The Scientific American, among other mainstreams media outlets, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, are promoting claims made by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), that climate change is causing increased instances of extreme weather, causing billions of dollars of damage. An examination of the press release NOAA put out shows that the agency’s claims are unsubstantiated. Extreme weather does cost Americans billions of dollars each year, but there is no evidence climate change is making weather worse, so it can’t be the cause of higher costs.
In fact, hard data refute NOAA’s claims, suggesting the press release is nothing more than a slick campaign to hype up climate fear Exposing this campaign, climate Scientist Roger Pielke, Jr. Ph.D., Tweeted three years ago:
Former NOAA official admits tabulation of “billion dollar” disasters was/is a shadow campaign to get people to “connect the dots” on climate change and severe weather Why not instead rely on actual data, IPCC, USNCA & peer-reviewed research?
Pielke showed that in a USA Today opinion piece, the deputy administrator for NOAA, Monica Medina, admitted the shadow campaign to fool the media, as the screencap below, shows:
In a 2020 Forbes article, “Everything You Hear About Billion-Dollar Disasters Is Wrong,” Pielke cites data and graphs that refute NOAA’s claims, blowing its effort to “connect the dots” apart, saying:
Are there more or more severe US hurricanes since 1900? No.
Is extreme weather costing us more as a proportion of GDP? No.
Pielke goes on to say that the entire episode “is an embarrassment.”
I worked in a @NOAA cooperative institute for 16 years & it is an important agency, staffed by smart, thoughtful scientists But the “billion dollar” disasters “connect the dots” propaganda is an embarrassment.
Despite the evidence that extreme weather events haven’t become more common or severe during the recent period of modest warming, the “connect the dots” propaganda continues today courtesy of disaster loaded NOAA press releases like the one that resulted this flurry of stories in the mainstream media in recent days, uncritically parroting NOAA’s claims.
Looking at the Scientific American headline, just how does “a record number of billion-dollar disasters show US isn’t ready for climate change”? According to hurricane data, the number of hurricanes making landfall in the United States has declined in recent decades. Hurricanes do billions of dollars more in damage compared to 30 years ago because more people live on hurricane prone coast, building and developing more expensive properties there.
The same holds true for destructive tornadoes and many other types of extreme weather.
As demonstrated by the second graph above, when these weather-related catastrophes flagged by NOAA are correlated with inflation and the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, costs are declining, suggesting NOAA is pushing misinformation and the media is complicit in promoting it.
A recent Climate Realism article, titled Wrong, Mainstream Media, ‘Extreme Weather’ is Fairly Common, Not Rare, shows that despite media claims, so-called “rare” weather events are actually fairly common, and there’s no signal in suggesting that climate change aka “global warming” is making extreme weather events more common.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) agrees with this assessment. In its Sixth Assessment Report, chapter 12, the IPCC says it finds low scientific confidence in the existence of any visible “global warming” effects in the form of weather extremes, for:
- Air Pollution Weather (temperature inversions)
- Aridity
- Avalanche (snow)
- Average rain
- Average Wind Speed
- Coastal Flood
- Drought Affecting Crops (agricultural drought)
- Drought From Lack Of Rain (hydrological drought)
- Erosion of Coastlines
- Fire Weather (hot and windy)
- Flooding From Heavy Rain (pluvial floods)
- Frost
- Hail
- Heavy Rain
- Heavy Snowfall and Ice Storms
- Landslides
- Marine Heatwaves
- Ocean Alkalinity
- Radiation at the Earth’s Surface
- River/Lake Floods
- Sand and Dust Storms
- Sea Level
- Severe Wind Storms
- Snow, Glacier, and Ice Sheets
- Tropical Cyclones
So, what we have is a disagreement between NOAA and the media claim on the one hand, who claim things like “We’re already seeing the effects of global warming in storms/cyclones/floods/coastal erosion/fire weather/sea level/etc.”, and hard data and the IPCC’s assessment, which show just the opposite to be true.
This is yet another shameful instance of the Biden administration’s disinformation campaign on climate change to gin up support for its climate spending and costly net zero policies. Sadly, the mainstream media is failing in their job as government watchdogs, instead they are complicit in spreading climate falsehoods.
