Thursday 26 April 2007

Truth, however inconvenient, will out.

The Guardian reports that "Dozens of climate scientists are trying to block the DVD release of a controversial Channel 4 programme that claimed global warming is nothing to do with human greenhouse gas emissions." As Marcus says, "There is nothing so dangerous as the truth, eh?"
Sir John Houghton, former head of the Met Office, and Bob May, former president of the Royal Society, are among 37 experts who have called for the DVD to be heavily edited or removed from sale... Martin Durkin, head of Wag TV, the independent production company that made the film ... said: "This contemptible attempt at gagging won't work. The reason they want to suppress The Great Global Warming Swindle is because the science has stung them. By comparison look at the mountains of absurd nonsense pedalled in the name of 'manmade climate change'. Too many scientists have staked their reputations and built their careers on global warming. There's a lot riding on this ridiculous theory. The DVD will be on sale shortly at a shop near you."
Good to hear he's resolute.

UPDATE: Tim Blair has the same news, that while "Crazy Al Gore’s climate change comedy is shown in schools from Australia to Norway; the old-school southern religious huckster shakes down scared Saskatchewanites, and is allowed to meddle in the politics of far-away nations," Gore's cheerleaders seem unable to tolerate even some minor dissent.
. . . The film, the Great Global Warming Swindle, was first shown on March 8, and was criticised by scientists as distorted and misleading.
Merely misleading? Well, that’s nothing like being completely and provably wrong, as is Gore’s claim that the US “can’t sell our cars in China today because we don’t meet the Chinese emissions standards”. Edit that, truth-seekers! (By the way, if Gore can be so wrong about something so easily checked, why should we trust him on rather more complex scientific issues?) Martin Durkin, the maker of Great Global Swindle, doesn’t seem too alarmed:
“The DVD will be on sale shortly at a shop near you."
Which is just as well, because few TV networks are likely to screen it, preferring to throw ratings away on warmening shows. Then again, perhaps the mood on climate change is changing

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

"The reason they want to suppress The Great Global Warming Swindle is because the science has stung them."

Sounds more like the doco-makers have been partaking in some creative editing...

Carl Wunsch, professor of physical oceanography at MIT, and another signatory to the letter, was featured in the film and subsequently said his views had been misrepresented.

Scientists complained that the programme makers distorted evidence, and made elementary mistakes such as claiming that volcanoes produce more carbon dioxide than human activities, when in fact they produce less than 2% of that caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

We have no objection to the DVD being distributed if all the errors are corrected, but if they correct all the errors then the whole premise of the program will fall to pieces.

Peter Cresswell said...

Hemi, it's not news that Wunsch is still a warmist, but his views were hardly misrepresented in the film and (as the invitation letter to him shows) nor was he duped into appearing. It wasn't creative editing the mealy-mouthed scientist objected to, but the film's firm, take-no-prisoners style.

I blogged Wunsch's protest a few weeks back, as does Harvard physicist Lubos Motl here (where he links to an interview with Martin Durkin discussing the film, and Wunsch's problems with his apearance), and here (where he reviews the film, including its flaws) -- he concludes (and I agree) that despite some minor bugs and some incorrect statements that "the quality of tricks and dramatization is however very good - at least in the same league as Al Gore's movie."

Far from falling to piece if the errors are corrected, it would make it an even stronger film.

Greg said...

Does anyone have a working link for that channel 4 doco?

Matt Burgess said...

Can you imagine better publicity for the release of this DVD? Michael Moore did exactly the same thing for his release of Fahrenheit 911 - claimed Disney or Miramax were suppressing its release.

You have to wonder what on earth is going through the heads of these scientists called for it to be suppressed. Why is the evidence not enough all of a sudden? I honestly don't know what to think of the science anymore, but I think any attempt to censor alternative views is deeply suspicious. If these scientists now think the ends justify any means including censorship, is it because they are sitting on a house of cards?

Matt Burgess said...

By the way, Michael Moore lied about that censorship, it wasn't true at all. Surprise, surprise.

He also thinks ends justify any means.