How Big Climate Manipulates the News Cycle

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Exactly as predicted, Dr. Strangeclimate has been working overtime this week. And today is a perfect example of how Big Climate and government conspire together with the media to needlessly alarm the American public. 

Before reading further, it might be helpful to read the "Dr. Strangeclimate" piece at the purple link (above). 

Step 1.  To kick things off, UCLA - via press release (not peer-reviewed journal) - tells us that the West is undergoing the worst drought in 1,200 years. That is absolute nonsense for the reasons I explain below. 

Step 2.  Next, NOAA releases a non-peer-reviewed report calling for sea level rise to suddenly accelerate. Supposedly, sea level will rise one foot by 2050.

Step 3.  Surprise, surprise, the White House chimes in.

None of this is coincidence! It is all coordinated to whip up climate change anxiety so as to clear the political battle space so Congress and the administration will spend even more huge sums and further restrict our freedom, especially economic freedom. 

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These 'studies' are not peer-reviewed nor are they even informal papers in scientific journals. They are press releases. And, Big Climate loves its press releases. Below is a small sample of them. While they are attractively packaged so to suck in sympathetic news organizations, they are not peer-reviewed.

Let's examine the drought claim. 

The Palmer Drought Index (PDI) is a peer-reviewed tool that uses actual data (not a computer model simulation) to measure drought. The PDI goes back to 1895 and it is apples-to-apples when doing comparisons. 

Here is the latest PDI for January.

Now, there is no question this is a major drought. No one disputes that. But, the worst in 1,200 years? No way!

Here is the Palmer for August 1934. Far worse. 

But, more to the point, let's look at the PDI just five years ago.

See any drought in 2017? Nope. In fact, dams were bursting. 

The current drought in California is five years old, not 1,200 years. 

California rainfall trend. Click to enlarge. 

This is further confirmed by the fact that California's rainfall trend is flat (okay, a tiny decrease of 0.05 inches per decade). 

I have children and grandchildren. Having a livable environment and a nation dedicated to liberty, free enterprise, and the Constitution are vitally important to me. I would be the first to tell you if the data indicated that this was some sort of unprecedented drought.