If you think that global warming is substantiated only by anecdotal observations like these, you do not understand climate science. The fact that last January had more consecutive above zero temperatures in Minneapolis than any January in history is no more relied upon to support global warming than the fact that some places in Russia are quite cold this winter can be relied upon to discredit it. It is quite true that the media often attaches to facts like these because they resonate with the average person more than rigorous scientific research.
We have exchanged comments in regard to Global warming in previous threads. I have certainly respected your comments even if I might disagree with them, I would hope you could say the same about mine. I do try to think things through before commenting, rather than just throwing things out without basis.
I think I have clarified before that Global Warming bears watching but I am not ready to buy into it quite yet. It has some basis, but so does the flip side. Both sides can provide evidence to the contrary of the other. The whole climate thing has definitely become a media and political darling. You may have approached your position through extensive reading and research. I think the majority of people do not.
However, the real intent of the thread was to basically present a Non-news item. Everyone knows Russian winters are incredibly brutal. The article described some obvious severe weather conditions. Pretty much true of most Russian winters. Apparently the severity was significant enough this year to set some records. But, it received little to no comments or media coverage. Had the article been the opposite and say a 2 degree warming shift over the period of a couple of years the thread would have probably had hundreds of hits with opinions flying both ways. We have several threads as evidence of this. Why is one a news item, the other not? I think the reason for this is that we hear about global warming every day in the news, online, publications, etc. Is it true? it must be if it is on TV or online, by a lot of peoples opinions. Global warming is definitely “in”, although It remains to be substantially proven It is definitely a “cool” , or “in vogue” item to talk about.
But the issue goes far beyond just “Global Warming”. The media has such a huge impact on our opinions. Much of this is subliminal. If we hear something enough it becomes true, be it the weather, racism, politics, what someone supposedly said. This was my point, we need to be very cautious of how we shape our opinions. Let’s hear all sides, not just one. News now often times is no more than an editorial or blog, or maybe a better term would be propaganda. We are quick to point out foreign propaganda is wrong, but maybe fail to see our own country doing the same thing. We sometimes think because it is ours, it is right, If they say it is wrong.
Maybe not a good example of how the media works, but for instance if the devil showed up in a red face, horns and a pitch fork we would run the other way. If a pleasant looking individual on TV said the same things we might except it whole-heartedly because they seem so honest and forth coming.
