Sexed-Up Science…

What is it with all the “doom and gloom,” panic-inciting, fear mongering, end of the Earth environmental predictions going on these days?
Maybe it’s because the left perceives that Al Gore’s movie, “An Inconvenient Truth,” has made it fashionable to be on this kick right now—even though the movie is only showing on four hundred screens nationwide. (Yes…400. That’s all. Even “A Prairie Home Companion” is showing on 767 screens.)
Maybe it’s because it’s summer time and the temperature is warmer.
Maybe it’s because gas prices are high.
It could be any of those reasons, or maybe it’s really just because the Lefties think that fear and panic sells their ideas. I mean, c’mon folks…they’ve gotta “sex this stuff up” some or else no one will care. What better way to draw awareness (read: raise money) to their cause than to make people believe the Earth and the future of humanity are at stake?
Forget that global warming is a concept that no one can prove yet. Scientists can’t even reach a consensus on it. Little details like the truth don’t stop the Lefties, though. They still try to scare the general public and the media seems to be their willing partners in this effort.
Look at some of the headlines this week alone:
Reuters.com | Southern San Andreas fault waiting to explode: report
Hawking: Earth might be 250 degrees and raining sulfuric acid
Study Says Earth’s Temp at 400-Year High
The Earth’s temperatures are at 400 year highs? Who the heck has been keeping those records? somebody’s been keeping track of this since the year 1600? That’s an excellent trick since the Fahrenheit temperature scale has only existed since 1724 and the Centigrade (Celcius) scale since 1742.
Oh, they don’t stop with the last 400 years, though:

The Earth is the hottest it has been in at least 400 years, probably even longer. The National Academy of Sciences, reaching that conclusion in a broad review of scientific work requested by Congress, reported Thursday that the “recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years and potentially the last several millennia.”

A panel of top climate scientists told lawmakers that the Earth is running a fever and that “human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming.” Their 155-page report said average global surface temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere rose about 1 degree during the 20th century.

The last several millennia? I know these guys are scientists and all, but…well…how do they know? Sure they use models and projections to substantiate their claims, but this is all supposed to be science. Where’s the imperical data? The scientific community doesn’t even agree that there really is global warming, so how can these scientists know for sure? They don’t. This is their best guess and the Left is running with it.
Look, scientists get the weather wrong every single day. I’m supposed to believe that they can figure out what the weather was like 5,000 years ago?
As if that hysteria weren’t enough, the San Andreas Fault is apparently “ready to explode.”
Hmmm…do fault lines really explode? I’m going to admit I don’t know for sure, but I really want to know if the “experts” know. Plate tectonics–another theory–has only been around since the late 1960′s. Now I’ll freely concede that I haven’t been alive that entire time, but I’m pretty sure that no fault lines separating tectonic plates have exploded in the last forty years. (And, if there have been, man…did the Media Spin Machine miss a huge story.)
Predicting that the San Andreas Fault is going to generate a major earthquake at some point is a bit like saying that if you stand out in a field with a kite in a thunderstorm then you’ll probably be struck by lightning. But, it’s not enough to say that forecasts suggest that an earthquake is likely. It’s got to be sexed up and “waiting to explode.”
Even ABC News is asking viewers for submissions on how global warming has affected them:

ABC News wants to hear from you. We’re currently producing a report on the increasing changes in our physical environment, and are looking for interesting examples of people coping with the differences in their daily lives. Has your life been directly affected by global warming?

We want to hear and see your stories. Have you noticed changes in your own backyard or hometown? The differences can be large or small — altered blooming schedules, unusual animals that have arrived in your community, higher water levels encroaching on your property.

So, tell them what you think global warming is in your life and get on television. Yeah, there’s a journalistic endeavor that’s hard-hitting.
What’s happening with the alarmist effort to scare you isn’t happening in the name of science. It’s liberal activism with a few scientific claims meant to convert you in to a particular political ideology. That’s it. It’s like having the Jehovah’s Witnesses come knocking on your door except that your salvation is secondary to that of the planet’s.
Science is supposed to be dispassionate and impartial. I’m all for science working to better our lives and I’m even for people doing what they can to protect and preserve our environment. Having these tales of doom and gloom thrown in our faces every day isn’t science, though–and it doesn’t take a scientist to figure that out.
The facts should never need “sexing up.” The truth always stands on its own merit.
William Smith
ConservativeBlogger.com