G.O.P. Misrepresentation of Global Warming
Snow pounded everywhere from the mid-Atlantic to the Northeast this week. While many Americans enjoyed days off from school or work, the Republican Party of Virginia was hard at work. In just a few days, the party developed and released an advertisement boldly proclaiming that the Democrats have been wasting their time fighting global warming, justifying their claim with pictures of the recent snowstorm.
It is not as though the Republican Party has never misrepresented facts as a means of belittling Democratic policies. It's just that this time the Republicans have so shamelessly misrepresented the snowstorm as evidence that global warming does not exist.
With this recent advertisement, the G.O.P. has actually tried to use evidence that global warming exists to prove that it does not.
For years meteorological researchers have found research to substantiate the claim that rising global temperatures will cause intense winter storms on a devastating level. What is more, the advertisement chastises the Democrats specifically for thinking that the problem itself could be manmade.
On this issue, the Republicans have almost no scientific justification. In fact, Jeff Trapp, Ph.D., a meteorologist at Purdue University wrote that "increases in human-induced greenhouse gases will lead to more frequent severe storms in the United States."
This means that the Republicans have produced an advertisement that is counter to scientific conclusions. Virginia Republicans ought to quickly withdraw the advertisement until they find legitimate scientific claims in defense of their assertion that winter storms disprove global warming.
The broader issue at hand is what exactly the intentions of the party might have been.
One theory is that the party simply published the advertisement without conducting adequate scientific investigation. If the Republicans truly decided not to conduct any research on climate change before making a claim in an advertisement about climate change, then they have once again proven themselves to be an inept and dishonest party. This is irresponsible politics at its finest.
There is, of course, another theory. The party could have tried to deliberately mislead the public. They could have sought to misinform their constituents for mere political gain. If this is the case, then the people of Virginia have been blatantly lied to.
For this, the Republicans must apologize.
It is not as though the Republican Party has never misrepresented facts as a means of belittling Democratic policies. It's just that this time the Republicans have so shamelessly misrepresented the snowstorm as evidence that global warming does not exist.
With this recent advertisement, the G.O.P. has actually tried to use evidence that global warming exists to prove that it does not.
For years meteorological researchers have found research to substantiate the claim that rising global temperatures will cause intense winter storms on a devastating level. What is more, the advertisement chastises the Democrats specifically for thinking that the problem itself could be manmade.
On this issue, the Republicans have almost no scientific justification. In fact, Jeff Trapp, Ph.D., a meteorologist at Purdue University wrote that "increases in human-induced greenhouse gases will lead to more frequent severe storms in the United States."
This means that the Republicans have produced an advertisement that is counter to scientific conclusions. Virginia Republicans ought to quickly withdraw the advertisement until they find legitimate scientific claims in defense of their assertion that winter storms disprove global warming.
The broader issue at hand is what exactly the intentions of the party might have been.
One theory is that the party simply published the advertisement without conducting adequate scientific investigation. If the Republicans truly decided not to conduct any research on climate change before making a claim in an advertisement about climate change, then they have once again proven themselves to be an inept and dishonest party. This is irresponsible politics at its finest.
There is, of course, another theory. The party could have tried to deliberately mislead the public. They could have sought to misinform their constituents for mere political gain. If this is the case, then the people of Virginia have been blatantly lied to.
For this, the Republicans must apologize.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 25
Rick Zachary
posted 2/11/10 @ 1:41 PM EST
Al Gore and other people in Washington must think the American people are STUPID.THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS GLOBAL WARMING.This is just something the Liberals made up to drain the American people out of more Tax money. (Continued…)
Dougetit
posted 2/11/10 @ 11:27 PM EST
The thermometer record that NASA/NOAA/CRU uses show that there has been a warming trend for the last 12 years.
The two more accurate independent satellite records, UAH/RSS, show that ther has been a cooling trend for the past 12 years. (Continued…)
Dougetit
Dougetit
posted 2/11/10 @ 11:30 PM EST
The thermometer record that NASA/NOAA/CRU uses show that there has been a warming trend for the last 12 years.
The two more accurate independent satellite records, UAH/RSS, show that ther has been a cooling trend for the past 12 years. (Continued…)
Tray
posted 2/12/10 @ 12:45 AM EST
I am open to someone with contrary views of me as long as they are educated ones. Look people, don't go out there and just assume that all the global warming is made up just because FOX news told you so. (Continued…)
Dougetit
posted 2/12/10 @ 1:06 AM EST
@Tray
"THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF THE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE AND THE SCIENTIFIC CONSENSUS IS THAT ANTHROPOGENIC FACTORS HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO GLOBAL WARMING. (Continued…)
bill o'keefe
posted 2/12/10 @ 10:57 AM EST
No one can seriously argue that human activities don't affect the climate. And, most of the so called skeptics don't make such an argument. The issue is how much. (Continued…)
Mike Maiale
posted 2/12/10 @ 2:56 PM EST
I usually figure that the existence of AGW should be determined by scientists, not me, and more or less accept their conclusions. Right in this article, though, you've inadvertently demonstrated exactly why fewer and fewer people are buying this idea. (Continued…)
Proud Liberal
posted 2/15/10 @ 4:37 PM EST
Republicans are stooges for corporations so it's no surprise that they hold these views. What's sad is that they are willing to put financial considerations ahead of the welfare of future generations, which include their own children. (Continued…)
Tray
posted 2/17/10 @ 2:29 AM EST
@Dougetit
You said:
Let's take the 'formats' one at a time. Tree ring data is to be considered "low resolution", (+/- 2 ½ deg C), data as it has been proved that it doesn't square with actual measured temperatures of the 1960's. (Continued…)
Dougetit
posted 2/17/10 @ 4:32 AM EST
You said: "Nobody claims that tree ring data is high resolution. Even without high resolution it can depict trends."
Right... My point... after the tree ring data shows a decadal downward trend while the actual 1960's temps slope up, this makes ALL of the tree ring data INVALID. (Continued…)
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