This picture is my own choice – it is not related to the UK Mirror story
You have to wonder how the press allows stories like these to get published without some basic fact checking. I’m reminded of the recent CBS News story about “resonance” and global warming causing more earthquakes.
From the UK Sunday Mirror: Plight of the p-p-p penguins
By Richard Cooper 20/07/2008
This shivering penguin is just one of thousands close to death in Antarctica. Rain storms have killed tens of thousands of chicks – and scientists blame global warming. New-born penguins take 40 days to grow water-proof feathers. They can withstand snow, but if rain soaks them to the skin, they die of cold. Experts yesterday said 400 Adelie penguin chicks have washed up dead on Brazil’s beaches after migrating 2,500 miles to avoid the rain. The Emperor penguin – star of the hit film March Of The Penguins – is also under threat. Antarctic temperatures have risen by 3C in the last 50 years to an average of – 14.7C (5.5F). The penguin population has fallen by up to 80 per cent and, if the downpours go on, they will be extinct within 10 years. Dozens of migrant penguins are being treated at Rio de Janeiro’s Niterio Zoo. Biologist Erli Costa said: “This is all due to global warming.”
That’s the entire story, no other sources are given. But I did find the source Associated Press story here.
Interestingly, the AP story has no mention of “rain” or of “baby chick penguins”. There were mentions of other causes such as food supply and pollution as possible causes. It seems Mr. Cooper of the Sunday Mirror has the only mention of “rain” and “chicks” and “80 percent population decrease”. I think this story from the Falkland Islands may be his source for that number though.
Ok let’s do some fact checking to see if there is really anything going on in Antarctica causing an “80 percent population decrease”.
First lets look for a collaborating research story, how about the best organization on Birds, the National Audubon Society? Surely they’ll have this story. But a check of their web page at: http://www.audubon.org/ shows no mention of this.
Ok maybe Greenpeace? Nope, nothing there. British Antaractic survey? http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/ Nope though they have a nice picture of a penguins but no mention of the crisis.
At the very least, let’s check the temperature in Antarctica, It’s winter there. Here’s the temp map as of publication of this blog posting:
Click for larger image – Temperatures in degrees Centigrade.
Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Antarctic Weather Stations Project
Hmmm. Warmest temperature is -6° C, it is rather difficult to get rain under that sort of temperature. Unfortunately I did not find an easy to decipher archive of temperatures for the last few days, but again given it is winter there, the prospect of above freezing air temperatures seems unlikely.
And then there is this statement from the story: “Experts yesterday said 400 Adelie penguin chicks have washed up dead on Brazil’s beaches after migrating 2,500 miles to avoid the rain.”
Huh?
But here is the clincher from the AP story:
Costa said the vast majority of penguins turning up are baby birds that have just left the nest and are unable to out-swim the strong ocean currents they encounter while searching for food.
Mr. Cooper, your story is all wet. The Mirror should issue a retraction.
Probably too many penguins….. Not enough tucker. Don’t go blaming fishing either… Fish cycle too.
Once again something natural, in the hands of the media, becomes a climate catastrophe.
Nutty story alert !
http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/29468/
Global Warming is causing more homeless kittens !!!
(I wish I were kidding)
-nwc
Here is a slightly off topic report from the Norwegian weather service (with my translation to english below) about the Arctic ice cover status:
http://www.yr.no/ver-nytt/1.6147517
More ice than normal around Svalbard
========================
Several scientists had expected little ice in the Arctic, but the status for july is that there is more ice around Svalbard than normal.
Therese Gruehagen
Asle Hella
The thickness of the ice is varying, and two ships recently got stuck north of Spitsbergen.
http://fiskeribladetfiskaren.no/default.asp?side=101&lesmer=8322
Not all that unusual
============
The Ice Service at the weather report centre for northern Norway has compared the ice cover in july with what it was in 1980. When one looks at the period from 1980 and up until today, most years have had normal ice cover with open waters around the north coast of Spitsbergen towards the northern inlet Hinlopen, and with ice along the coast of Nordaustlandet and in the southern Hinlopen.
– But lots of ice around Spitsbergen is not all that unusual. Similar ice conditions as this year also happened in 1980, 1990, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2003, says the head of the Ice Service in Tromsø, Nick Hughes.
Years with very little or very much ice
* In 1984 and 2002 there was very little ice, that means ice was only found only along parts of the Nordaustlandet coast.
* In 2006 there was exceptionally little ice, and open waters around the whole Svalbard group of islands.
* Years with very much ice in southern parts of Svalbard includes 1982, 1993 aqnd 2004, that is approximately once per decade.
Yet another risible example of the world’s media doing what they have been told to do by their owners.
If the case is closed on AGW, why are scientists who offer contrary evidence ostricised from their community and immediately accused of being in league with the devil – e.g. any oil company – and have their career’s blighted?
There are plenty of other valid theories as to what drives climate change, with man-made carbon dioxide being only a very small part of the equation. The world has been through many periods of dramatic climate changes in its long history, all effectively achieved without the influence of man.
Lets stop spending billions of dollars in a futile attempt to reduce the amount of carbon we produce and start spending the money on finding out about the real drivers of climate, so we can develop good predictions of what is going to happen and, if possible, prepare to mitigate any negative effects.