Block’s Indicator of Sustainable Growth

by Ray Block 

I was recently beset with an unidentified sickness, which left me unable to blog. But I was able to see an opinion piece by Dr Vicky Pope, the head of climate change advice at the Met Office Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research in Exeter UK. Vicky Pope, who made the statement “scientists must rein in misleading climate change claims” wrote an opinion piece for The Guardian newspaper (February 11 2009 www.co.uk) and I have taken the liberty of quoting directly from the opinion piece.

“News headlines vie for attention and it is easy for scientists to grab this attention by linking climate change to the latest extreme weather event or apocalyptic prediction. But

in doing so, the public perception of climate change can be distorted. The reality is that extreme events arise when natural variations in the weather and climate combine with long-term climate change. The message is more difficult to get heard. Scientists and journalists need to find ways to help to make this clear without the wider audience switching off.”

You can see the “misleading” tone in the following headlines:

“Many glaciers will disappear by middle of century and add to rising sea levels, expert warns” by Juliette Jowit, environment editor The Guardian January 19 2009

(http://www.gardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jan/19/glacier-rising-sea-levels)

“Rising sea level threat” (http:// www.voanews.com/uspolicy/2009-02-voa9.cfm?

February 2 2009)

 “Antarctic melt means higher sea level rise in North America” February 7 2009

(http://www.ens-newswire.com.ens?feb2009/2009-02-07-01.asp)

“Global warming worse than predicted, top scientist says”   (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/15/2491942.htm)

*http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/11/climate-change-science-pope

It is inevitable that media headlines will ever change, as this is a normal function of sub-editors to draw attention to the main stories. But it would be silly of any one reading a headline to leave it at that, without reading the contents.

I have been guilty myself of using a headline to attract attention, but I want to assure any reader that I go to great length to check the sources of articles before commenting on them. I certainly don’t rely on just the headline.