UPDATE: BBC (and now the Independent) commit the same FAIL. See below.
More “Row to the Pole” nonsense writ large:
Ummmm…no, Mr. Hough, the Telegraph’s headline and story are simply wrong. You are a victim of spin and/or a failed geography lesson.
First congratulations, to the RttP team for reaching their destination, which is not a pole of any kind, much less the actual “North Pole”. I didn’t think they would make it.
As I explained before the trip even started, there’s no “pole” achievement here, not even close. They are 738 KM short of the actual magnetic pole. The 1996 magnetic pole doesn’t exist there anymore and thus can’t be a pole of any kind.
The Telegraph article says:
The successful trip to the Pole, described as the “greatest ocean rows of all time”, was only possible because of more seasonal ice-melt in the Arctic that has opened the waters up.
No mention of the fact that they aren’t even close. The actual North pole is 790 miles away:
The FAIL is strong with this one. h/t to reader “Angry Exile”
And the BBC is in on the act of shoddy journalism too:
Kitefreak says:
BBC reporting that the Pultney rowing expedition has reached “the north pole”. Reported on Radio Scotland at 8am (main news bulletin) and on the news website http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-14665937
Absolutely no mention on the radio or the website that it’s the magnetic north pole from ’96, no, they just say the folks have rowed TO THE NORTH POLE.
Pure propaganda.
UPDATE: The BBC commits the same FAIL here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9573000/9573302.stm
What a bunch of liars.
UPDATE2: The load of porkies continues…now the Independent repeats the lie.
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ImranCan says:
August 27, 2011 at 3:39 am
“You have to remember the WHOLE point of this exercise was so they could reach the target and then issue a headline saying “just rowed to the north pole”.”
The WHOLE point was to sell more whisky by raising brand awareness. Worked, di’nit?
And the “Row to the Pole” chaps made how much for doing this?
Folks, we should see this epic fail and all the lies about it as a money making opportunity. This is a slam dunk way to pickpocket the brainwashed sycophants.
So let’s all do this (everyone who knows one of these dimwits). Kill two birds with one stone. Set them straight on this North Pole thingie, and pocket a little bank in the process. Make them literally pay for their gullibility.
P Wilson says:
I was in Greenwich today, and crossed the meridian, thus claiming the feat of walking across 2 time zones in less than 5 seconds
Except that the Greenwich Meridian is in the centre of the timezone. You really need to be 7.5 degees east or west.
J.H. says:
I would wish to see this piece of misinformation corrected so that everyone concerned understands that these rowers, did not row to where the actual Magnetic North Pole is….. Because that Magnetic North Pole is currently entirely Ice Bound and thus an unattainable destination to a seagoing vessel being rowed.
I suppose that it would in theory be possible to build an oar powered “ice breaker”. But given the size of the likely crew it probably would be a waste of time to get Mythbusters to check it out.
Steve Goddard has demonstrated yet another point about this epic fail …
http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2011/08/26/you-are-not-rowing-and-it-is-not-the-north-pole/
From the PDF about the August 1922 expedition he has linked to …
So let’s summarize about the Telegraph claim: “A group of intrepid British explorers yesterday became the first people to row to the North Pole after the ice caps melted …” …
[1] :: They didn’t row all the way because there was ice requiring them to drag their boat some distance.
[2] :: They never got near the North Pole at all. They reached 78° N, but the North Pole is at 90° N.
[3] :: This was done before (to the same latitude albeit sailing vs rowing) in 1922 and no way did they drag a sailboat anywhere.
[4] :: The path was ice-free in August 1922. Imagine that!
I’m trying to think of a way that any more fraud could be attached to this AGW publicity stunt, but I got nothing. Everyone involved in this scam deserves to be mocked mercilessly.
I am also at the North pole, I m off by only 2000 miles. Did not even have to leave my couch.
I have submitted complaints to the Press Complaints Commission here in the UK for The Telegraph, the BBC, the Guardian and the Independent who all in one form or another repeat at least one of these lies uncritically.
I’ll let you know if the complaints are upheld.
“OUR DAY AT THE POLE” 27th August
“Whilst the horizon looked more promising what was noticeable was the rate at which the water was freezing. The leads from yesterday hadn’t closed up with ‘bergs but had, in fact, started to freeze.”
http://www.rowtothepole.com/
“So, this was another big day on the expedition. It’s by no means the last one, because if we can’t row the boat to Isachsen (where we will be picked up by plane), then we face hauling our gear 11 miles to the airstrip.”
Anyone want to go on an expedition. We’ll call it ROW BACK FROM THE POLE.
I feel slightly cheated.
Maybe everyone would benefit from reading the rowers’ actual blog: http://www.rowtothepole.com/satellite-tracking/ where they clearly state that they were at the location of the magnetic pole in 1996. See the caption on the picture.
Well – doesn’t this just prove the old truism..:
‘A lie will go round the world before the truth has got its boots on…’
Wonder how many times this male bovine waste product will be trotted out by the ‘warmistas’ in the coming weeks/months..?
Katabasis says: August 27, 2011 at 6:12 am:
Best of luck with your complaint, but don’t hold your breath.
