A student in despair over Romm's 11°F temperature increase article – if this comment was reversed, it would be called a 'death threat'

English: Fatih Birol, the Chief Economist of t...
Fatih Birol, the Chief Economist of the International Energy Agency, at a conference in Vienna, 22 June 2009. Photo by Mikhail Evstafiev (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

UPDATE: 5/30 8:45AM After we pointed it out Romm has now snipped the ugly part of the comment seen in the screencap below, it only took him five days to notice it with our help. The original post in entirety is preserved here http://www.webcitation.org/682NzGF0b – Anthony

UPDATE2: 5/30 3PM Reuters has issued a correction, removing the 2050 reference and replacing it with (towards the end of this century) See http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/05/30/co2-iea-idUKL5E8GO6B520120530

UPDATE3: 5/30 4:3oPM In response to being called out, Romm issued one of his usual jihads, insinuating with the help of Eli Rabett aka Dr. Joshua Halpern that everybody else is stupid but him, and that we really will all roast. He trots out his favorite predictive Wheel-of-Climate! again.

MIT_climate_bandit

It’s a laugh riot. But Romm didn’t start questioning the story until AFTER other people started to question it, and he passed it on with no caveats in the original post, archived here. He did make a note in comments saying “I meant to post that 2050 is obviously a mistake by the reporter.” but never actually did make any caveat in the main body of the post until he found himself embarrassed by it all. He also deleted (5 days later after we pointed it out ) the ugly commentary about death wishes for “coal/oil people” (see below).

The level of noise today is telling, much like the “voodoo science” claims of Pachauri. – Anthony

This is sad. Joe Romm promotes another overt fabrication, and some poor kid writes in despair, hoping all the “oil/coal people” here die “a horrible death, preferably caused by climate disasters”. If that were sent to somebody at ANU, it would by the Appell/Stokes rule, be declared a “death threat”. Since it’s on Romm’s site, the poster gets sympathy and counseling instead of admonishment. See below.

First, Romm’s reporting of an overt fabrication of 11°F temperature rise by 2050 by Fatih Birol.

The claim of 11°F  comes from this Reuters news article . It cites Fatih Birol, the chief economist of the IEA, who says:

“When I look at this data, the trend is perfectly in line with a temperature increase of 6 degrees Celsius (by 2050), which would have devastating consequences for the planet,” Fatih Birol, IEA’s chief economist told Reuters.

Of course 6°C =11°F, and given the climate sensitivity figures bandied around by the IPCC, there doesn’t seem any way these numbers can pencil out.

Hans von Storch writes on Die Klimazwiebel that this is “pure alarmism”:

A forth interesting issue is that climate science has become irrelevant; it shows up in passing, when “limit devastating climate effects like crop failure and melting glaciers” is mentioned, and the quote “the trend is perfectly in line with a temperature increase of 6 degrees Celsius (by 2050)” is made.This is a pretty bold prediction, given that we have so far less than 1 degree warming since pre-industrial times, so that the warming must be more than 5 degrees/38 years, i.e., about 0.7-0.8 deg/decade. I consider this pure alarmism, which is related to the timing, and a misuse of scientific analysis for creating some unsustainable short term drama for the Bonn-negotiations.

I wonder if this 6-degrees claim is really from IEA, or just an addition by Fatih Birol, because is no not mentioned in the IEA’s announcement.

Even Joshua Halpern, aka “Eli Rabbet”, says in comments the claim by Birol makes no sense:

Not having a BS detector that works on himself, Romm runs with it, embellishing it with this bit of propaganda:

As Birol said of 11°F warming late last year, “Even School Children Know This Will Have Catastrophic Implications for All of Us.” If only school children ran the country.

And following his rant, we get this comment first up from a school age child:

And not one person in the thread following that comment, not Halpern, nor even Romm himself, says anything about the death wish, or even suggests to the poor kid that saying such things are unacceptable. There’s agreement in the silence. There’s no significant disagreement with the feelings of doom espoused either. It is really depressing for the lack of reality based discussion.

