A recent article in the Seattle Times, titled “From water destruction to deadly heat: Associated Press photographers capture climate change in 2024,” presents a series of photographs depicting various natural disasters and extreme weather events from 2024, attributing these occurrences to climate change. While the Associated Press (AP) imagery is compelling, it’s a false narrative because the article doesn’t distinguish between short-term weather events and long-term climate trends. Instead, the article conflates the two completely separate natural processes.
From Climate at a Glance, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) defines climate as the “average weather conditions for a particular location and over a long period of time,” typically over 30 years. In contrast, weather refers to short-term atmospheric conditions. Therefore, individual weather events, no matter how extreme, do not constitute climate change.
Extreme weather events have occurred throughout history, independent of human-induced climate change. For instance, the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and the Great Blizzard of 1888 were catastrophic events that predate significant industrial CO₂ emissions. Attributing modern extreme weather solely to climate change overlooks the natural variability inherent in Earth’s climate system.
The perception of increasing extreme weather is often amplified by media coverage, including powerful photographs like those captured by the AP, and technological advancements. For example at Climate Realism it is pointed out that certain media outlets are now treating computer model projections the same as actual weather data. Plus, the proliferation of instant communication tools and 24/7 news cycles has led to more immediate and widespread reporting of weather events, creating a false impression of rising frequency and severity, even when statistical data does not show worsening trends.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) AR6 report, Chapter 11, concludes that changes in the frequency and intensity of most severe weather events have not been detected nor can they be attributed to human-caused climate change. Real-world data shows no significant increase in droughts, heatwaves, flooding, tropical cyclones, hurricanes, or tornadoes over the past 100 years.
Despite claims linking climate change to increased mortality from extreme weather, data indicates a significant decline in such deaths. Human mortality attributable to weather-related disasters, including floods, droughts, storms, wildfires, and extreme temperatures, has declined by more than 99% over the last 100 years. In the 1920s, deaths related to weather-related disasters averaged approximately 485,000 each year. By 2020, this number had fallen to approximately 7,790.
While the photographs featured in the Seattle Times article are evocative, it’s essential to approach the subject of weather and climate with a clear understanding of the distinction between the two, and the facts about extreme weather event trends firmly in mind. Attributing individual weather events directly to climate change without considering historical context and natural variability is a disservice to readers. However, given that the AP has received millions of dollars in grants to specifically write scary climate change stories from well-funded climate activists foundations, it seems that the agency and those that carry its stories and photographs, simply don’t care if their claims with regard to the science of climate change and weather trends are factual or not.
Originally posted at ClimateREALISM
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There is a market for fearp0rn, as well as anything reinforcing the readers prejudices. The Green Blob has been predicting the imminent dread disaster that never occurs since I learned to read, and I am not young. But the market (and contributions to activist NGOs) persists in feeding that market.
Rachel Carson’s 1962 Silent Spring is probably where it all started. Besides the actual fire on the Cuyahoga river, there were other “fires” that needed attention, and a whole industry sprang up to take care of it. What it looks like now is there aren’t that many “fires” anymore and the industry is manufacturing imaginary fires to keep the industry going.
You might want to go back further in time to the 1950s Club of Rome meeting.
AP – If you’re trying to wreck your own credibility, you’re too late.
At this point, I think they are trying to make their own rubble bounce!
The Associated Press is actually a terrorist organization. It takes 5 authors, all curiously stuck in the same mindset to report anything and its always presented as scary.
I remember the great hurricane of 9032 BC. The extent covered the entire eastern seaboard at once. Entire forests were levelled, natives washed out to sea, entire species of animals wiped out in one swell foop.
How do you know it didn’t happen? That’s the point. We’re looking at an extremely short time frame and calling it unprecedented.
It was actually 9029 according to some early French trappers. Joyeaux Noël.
Nah. Vikings.
It’s shifts in the weather patterning that cause the climate to change not the other way around.
Here in the UK the cause of our warming winters are closely linked to a increasing trend high pressure forming over the Azores and Europe during the winter months. Especially during the latter part of the winter. This set up leads to a increase in milder air coming up from the SW rather then colder air from the north. The weather set up for this Christmas is a classic example of this weather patterning.
