Last Night in a Radio Ad: Forest Fires Caused By Climate Change
July 7, 2008 · By Shane Edwards
I was listening to News 1130 last night, when I heard an ad for some kind of climate change initiative, led by this line:
“The signs of climate change are all around us: from the forest fires in our forests…”
That was all I listened to. I wish I had paid attention to the organization who produced the ad.
I had consoled myself when I read the article I commented on last week, that at least it was an off-the-cuff remark, maybe they just hadn’t done their due diligence at the newspaper.
But with this ad, clearly that reporter was parroting a new talking point for the environmentalist lobby.
I can’t begin to express my anger at this… co-opting of ordinary, regular occurrences in our world. What’s next? “The signs of climate change are all around us… from the browning grass in July and August to the dropping water levels of late summer…”
UPDATE: A reader of our site writes that the ads have also played on CKNW 980, and they appear to be linked to a website. Looks like it’s actually a government ad! I am not sure why I am surprised that Gordon Campbell’s Liberals, in a pathetic attempt to panic British Columbians into accepting the new carbon taxes, is now trying to tell us that somehow forest fires have gotten worse than in the past, of late. This couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s pretty much the equivalent of the enviro-nuts speculating that hurricanes would become more numerous, or stronger, then having both theories proven wrong.
That pesky climate change. “Browning of Grass” would be hilarious, as one of the chief examples of a warming climate is a 9% greener earth as seen with satellite photos.
Forest fires being blamed on Climate Change is rich too. If GLOBAL climate change had any effect here, it’d be region specific. Pesky climate change, making for a wetter more fire prone Saskatchewan… oh wait…
Or a colder Canada (on average)…
Damn science, lets just attribute anything hot or any flood to climate change without studying other local effects.
Climate Change Facts:
-Vast swaths of Canada will get colder, not warmer.
-Most dry spots in Canada will get wetter, not drier
-Saskatchewan will have a longer growing season (oh the horror!)
Sure, there are lots of downsides to climate change, but don’t attribute anything that happens to it without understanding the local climate. Talk to an actual local scientist before you air your story.
I guess Numberwatch will have to add forest fires to the rather exclusive list:
http://www.numberwatch.co.uk/warmlist.htm
Climate change wrecked my sandwich.
I know the news media has no standards, but I thought there were specific rules and standards for advertisements and claims made in ads.
Worth looking into.
The add blames Glo-Bull Warming for “firestorms in our forests”.
Sounds as alarmist as “Soldiers with guns in our streets in Canada”.
Wouldn’t you be suprised both adds were produced by the same people?
Shane, the theories about the number or intensity of storms increasing as the climate changes may not have been proven, but they certainly have not been disproven. They are theories awaiting further evidence.
New day, new theory:
http://www.canada.com/ottawaci.....50f8abc58b
Global warming may lessen storm intensity.
Wait for it, I’m sure a counter paper will be coming next week.