I have to wonder though, if this kid has ever driven or ridden in a car, or used electricity made from coal. Maybe he/she thinks such things are powered by the grace of the green energy fairy.

If the situation were reversed, Romm, Appell, Halpern, and the whole cast of haters would be all over it as yet another example of how terrible skeptics are.

Their double standard behavior is disturbing. Romm should be ashamed of himself, but he won’t be, because he’s paid a six figure salary to promote this garbage.

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May 30, 2012 3:18 am

Robert of Texas says:
May 29, 2012 at 9:58 pm
This kid is obviously depressed and needs counseling. When someone is caught up in negative emotions they have no ability to think straight – I hope this kid recieves help. Its really sad that people are using children to score political points.
——————————————————————–
Well every other argument they put forward is “think of the world we are leaving our children” so it isn’t much of a shock really.

Curiousgeorge
May 30, 2012 3:33 am

Children are easily manipulated. Ask any 3rd world warlord.

May 30, 2012 3:33 am

What is happening in schools these days so that students believe this crap?

Michael in Sydney
May 30, 2012 3:59 am

“Graeme No.3 says:
And don’t worry about the kid. Just explain that AGW is just like the Easter Bunny or the Tooth Fairy – an adult fable to disguise where the money comes from.”
Very very funny and true. LMAO

May 30, 2012 4:00 am

To repeat this attack on Joe Romm and Fatih Birol is an argument in bad faith which originated in David Appell’s dislike of Joe Romm and which you are amplifying for similar reasons. The 2050 is an insertion by Reuters based on a misunderstanding.
On Appell’s blog, Eli pointed this out and suggested that Appell ask Birol. In the discussion there scientific sources were found by others for the 6C claim in 2100.

Patrick
May 30, 2012 4:01 am

“richardscourtney says:
May 30, 2012 at 3:14 am”
I would consider Frannys 10:10 No Pressure video of school kids being blown up at the touch of a button to be actual child abuse, certainly more abuse a child may be exposed to due to CO2 driven AGW.

wayne
May 30, 2012 4:18 am

Missed commenting this on a previous post so I’ll just post it here… seems more appropriate…
quoting Nature: “A loose coalition of eco-anarchist groups is increasingly launching violent attacks on scientists. A group calling itself the Olga Cell of the Informal Anarchist Federation International Revolutionary Front has claimed responsibility for the non-fatal shooting of a nuclear-engineering executive on 7 May in Genoa. The same group sent a letter bomb to a Swiss pro-nuclear lobby group in 2011; attempted to bomb IBM’s nanotechnology laboratory in Switzerland in 2010; and has ties with a group responsible for at least four bomb attacks on nanotechnology facilities in Mexico. Another branch of the group attacked railway signals in Bristol, UK, last week in an attempt to disrupt employees of nearby defense technology firms (no word on whether anyone noticed the difference between an anarchist attack and a normal Wednesday on the UK’s railways). A report by Swiss intelligence says such loosely affiliated groups are increasingly working together.”
If anyone has noticed, the skeptical side is always being blamed (incorrectly) for what the warmists are up to, being performed by their members. This must be some sort of propaganda rule they keep activating.
First it was skeptics are following pseudo-science, the opposite is true. They claim peer-reviewed results are the only correct science and it seems peer-reviewed is the only pseudo-science now days, especially in major journals. Then they blamed us on corrupting kids educations and once again the opposite is true. Now eco-terrorism, the e-mail threat bit, once again it didn’t even exist. The list never ends.
I used to be one of them, I’ve been in their circles and they place no weight on killing off half the population for the cause of “saving this third rock”, as long as it is not them. They tend to be tied into drugs and atheism, no rules, no morals for them. Now where is the modern-day Ness the meek and good-natured citizens want to know? I can think of no other group of people who really want half the world’s population dead. Can you? All they need to do is sever the world’s population from inexpensive energy, therefore affordable nutrition, and military protection, and they will accomplish their goal without lifting a rifle. Scoff at this thought, but it is underway with the MSM behind, and many of you know it. Just watch the people stand by and watch it happen.
Those at realclimate, greenpeace, desmogblog, bradblog, wwf, ourglobalwarmingblog, thinkprogress, skepticalscience, collide-a-scape, ipcc, drmartinwilliams, stoat, un, dilbertblog, iea, openmind, scienceofdoom, to name a few… the modern day Reverend James “Jim” Jones’s, feeding mental poison to their climate followers, but instead of killing themselves, they want the rest of humanity to die, slowly, by hunger, or from the cold from lacking affordable energy. The old, the weak, I always learned those are the ones to protect first, at all costs.
Do I not like them?…. you bet, but not dead, just in appropriate prisons, mental wards, or rehabilitation centers where they belong.

