55 amInteresting the Repubes were so preemtive with unproven threats from other countries.
Now we have another threat, and it has lots of “proof”, where’s the preemtive strike on climate change?
You Republicans were willing to go on gut feelings alone, with inadequate evidence, in order to be extra safe and ensure our American way of life, by taking out Saddam.
Climate Change could be as bad, or worse for National Security than unproven threats from other countries.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:57 amI’ve never liked the term “Global Warming” because it leads to stupid things like Drudge taking items out of context to suggest “Global Warming” isn’t real.
The proper term is “Global Climate Change“. It may be due to warming, but the consequences are far more varied. “Warming” conjures up thoughts of 120′ Summer days. But then we get news reports of “Snow in June” in Denver, and the Global “Warming” deniers go into hysterics, when the bizarre weather is in fact the result of the “Global Climate Change” they seek to deny.
June 13th, 2008 at 11:57 amAlejandro,
The fairness doctrine will require people like Drooodge to include the opposing viewpoint to all his news stories.
I realize you could say this will interfere with Capitalistic endeavors, “ratings”. Profit comes first over the general welfare of society, right?
June 13th, 2008 at 12:04 pmForTruth Says:
Alejandro,
The fairness doctrine will require people like Drooodge to include the opposing viewpoint to all his news stories.
I realize you could say this will interfere with Capitalistic endeavors, “ratings”. Profit comes first over the general welfare of society, right?
June 13th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
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I’m going to side with Alejandro on this one. Media organizations should not face government requirements to provide fair coverage of issues. Who becomes the authority who gets to decide what “fair coverage” is, and where the actual poles of opposition lie on any issue? Most political issues are extremely complex, with a wide variety of people expressing a wide variety of opinions on the issues and sub-issues – how many does a story need to cover in order to be “fair?”
And are both sides supposed to be given equal weight in media coverage? What if 2,000 experts support an issue and only 20 oppose it, how is it fair to give those 20 opposers the same weight as the 2,000 supporters?
Now, I’m not saying news sources shouldn’t strive to be as objective and unbiased as possible, but the enforcers of that standard need to be we the consumers, not the government.
June 13th, 2008 at 12:11 pmWe all know any thing from DRUDGE ignores the truth………
June 13th, 2008 at 12:27 pmNicky Says:
I hope Obama bans the Drudge Report. We need the fairness doctraine to silence the Right. Global Warming is real, that’s why its so hot outside.
Good God.
This Nicky is a Troll in Progressive clothing. He is an insult to us real Trolls.
Who could say something like this and mean it? I mean, anyone not part of the Chinese government?
“Global Warming is real, that is why it is so hot outside.”
Christ wept. Get out of the sun.
June 13th, 2008 at 12:35 pmhussein toasterhead Says:
Now, I’m not saying news sources shouldn’t strive to be as objective and unbiased as possible, but the enforcers of that standard need to be we the consumers, not the government.
Just when I thought I could not respect and admire you more, Noble Adversary….
June 13th, 2008 at 12:37 pmKeltoi, I don’t often agree with you, but I respect your commitment to your trolldom. I’m not surprised that you sound insulted by the poor performance of the sockpuppet “Nicky”.
And, truth be told, you’re not a troll. You’re a contrarian on a lot of issues, but you do contribute. (However, don’t let that stop you from embracing your inner troll. It seems to be working.)
All Nicky/Mr. Victor/Vulture contributes is a squeaky noise and a little amusement at its absurdity. Then we squish it and have to clean up the mess.
June 13th, 2008 at 12:45 pmralph the wonder llama Says:
And, truth be told, you’re not a troll.em>
The Hell you Say!
Ummm…Reagan was the reincarnation of Lincoln!! There is no chance human activity is affecting the climate!!! Invading Iraq was the equivalent of World War II!!!!
I AM A TRROOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!!!
All Nicky/Mr. Victor/Vulture contributes is a squeaky noise and a little amusement at its absurdity. Then we squish it and have to clean up the mess.
Yeah, how’d you do with them baby sockpuppet twins the other day? It seemed like the slightest ridicule sent them packing but I never checked in again.
June 13th, 2008 at 1:01 pmY’know, Keltoi… those sockpuppets just get lint everywhere when you shred ‘em.
Luckily, I’ve got dogs so I’m well-stocked with lint rollers.
June 13th, 2008 at 1:19 pm