Anthony Watts is a senior fellow for environment and climate at The Heartland Institute. Watts has been in the weather business both in front of, and behind the camera as an on-air television meteorologist since 1978, and currently does daily radio forecasts. He has created weather graphics presentation systems for television, specialized weather instrumentation, as well as co-authored peer-reviewed papers on climate issues. He operates the most viewed website in the world on climate, the award-winning website wattsupwiththat.com.
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Joey Biden just said the greatest existential threat of our time is climate change….and we have to work with China on solving this greatest problem. I think Joey is the greatest threat America has faced since the Cold War and WW2.
Biden-Fetterman 2024. It’s a no-brainer.
Newsom and I have no idea who for VP and it will still be a no-brainer. But who ever it is, I’m convinced it won’t be Biden.
The scariest part is that Americans have no idea who the real puppeteers are pulling the strings and who cannot be held accountable for their actions.
Sure we do. It’s the billionaires that donate to the Democrat party. If you don’t know who they are, then you’re not paying attention.
work with China? The American military thinks China is by far the greatest existential threat of our time. Sheesh, I can recall back in about ’62 when I was 12, my older sister’s boyfriend joined the navy. He told her that what worried the navy was the rise of China! And we let that happen by moving our industries there!
That reminded me of discussions among the paperboys where we gathered to pick up our weekday bundles of newspapers. Fortunately, Sunday’s bundles were dropped off in front of our houses.
Sunday bundles were a lot heavier than the rest of the week’s issues. Thursdays were also heavy, around here.
“Work with China”. Yeah. Right.
We make all the sacrifices, cripple our energy sector to reduce our carbon dioxide footprint so China can crank up their coal plants and generate more CO2 than we ever have?
That’s not ‘working’ with China. That’s being subordinate to China. It doesn’t solve the ‘problem’ that will supposedly be solved if we keep following the destructive path set by the climate change faithful.
We need more energy, not less. Renewables won’t/can’t cut it. Nuclear is a non-starter because of the politics, not because the technology is bad or faulty.
Scientific American is neither.
If you believe in man made climate change as NOAA does, you MUST attribute every single storm to man made climate change (from planetary heating).
NOAA is therefore NOT a scientific organization. Piss off NOAA, and come back when you get your story together.
I could understand the logic, I mean after all, under Trump a $900 million disaster, under Bidennomics could easily be a $2.5 billion disaster.
But not d/t increased severity or frequency.
Hurricanes do billions of dollars more in damage compared to 30 years ago because more people live on hurricane prone coast, building and developing more expensive properties there.
But the major factor is the INFLATION, which in the last 100 years is running at 1,695.5%.
If in(2023) I purchased an item for $1,000,000,000 then in (1923) that same item would have cost: $55,695,608.
Well done, O Valiant Warrior in the battle for bona fide science!
The choice for Americans is simple.
Vote for:
DATA-driven policy
(Trump)
or
UNSUPPORTED CONJECTURE-driven policy
((your name here) Democrat or RINO)
Trump only cares about himself. That’s no good for the leader of a country.
Biden has gone off the deep end with the climate change nonsense.
It’s time for a third party!
We have powerful evidence that Donald Trump loves America more than himself:
his running for election.
Have to agree with you here. He’s definitely narcissistic but that’s because he’s willing to call out bullshit for what it is. A lot of people, including other Republicans, are too scared to do that.
The Uniparty needs two wings to fly. The Never Trumpers are one of the wings, the Democrats the other.
As an outsider, he definitely comes across as a staunch patriot.
Trump certainly cares for himself but to say he doesn’t care for America isn’t fair- and I’m not a big fan of Trump. Of course you’re right about Biden. But we don’t need a third party- just vote for DeSantis.
Ain’t happening. DeSantis is a uniparty plant.
Desantis and California Governor Newsom are going to engage in a 90 minute debate on Hannity’s show soon.
That will probably give Desantis a little more public notice. Let’s see how he handles himself against a smooth-talking, Newsom.
Bill Clinton used to be called an exceptionally good liar by some of his fellow politicians. Newsom reminds me of him. Smooth-talking and can lie to your face with a smile on his face without blinking an eye.
The debate will be interesting. I don’t think it will launch Desantis to the presidency, but it will launch Newsom as a leading candidate if Joe Biden can’t continue.