May 30, 2012 4:21 am

You only have to glance at the photo of Fatih Birol, the Chief Economist of the International Energy Agency to know what sort of a man he is. Unlike the portrait of Dorian Grey, his faults, his greed, his evil intentions, his ambition and duplicity are etched into his face. One could trust nothing at all that this man ever says.

May 30, 2012 4:26 am

Bill Tuttle says:
May 29, 2012 at 9:35 pm
Their double standard behavior is disturbing.
You are implying that they actually have standards…
===============================================
Of course they do, just not very high.

May 30, 2012 4:28 am

I don’t like to make light of any mental health issue, but if what that 17 year old said is true, he/she needs real help.

philjourdan
May 30, 2012 4:32 am

17 and his whole life? I can see him now crapping in diapers and worrying about climate change.

May 30, 2012 4:44 am

Lucia at The Blackboard finds the IPCC 0.2C/decade trend is now +2 sigma higher than the UAH temperature record trend. i.e. ~95% probability that the mean warming rate of the IPCC models is wrong – NOT a “very likely” (>90%) correct.
Birol’s 6C/32 years is 1.8 C/decade. That is ~940% of the actual 32 year trend!
That is pure fear mongering with no physical basis.
Nicola Scafetta finds natural cycles with minor anthropogenic contributions give better forecasting/hindcasting than IPCC models.
I find the IPCC’s case is “Not Proven.”

richardscourtney
May 30, 2012 4:47 am

Patrick:
I take the point you make to me at May 30, 2012 at 4:01 am. However, I stand by my point that it is also “actual child abuse” to destroy a child’s hope for the future and to replace it with fear. Indeed, the 17-year old in the above article is an example of what can be expected when a susceptible child is exposed to such abuse. Of course, not all children are susceptible but some are.
Richard

May 30, 2012 5:01 am

Reuters has issued a correction. The IEA is referring to the consequences at the turn of the coming century
“When I look at this data, the trend is perfectly in line with a temperature increase of 6 degrees Celsius (towards the end of this century), which would have devastating consequences for the planet,” Fatih Birol, IEA’s chief economist told Reuters. “

May 30, 2012 5:03 am

So 2 C by 2050 is pretty bad stuff and 6 C by 2100 or a bit later would be a total disaster.
Contrary to rumor the Easter Bunny is one scary dude, ask Eli.

cui bono
May 30, 2012 5:11 am

Dr. John M. Ware says (May 30, 2012 at 3:11 am)
“Unfortunately, far too many teenagers write as this one does”

Gd he nt wrt txt omg lol

klem
May 30, 2012 5:15 am

Why is it always Reuters which carries the most alarmist nonsense?
During the Copenhagen summit in 2009, Reuters was by far the loudest alarmist news service at the time. I guess that tradition continues.

Disko Troop
May 30, 2012 5:23 am

I grew up with the Cuban missile crisis. Genuinely 1 hour from all out nuclear war if the Russian ships had not turned, on my 12th birthday; with the “four minute warning” of impending nuclear war; with the Vietnam war; the cold war and as much latin and classics as our teachers could beat into us. Our response was to try and get the girls to meet us behind the bike sheds to tell them the end was coming. If I had sat around whining at the age of 17 about what might happen in 38 years time I would have been given a smack round the ear from my Dad. The kid should learn some rocket science if he is that scared and get the hell off the planet. I trust he will leave his designer trainers and computer and video games behind and stop getting lifts in his mum’s SUV to school. These are, after all, creations enabled by the evil oil and coal barons. It is no good complaining if you are too stupid to find out the truth, and too pathetic to do anything about it.