It’s this that has lead to the warming of our winters and there is no evidence of it been linked to human caused climate change. Much more likely to be due to just natural shifts in the weather patterning that have been the likely cause of climate change in europe in the past.
It aligns with studies of orbital mechanics and solar cycles.
As seas rise, salty ocean water of the Pacific encroaches on Vietnam’s Mekong Delta..
A quick check of the January pick of the Mekong Delta shows quite a wobble in the nearest tide gauge data. Such rapid changes can be due to unstable land (no GPS data, but it is surrounded by very active earthquake zones) or ocean current variations.
Secondly, low river flow may allow saltwater to encroach upstream. Low flow could be due to:
None of the above, as it resides beneath the banner Associated Press photographers capture climate change in 2024.
The delta is sinking due to lack of sediment supply caused by the numerous hydro schemes built upstream, coupled with ground water extraction. Whatever happens to SL the delta, like others around the world, is in serious trouble.
Cause and effect is a lost cause for all journalism majors these days. Click bait rules to sell all news. The Standard of “who what why where when” is gone. If its not scary, its not worth printing.
When digital media were scarfed up by corporations, they transitioned from keepers of the flame of truth to profit centers. Sensationalism garners ad click revenues.
The AP seems to be taking pictures of the passage of time because there is great significance in the passage of time.
I wish they could go back in time.
https://www.weather.gov/grb/peshtigofire2
Ironically, the thing that most endangers humans regarding climate are the actual climate policies promoted by the “climate crisis” fanatics. And they wonder why young people are having more psychiatric issues, decreased workforce participation, and refusing to have children.
Making our energy grid reliant on weather-dependent energy sources [like wind & solar] WHEN YOU THINK THE WEATHER IS GOING TO GET MORE EXTREME is beyond stupid. Having a fragile energy system is going to cause more economic disruptions, severe geo-political ramifications [China is laughing at us], and increased disease & deaths, which suggests they really are aiming for a back-door mass depopulation of the planet.
Since they put so much stock in consensus I can offer far more pictures of no destruction and idyllic scenes.
Photo #45 near Frankfurt says “frozen trees”
About 3 weeks ago my area 100 miles east of Seattle WA had a similar event. In the Pacific Northwest this situation is called a “Silver Frost” but it has long been called hoar (gray) frost.
When I was managing a bookstore in the early 1980s there was a paperback fiction book using the title Silver Frost. I think it had to do with a Christmas Tree farm in Oregon.
I can’t believe what I’m reading. Was this written by a 9 year old?
Peter Prengaman, you’re an utter disgrace to journalism.
Human beings can do some real clever stuff but accurate predictions of the future may always and ever.elude us, being just another of Nature’s many unsolvable puzzles unless and until She really needs us to know perhaps.
A more sensible species may not have invested quite so much capital and energy into ‘green nonsense’ and taking so many foolish backward steps with electricity and our means of generating it especially as nuclear potential has been around for such a long, long time. Perhaps it is time to make political animals pay for their disastrous meddling which may just deter them from wanting to even try it. 2025 may be a much needed U- turning point.. .
I believe this is in error:
Therefore, individual weather events, no matter how extreme, do not constitute climate “change.”
Actually, they do. What is wrong is claiming climate change is the cause of individual weather events.
“Extreme weather events have occurred throughout history, independent of human-induced climate change.”
I suggest deleting the inference that climate change is human induced.
Look at the picture and read the caption.
They are damaging, possibly destroying a coral reef. This is not oceans doing the killing.
Anthony, It is Ch. 12 of the IPCC report (not Ch. 11).
Major heatwaves, like in 1934 and 1936 in the US, 1976, 2003, 2006, and 2018 in Europe, were all discretely solar driven, the global mean temperature is irrelevant to when they happen.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQemMt_PNwwBKNOS7GSP7gbWDmcDBJ80UJzkqDIQ75_Sctjn89VoM5MIYHQWHkpn88cMQXkKjXznM-u/pub