Newsom is the best the Democrats can do? I think DeSantis will mop the floor with him.
Newsom is pretty slippery. But Desantis is probably up to the job.
I think the debate is to take place November 30, 2023.
OK, if anyone gets a definite date/time on this debate let us know. Hopefully its available on YouTube. I no longer get “normal” TV channels- only what’s on the internet. Or, we’ll watch it after the fact. Either way I hope to watch it- then send it to everyone I know here in Wokeachusetts, where the Republican and Libertarian parties are close to extinction.
Janice, I wish that I had your faith in Trump, but sadly not.
Moreover…
There is no evidence “climate change” (as commonly used, i e., “meaningful shifts in the climate zones of the earth CAUSED BY human CO2 emissions”) exists.
In fact, there IS evidence AGAINST that conjecture:
CO2 UP GREATLY.
WARMING (and “extreme weather”) NOT.
Ummmmm…. warming is up…. I think you will find that globally September is going to be a warm one. And that follows a warm last few months. Just saying.
I notice some MSM outlets are now dropping the CAGW hype, and calling the current rise in temperatures for what they are… El Nino driven.
That only a half truth. If you want to know the real truth compare this stage of El Nino with the last one. It’s warmer….
Simon We’ll see in a few days if it’s warmer than 2016
blob:https://wattsupwiththat.com/84493779-8830-4949-b170-5b4110fc5c0c
September 🙄. Moreover, warming is not up “greatly.”
You need to specify where. Don’t say “globally”, because that’s nonsense. There is no global temperature and no global climate.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, August and September have been very cool.
Andrea Thompson graduated from Georgia Tech with a B.S. in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences in 2004 and a Master’s in the same subject in 2006.
Could that be the same place . . . never mind.
“B.S. in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences in 2004 and a Master’s in the same” Qualified to teach middle school. It’s a good economic deal in some parts of the country, but not all.
Chapter 12 of the IPCC’s sixth assessment report also rates the “increase in Climate Services” as a “very high likelihood”. Andrea Thompson’s career is confirming evidence of that.
Bristol University goes shark jumping:””Extreme global warming could eventually wipe out humans, first-ever supercomputer climate models warn.
They rave on:“”The planet would heat up to such an extent that many mammals would be unable to survive – and the Earth’s continents would merge to form one hot, dry, uninhabitable supercontinent.
and on and on:“”They suggest the sun would become brighter, with tectonic movements unleashing huge amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air through volcanic eruptions.
The Earth would become so hot that only 8% to 16% of the projected supercontinent would be habitable.
These people are demented
Story tip This story must be from climate bullshit central
Spun from this paper https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-023-01259-3
Same general BS here https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/133009261/scientists-predict-nz-wont-be-part-of-earths-supercontinent-in-250-million-years
filed under climate change under climate change these people have no concept of what climate change is vs natural process of continental drift
the stuff article is less hysterical than the sky one
Rational people “on that side” must get so frustrated when certain voices speak.
Yet they SAY nothing !
Sounds like a film script.
Makes for a good movie…
They are talking about now. You show data ending in 2019
Irrelevant, there’d have to be an incredible rapid shift of severe magnitude between 2019 and 2023 to shift the downward trend into an increasing trend.
Streetcred:
Not irrelevant.
Exactly what has happened..
Oh my (in a Farnsworth voice), that was 0.25°C cooler, that’s enough to melt the space time continuum! Or maybe no one will notice the difference…
What has materially changed in three years (assuming data through 2022)?
Dave Fair:
The rapid, strong 2023 El Nino
Please reread my comment.
Sooo, not CO2.
If the headline indicates the lack of understanding of inflation that it seems to theres no need to read further. Measuring anything unadjusted dollar cost is as bad as life expectancy.
Scale, inflation, and history are topics the ClimateCult™ missed in school because they were out marching about Carbon or cupcakes or something.
I stopped subscribing to Scientific American many years ago, when it was clear that science was, at best, on the back burner of a very large stove, or more likely thrown out with the scraps.
Story Tip
Sort of in the same vain..
