2019 was remarkable for those of us interested in the extensive, and utterly unjustifiable, panic over climate variation and our impact on it. Two features stand out to me:
(1) The exploitation of Greta Thunberg, a troubled youngster whose troubles were increased when she was misled by a schoolteacher who told her that polar bears were dying out. Of course, that 'fact' is not at all true - the polar bears have been doing relatively well for decades now, and their numbers have increased quite dramatically. But truth does not really matter much in the CO2 Scare - speculation, naive extrapolation, avoidance of inconvenient facts, and the dominance of emotive catch-phrases are all far more important. Greta was but one of countless victims of decades of propaganda in schools, and elsewhere. She went on to be pushed out front as a figurehead to produce even more such victims. Ben Pile and Jaime Jessop have each written penetrating essays on what has been happening these past 12 months:
Ben
https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/12/30/2019-the-year-of-peak-green-bullsht/
'The only truly new thing that has emerged over the past year or so has been the phenomenon of Greta Thunberg and her school-strike movement. For years, the ‘green blob’ network of campaigning organisations, corporations, academics and UN agencies has fantasised about mobilising the young as a political force. After pumping billions of children full of green propaganda, a climate avatar has arrived in the form of the Swedish truant-cum-activist. There could be no doubting the sincerity of the teen who bore the emotional scars inflicted on her by the movement that she was to lead – she had been so traumatised by green propaganda that she had not spoken, not eaten and had refused to go to school. Environmentalism is nothing if not a cult of self-harm.
Political, cultural and religious leaders fell over themselves to be seen being scolded by the child. Unlike Harry and Meghan, Greta refused to fly. Instead of private jets, European royalty, millionaires and superstars loaned her their sailing yachts and Teslas. To keep her own personal carbon footprint down, sailing crews and her entourage had to fly across the Atlantic.
Politicians and campaigning organisations may have found it useful to hide their political ambitions behind children. But to many people, the emotional manipulation of impressionable minds is unconscionable. It has now emerged that the false stories that many of the children have fallen victim to – such as the claims that charismatic creatures like walruses and polar bears face extinction or that the world’s rainforests face imminent collapse – are distressing young children and causing real harm.'
Jaime
'2019 – The End of a Decade When Climate Change Alarmism Tipped Abruptly Into Climate Crisis Hysteria
In the final days of 2019, there is much to reflect upon events of the past year and, with the closing of the second decade of the 21st Century, much to reflect upon how climate change alarmism has itself alarmingly morphed into something much more dangerous, visceral, urgent, ideologically driven and immediate as regards public perception and societal impact. A decade during which global warming faded into obscurity (on account of the fact that there wasn’t any from 1998-2013) to be replaced almost universally by the more politically correct term of ‘climate change’, which has itself now been largely displaced in activist circles and the media by the terms ‘climate emergency’ and ‘climate crisis’. Ironically so, because, bereft of an actual climate crisis, alarmist scientists and activists have proceeded to invent one, linguistically, as in the case of the Guardian’s newly introduced style guide and by co-opting extreme weather events and their impacts into the general narrative.'
In the final days of 2019, there is much to reflect upon events of the past year and, with the closing of the second decade of the 21st Century, much to reflect upon how climate change alarmism has itself alarmingly morphed into something much more dangerous, visceral, urgent, ideologically driven and immediate as regards public perception and societal impact. A decade during which global warming faded into obscurity (on account of the fact that there wasn’t any from 1998-2013) to be replaced almost universally by the more politically correct term of ‘climate change’, which has itself now been largely displaced in activist circles and the media by the terms ‘climate emergency’ and ‘climate crisis’. Ironically so, because, bereft of an actual climate crisis, alarmist scientists and activists have proceeded to invent one, linguistically, as in the case of the Guardian’s newly introduced style guide and by co-opting extreme weather events and their impacts into the general narrative.'
