This Letter of the Day to the Barrie Examiner from local resident Mike Fox was written to respond to a couple of rather misleading (or outright fallacious) articles, one of which also criticized me specifically.
Once again I am compelled to
comment on the barrage of misinformation presented by columnists in this paper.
I respect that everyone is entitled to their opinion, but it infuriates me that
those opinions are riddled with statements that many readers might assume are
based on fact. Columns are apparently
much more interesting when you simply fabricate facts to support your point of
view.
Case in point is a column by Lorne Gunter in Tuesday’s paper that states the Earth hasn’t warmed in the last
16-17 years, therefore debunking any claims of global warming. Well just to
verify this I went to Goddard Institute for Space Studies (Division of NASA) to
look at their Surface Temperature Analysis. Low and behold, I find a series of
graphs displaying the average annual temperatures over the past century and
they all show a steady increase. Most notable is the spike upwards over the
past 30 years (which coincidentally parallel a massive increase in the fossil
fuel usage that Mr. Gunter argues is not causing any change). This information
can be found at www.data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/graphs_v3/
My true frustration was in
reading today’s paper with a column by Barrie’s own Paulo Fabrizio, where under
the illusion of stating fact he tries to argue that fears of global warming are
overstated. Unfortunately, his column is riddled with misinformation,
unsubstantiated claims and even more disturbing, personal attacks (albeit
anonymously) on an individual who has a much different point of view on the
subject.
His lack of knowledge of the
topic becomes apparent when he talks about global warming which is an issue of
climate change and then offers that weather is unpredictable. Anyone with any
understanding of climate science would know that weather and climate are two
entirely different terms. Weather (meteorology) is what is going on around us
at any given time. It changes from moment to moment, region to region and
season to season. Climate (climatology) is the long term study of conditions
that are impacted by the land mass, bodies of water and the layers of our
atmosphere. Climate is typically
measured in periods of 30 years or more.
He goes on to compare some
unnamed ‘Polar Bear movie’ to a soda commercial claiming that movies are
manipulative. Perhaps he is referring to last year’s release of ‘Chasing Ice’.
This movie, by award winning National Geographic photo-journalist documents the
melting of several glaciers around the world using time lapse photography over several
years. The results are both incredible and shocking. The film received over 30
awards and accolades for its unquestioned display of the reality of our warming
planet.
He then goes on to state (as if
it were fact) that in Barrie, winters are colder and longer than ever. Well I
have lived in Barrie for 25 years and I would have to disagree. Over the past
30 years the average temperature in Barrie has increased. Summer, winter and
overall annual temperatures have steadily gone up. www.climateontario.ca/doc/publications/datasheet_barrie.pdf
Next Paulo would suggest that
global warming/climate change is a hoax perpetrated by high paid scientists who
want to validate the ‘millions’ of dollars they receive to pay their salary. The
reality here is that while a few tenured university professors studying climate
change earn $100K+, the average climate scientist earns much less. On the other
hand, the average compensation for oil executives is measured in millions and
CEO packages can be tens of millions. Who has the most incentive here to twist
the facts?
Finally I would like to comment
on Paulo’s personal attack on a single individual in his column. This is a low
blow and I find equally despicable that the editor would allow it. The really
telling point is that he criticizes the ownership of a second home for rental
purposes! He starts his column stating his belief in capitalism yet criticizes
one of the most practiced (and totally legal) avenues for the common citizen to
partake in self employment; being a landlord.
Perhaps this paper needs to be
more selective in the people they engage as columnists. Or perhaps they too
believe that facts should never get in the way of a good story.
Mike Fox, Barrie
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