‘Arbitrary And Capricious’: Federal Judge Blocks Biden’s Efforts To Restrict Gulf Oil Drilling – Climate Change Dispatch
The newest lawfare fad in the U.S. is called “sue and settle”: some org files a lawsuit against some gov agency alleging some tort, with the appearance the org is against the gov. In reality the org is working with the gov, who then settle the lawsuit out-of-court and institute some policy change wanted by both, completely bypassing the legislative process.
Just think.
If the trillions spent to stop the weather had been spent to prepare for it instead …
The recent Lahaina fires clearly had nothing to do with climate change, and yet some media sources still managed to find a “climate scientist” to quote something about climate change “has supercharged the weather” making such events more severe and frequent. In the case of the Maui fires, the causation was due to more severe and frequent droughts.
Although back tracking a little since, you still get “Why climate change can’t be blamed entirely for the Maui wildfires” from the ABC (US).
They admit that “The most recent wet season across Maui was above average for nearly every reporting station on Maui, with Lahaina seeing 116% of normal rainfall between October 2022 to April 2023, according to data from the National Weather Service.” but couldn’t find that Lahaina gets an average of a few mm of rain (tenth of an inch) in June and July. Twice the average rainfall would not have been enough to stop the grass turning into dangerous fuel by August.
It also required winds and these were extreme. Peak gusts of 67 mph.
BUT as written in 1867
https://blog.bishopmuseum.org/nupepa/kaua%ca%bbula-the-powerful-wind-of-lahaina/
So blatantly obvious (sticks out like dogs’ balls as we say in Aus) that climate change had no role in this disaster, at all, and we still get “Climate change may have amplified the conditions that led to the deadly inferno on the Hawaiian island of Maui but it cannot be blamed entirely.”
The disaster in Derna, Libya was the same. A paper last year pointed out that the dams would fail and cause a disaster if rains like in 1986 and 1945 fell again. That is a one in 50 year event, not a one in a thousand. Rainfall in Derna was 73 mm that day, although exceptional further along the coast. It was 64 mm in 1986, and 145 mm in 1945. Its a safe guess that it rained more in the whole catchment in 1945 although we don’t know for sure.
And yet, some climate scientist gets quoted as saying that although no singular weather event can be attributed to climate change, humans have supercharged the atmosphere.
Sorry, but is CO2 like a blanket or a supercharger (roots type, belt, electric, turbo?). I know that they are only analogies but it suggests that I should chuck my doona under the bonnet of my Hyundai and go for a hoon in the hills*.
* throw a duvet/quilt under the hood of my s417 box and go for an exhilarating drive in the hills.
“Extreme weather does cost Americans billions of dollars each year, but there is no evidence climate change is making weather worse, so it can’t be the cause of higher costs.”
The population of the US has roughly doubled in my 73 years. And there is a lot more developed land- so obviously, with the identical weather there will be more damage. I find it amazing that this basic fact is ignored by the climatistas.
It’s a shame we can’t trust so much that our government now puts out as “scientific” information.
Another example in a different field:
Nay sayers, take note:
Mayo Clinic Website Now Says Hydroxychloroquine CAN Be Used to Treat COVID-19 Patients, Previously Claimed It Was Not Effective | The Gateway Pundit | by Anthony Scott
I still have a supply of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin on hand for use against covid.
I haven’t had to use it yet (knock on wood).
They claim covid has now changed into a mild infection similar to a cold virus.
Yes, the medical community’s integrity has been seriously harmed by how the covid pandemic was handled. They have created a lot of skeptical people.
So the Gateway pundit is not a reputable mag and certainly not one to hang your health on. It is an extreme rightwing rag known for pushing conspiracy nonsense. But even then the links from it to Mayo don’t work. So sorry that’s a fail.
Like Russian collusion?
No there was a significant amount of Russian collusion which is why 30 something indictments resulted.
And now I see Trump guilty of fraud in New York. Inflated his assts by 100’s millions. May not be able to do business in NY again.
Simon, evaluationg property is a subjective matter.
But this judge knows exactly how every piece of property should be valued? How would he know?
We need to know the particulars of this case, and we don’t know now.
I’ll be interested to hear what Trump’s lawyers say about this.
But the claim was Trump’s collusion with Russia, sorry. No evidence
Not true. If there was no evidence how do you explain the convictions?
