The Media Blows the Extreme Weather Story … Again.

We’ve been setting a lot of extreme weather records lately:

  • Wildfire2006 was the sixth hottest year on record, the third warmest for the United States.
  • We had a record-breaking wildfire season, as 9.5 million acres have gone up in flames so far this year.
  • During the summer, temperatures soared to record levels in cities across the U.S.
  • There were unusually high instances of extreme drought and rainfall, including a November in Washington State that set new records for a state already accustomed to being wet.
  • We had the 2nd lowest Arctic sea ice coverage on record, behind 2005.

The catch is, while you will find all these stories conveniently located in one Associated Press article, that article never mentions global warming or climate change. The AP provides no context whatsoever, leaving the impression that it is simply happenstance, a randomly extreme year, as opposed to evidence that human-generated greenhouse gas emissions are making hotter and more extreme weather more and more likely.

The AP actually has some of the clearest media coverage on global warming, but here is one case where they didn’t clear away the smoke.

2 Responses to “The Media Blows the Extreme Weather Story … Again.”

  1. Climate Progress » Blog Archive » A New Year’s Resolution for the Media: Better Coverage of the Link Between Extreme Weather and Climate Change Says:

    […] Yet again, the media has blown a chance to provide thorough reporting on climate change its link to the unusually extreme weather that marked 2006. […]

  2. james Says:

    jame love to screw polar bears up the arse this feals good!!!

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