I submitted a formal complaint to the BBC in January (about the infamous “Horizon” programme – “Science Under Attack”). After dozens of exchanges of letters it is still going on….
(Another plug: STOP THE DECLINE – http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/2035)
If you think about it – if these guys had REALLY rowed to the North Pole for the first time EVAH, surely this would have warranted the same sort of publicity as Hillary and Tensing climbing Mount Everest..?
Instead, as The Orkneys are 59 degrees North and these guys got to 78 degrees north, shouldn’t the headline read: ‘Rowers go about half-way to the North Pole..’…?
Dr T. G. Watkins asks; ” Do they intend rowing back, or are they to be airlifted out.” The 1996 Magnetic North pole is shown on the West coast of Bathurst Island. If they row round the south end of Bathurst and head for the South end of the next island to the ESE, Cornwallis Island, they would arrive at Resolute Bay, ( it looks about 200 miles.) From the airport at Resolute Bay they could get a ride on a commercial 737 – it’s configured for freight and passengers, so I am sure it would be able to take their boat as well. Of course, it might dent the macho image to come home on a commercial flight.
The Telegraph journalist can be emailed here
andrew.hough@telegraph.co.uk
Dr T. G. Watkins asks; ” Do they intend rowing back, or are they to be airlifted out.”
They intend to fly from Isachsen which is located on the western shore of Ellef Ringnes Island
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ellef_Ringnes_Island.svg
“Colliding with icebergs and dodging polar bears: British explorers become first to row to North Pole… after global warming melts ice caps”
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2030768/British-explorers-row-North-Pole-global-warming-melts-ice-caps.html#ixzz1WFecEKau
Now in a tabloid
“Arctic rowers celebrate historic journey to the magnetic North Pole ”
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/08/27/arctic-rowers-celebrate-historic-journey-to-the-magnetic-north-pole-115875-23374361/
Another tabloid
The Independent is going with this unbelievable headline “Rowers reach ‘impossible’ North Pole, thanks to global warming”
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/rowers-reach-impossible-north-pole-thanks-to-global-warming-2344689.html
Crikey, the media really are having a field day with this one.
Amazing how vast swathes of the mainstream media run with the same story, on the same day, every day.
Anthony, there’s been a consensus on this, they rowed to the pole. That means we’ll have to recalculate a whole lot of astrophics to account for the new rotational axis of the planet. (Did anybody feel the planet shift?) You can’t fight consensus! We dare not be science deniers!
hmm… could have sworn I wrote “astrophysics”…
@ur momisugly DirkH and @ur momisugly Billy Liar
Aren’t you being a bit harsh, now? Isn’t this over the top? I agree that journalists should reach maximum accuracy and I agree that a headline like “Rowers reach ‘impossible’ North Pole, thanks to global warming” is hugely sensationalistic and misleading.
But seriously, what did you expect?
Kitefreak says: “The thing is, the damage had already been done, people misinformed and left believing that ‘adventurers’ had rowed to the north pole.”
Hello, welcome to whacky media world!
…..Get me right, I totally agree that it’s misleading…..
Now, those who call me gullible and Orwellian, open up your mind and follow me through this simple example (I’ve got lots more up my sleeve):
“Climategate U-turn as scientist at centre of row admits: There has been no global warming since 1995”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1250872/Climategate-U-turn-Astonishment-scientist-centre-global-warming-email-row-admits-data-organised.html
What did Jones actually say? Read it for yourself.
B – Do you agree that from 1995 to the present there has been no statistically-significant global warming
Yes, but only just. I also calculated the trend for the period 1995 to 2009. This trend (0.12C per decade) is positive, but not significant at the 95% significance level. The positive trend is quite close to the significance level. Achieving statistical significance in scientific terms is much more likely for longer periods, and much less likely for shorter periods.
So, the man basically said: “The CRU data from 1995-2009 show a positive trend. Statistical analysis shows that we have almost 95% confidence that it’s not just noise. The fact that the 95% level is not reached is not surprising since we are looking at only 15 datapoints.”
If you don’t see how that headline was misleading, you’re freaking blind.
PS1: This question was proposed by Lubos Motl who did the math, screening the data to find a trend below 95%.
PS2: The 1995-2010 data have crossed the 95% threshold.
In this post
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/06/11/phil-jones-does-an-about-face-on-statistically-significant-warming/
the subheading is “from the make up your mind department”. I don’t see why. New data, new results. Nobody’s changed their mind here.
Ok, so you’ll say, it’s beside the point. All I’m saying is, there’s imprecision all the time, try to put things into perspective. This story is not worth freaking out over.
And I don’t see why my comments on this post earn me epithets like ‘Orwellian’ and why I should be blocked.
Don’t we like exchange of ideas? Fair and balanced debate?
Here is an interesting tidbit. I was on the BBC videographers FB fan page and told him what was going on with the RTTP FB fan page where skeptics posts were being taken down. Here is his response.
Why do the bloggers rage, and the commenters imagine a vain thing?
No media conspiracy, just modern journalism –
1. Get press release.
2.
Determine veracity.3. Rework to house style.
4. Print.
Simples.