While it is true Trump himself was never found guilty of colluding with Russian spies, it is not true of the people who worked with and for him. Here is a detailed list of those who were guilty.
https://time.com/5556331/mueller-investigation-indictments-guilty-pleas/
Nothing in the Steele Dossier was found to be true. A lot was admitted to being just made up in a bar. The DNC we’re fined for calling payments to Steele as lawyers fees.
Indictments resulted because it was purely third world politics.
“Indictments resulted because it was purely third world politics.”
Yes, that’s what we have here. Radical Democrats are trying to steal the nation away from the People, and keep it all for themselves, and demonizing and attacking the political opposition is always part of the totalitarian plan.
Trump’s millions of supporters also see it that way as they overwhelmingly continue to support his candidacy. They wouldn’t support Trump if they thought he was a criminal. I wouldn’t support Trump if I thought he was a criminal.
I don’t think Trump is a criminal. I think he is the solution to our current problems.
“Radical Democrats are trying to steal the nation away from the People
I think you will find tom that Mueller was a Republican and a well respected one.
” They wouldn’t support Trump if they thought he was a criminal.”
Let’s hope you are right on this Tom. As the indictments play out, if Trump does appear guilty to those who are truely open to the possibility, will those who support him change their minds?
Since you are still reading, Simon. It’s come to light that the far left NY state wants to look after banks and insurance firms to keep the sanctity of the capitalist system. In their wisdom, Trump’s mansion in Florida is valued the same as a neighbour’s house on a quarter of an acre, without a beach front. Trump’s place is 20 acres with a large beach frontage, and the other end having sea views. While they could argue that a billion was an exaggeration, $800 M would not be, but they insist it’s closer to $17M.
Such blatant dishonesty and you would rather attack GWP for some minor lapses, because they call it out.
Care to prove your assertion that GP isn’t “reputable”? Thousands of articles published yearly, but anyway, at least you don’t do over-generalized unsupported assumptions….
Anything is reputable to the people who support a cause. But GP is an extreme right wing site. Maybe you are fine with that, but to me it is no more to be believed than an extreme left wing site. And the article sited here is a fine example. The links provided to the Mayo clinic don’t even work.
Simon wrote in Wikipedia that it was extreme (not far left) rightwing. JUst look it up.
So in other words you can’t prove your assertion. Shocking…
‘By the way, simply repeating “extreme right wing site” isn’t proof of anything.
OK so now the links work but they do not say anything like what is being said here. This is what Mayo have to say…
“Hydroxychloroquine is not recommended as a treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Also, hydroxychloroquine doesn’t prevent infection with the virus that causes COVID-19.”
“Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine
These malaria drugs were authorized for emergency use by the FDA during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the FDA withdrew that authorization when data analysis showed that the drugs are not effective for treating COVID-19. They also can cause serious heart problems.”
You didn’t even look. It is on the Mayo website! Duh!
I looked at the Mayo website and quoted from it. You are welcome to if you think I have it wrong.
The usual CYA:
Mayo Clinic Nukes Hydroxychloroquine Information Page After People Take Notice | ZeroHedge
All very mysterious.
Typical. Not “mysterious” at all.
They are all liars, pushing a marxist revolution.
Scientific American? It ceased being a publication about science quite some time ago. It went political and never looked back. That’s why I canceled my subscription over 20 years ago after having been a subscriber for over 30 years.
I wonder how many people cancelled their subscriptions to Scientific American?
I did, and did so specifically because of the way they mishandled the claims about human-caused climate change (both Global Cooling and Global Warming), and it appears there are many people who did the same thing.
And none of us got together and decided to do this. It was all an individual thing based on being fed up with speculation and assumptions being presented as established facts.
And they are still doing this same thing today. Scientifi American is not following the scientific method when it comes to CO2.
Thanks much, Anthony for the wonderful article!
Global warming/climate change has decreased the meridional temperature gradient. by warming the highest latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere the most by a wide margin. Warming the coldest places, in the coldest time of year and the nights the most.
They want you to believe that less extreme temperature gradients increase extreme weather.
Not on this planet if you follow the laws of physics and meteorology!
Global cooling is what would INCREASE many extreme weather realms!
https://www.drroyspencer.com/2019/05/recent-tornadoes-are-due-to-unusually-cold-weather/
And 8% inflation in 2022 increased the number of “billion dollar storms”, not “climate change”.