May 30, 2012 6:01 am

Eli Rabett said (May 30, 2012 at 1:41 am)
“…2050 makes no sense, but 2100 or a bit later does…”
Wow, that makes me feel so much better. Instead of temps rising 6C in the next 38yrs (456mo), they’ll rise 6C in the next 88 yrs (1056mo).
Instead of a projected .0131C per month, we should be seeing only .0056C per month.
By the way, just how much temp rise has there been in the past 17 years? If this really is a scared 17 year old, he/she was born in 1995. 1998 was the “warmest ever”. He/she saw the warmest temps ever when he/she was 3 years old, and hasn’t seen a year warmer than that in the past 14 years.
And that scares him/her…

Ian W
May 30, 2012 6:04 am

James Sexton says:
May 29, 2012 at 9:25 pm
Clearly, we’re in the age of stupid. We already knew about alarmists vile misanthropy, but each day I become more and more in awe of their unyielding stupidity.

Unfortunately, these people are not stupid – and they have succeeded in getting their incorrect message across. They are astride a tiger though and are starting to get ever more concerned that they will have to dismount. My hope is that they are not planning to use the inevitable backlash as a useful crisis: my concern is that they have.

Bill Marsh
May 30, 2012 6:12 am

ferd berple says:
May 29, 2012 at 9:23 pm
In my hometown today, between morning and afternoon, there was a 11F warming. Deaths were in the millions as people burst into flames on the streets and in their houses. A similar trend was found in cities around the world. Tonight the human races faces certain extinction as a result of a 11F temperature rise felt around the world as sure as daytime follows night. News at 11.
==================
And they have to deal with the subsequent 11F cooling at night as well. It’s a tough world out there

May 30, 2012 6:15 am

They “corrected” their story.
Went from “…”When I look at this data, the trend is perfectly in line with a temperature increase of 6 degrees Celsius (by 2050), which would have devastating consequences for the planet,” Fatih Birol, IEA’s chief economist told Reuters…”
to
“…When I look at this data, the trend is perfectly in line with a temperature increase of 6 degrees Celsius (towards the end of this century), which would have devastating consequences for the planet,” Fatih Birol, IEA’s chief economist told Reuters…”
So in that case, it appears that Reuters (in particular, the reporters or editors) inserted or changed the timeframe.
It does say at the end of the article “Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz and Muriel Boselli; editing by Jason Neely”.
They’ve also closed their comment section on the story.

Frank K.
May 30, 2012 6:20 am

John F. Hultquist says:
May 29, 2012 at 9:57 pm
“17 years old? I dont think so. 7, maybe. If really 17, he or she is unhinged.”
Actually, these threats are similar to those James Hansen at NASA GISS has made to oil company executives. This 17 yeard old kid is just following in Hansen’s footsteps.
Fortunately, we will finally be able to defund the climate clowns after November’s election…

Pamela Gray
May 30, 2012 6:22 am

This young person needs assistance. Comments like that lead me to ask if this is evidence of deeper issues having nothing to do with climate. He or she sounds depressed and a 17 year old with depression is a pants on fire emergency. Romm has a duty to tell this young person to go talk to a trusted adult about his/her fears. Now.

cba
May 30, 2012 6:46 am

so eli rabett, where is all that extra feedback supposed to come from? For 6 deg c, you’ve got a forcing of the co2 doubling (only inclear skies) of 3.7w/m^2 and for the surface to rise an average of 6 deg C, you’ve got to block an additional 20+ w/m^2 beyond the co2 doubling contribution, almost the equivalent of all co2 currently in the atmosphere. Hint, a 5 deg C rise of the whole atmospheric column would result in only a 30% increase in absolute humidity, assuming constant RH and that amounts to perhaps 8 W/m^2 of additional power absorption. Nevermind that your very existence is absolute proof that the climate system is highly stable and self regulating.

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