(2) An increase in scientific papers, and many excellent blog posts with a scientific focus, that undermine the climate panic, and the dreadful, degrading corruption of schools, universities, media, and governments. Kenneth Richard and Pierre Gosselin have perhaps done more than most to collate and summarise these 'contrarian papers':
https://notrickszone.com/2019/12/31/2019-science-refutes-climate-alarm-on-every-front-shrinking-deserts-growing-islands-crumbling-consensus-weaker-storms-cooler-arctic-etc-etc-etc/
'2019 saw a great amount of new science emerge showing that there’s nothing alarming or catastrophic about our climate.
Some 2019 scientific findings
Need to make a presentation showing there is no climate alarm? The following findings we reported on in 2019 will put many concerns to rest.
Hundreds of peer-reviewed papers ignored by media
What follows are some selected top science-based posts we published here at NoTricksZone in 2019. These new findings show there is absolutely no climate alarm.
Hundreds of new peer-reviewed papers, charts, findings, etc – which the IPCC, activists and media ignore and even conceal. No wonder they’ve gotten so shrill.'
Looking Forward
There is a clear need for calmer voices to be heard, and for a wider appreciation of just how flimsy the case is for alarm over our CO2 and our other impacts on climate. Roughly speaking, more of item (2) above and less of item (1) are needed.I am planning a series of posts that will be aimed at adults who want to help themselves and their children develop informed, apolitical, non emotive, fact based perspectives on climate variation that they can call their own thanks to their own efforts to learn more about what all the fuss is about.
There is plenty of evidence for the harm being done to young people thanks to their accepting 'off-the-shelf' scary opinions as if they were gospel truths. Donna Laframboise has written of a recent example:
https://nofrakkingconsensus.com/2019/12/16/young-people-distressed-about-climate-change/
'A few days ago, a 20-year-old who resides in the UK sent an e-mail to American climate scientist Judith Curry. This young person describes themselves as miserable, fearful, and petrified. Frequently sick to their stomach, unable to eat or sleep, they’re genuinely worried that “climate change is going to kill me and all my family.”
Donna wants to help such youngsters:
'If you are a young person in distress about the climate, please read one or more of the three books listed below. I promise you, your world will be different by the time you finish any of them. If you read all three, I guarantee you’ll see the universe with completely new eyes.' See the link for more details of these excellent books.
It is, of course, no wonder that young people are so distressed. Here is a recent, and abysmal, video produced, believe it or not, to raise votes for a Senate candidate in the USA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eyJevf-Blg A disgraceful effort, but it provides insight into the tormented imaginings of climate scare victims and those who wish to exploit them. The same can said of the video contained in this link showing German children trained to treat their grandmothers with contempt for not toeing the line on the CO2 Scare: https://notrickszone.com/2019/12/29/gretas-generational-supremacists-indoctrinated-german-girls-sing-grandmother-is-an-environmental-scumbag/
And here is a mother, who is herself a victim of the scaremongering, looking at all sorts of probably unhelpful ways to help her own kids: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-18/climate-change-and-how-to-talk-to-kids-about-it/11686900 This mother needs to fix her own fears first, and I hope my forthcoming posts might prove helpful to people just like her.
In the meantime, here is a pretty good video to start things off in 2020:
Source: https://www.justfactsdaily.com/climate-change-fears-of-teen-activist-are-empirically-baseless/
(hat-tip: https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2019/12/22/gretas-fears-of-climate-change-are-baseless/)
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY READERS - here's hoping for more progress in the spreading of a calmer, better-informed view of climate variation.
Note added 03 Jan 2020
Predictive skill is the acid test for good science. The CO2 Catastrophists fail it time after time after time. More links on their failures can be found here:
https://www.c3headlines.com/2020/01/doomsday-existential-threat-climate-change-disruption-emergency-predictions-unmitigated-total-failures.html
Note added 30 Jan 2020
'A new roundup of scientific papers published in 2019 that do not toe the morally and intellectually bankrupt lines of the CO2 fanatics:
'Over 440 Scientific Papers Published In 2019 Support A Skeptical Position On Climate Alarm
https://notrickszone.com/2020/01/30/over-440-scientific-papers-published-in-2019-support-a-skeptical-position-on-climate-alarm/
Three cheers for Kenneth Richard. May he continue to spot and publicise the work of real scientists.
