Here’s a quiz.
This is the first paragraph of a New York Times article about climate change: “The earth has entered a period of climatic change that is likely to cause widespread economic, social and environmental dislocation over the next century if emissions of heat-trapping gases are not reduced, according to experts advising the world’s governments.”
The question: When was this written?
Last week?
Last month?
Last year?
How about in 1995.
Yes, 1995. Clearly, the beat on this particular drum has not changed all that much.
The Times then was reporting on a new assessment of global warming by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations organization that is supposed to represent the best and brightest on Earth on this issue.
The conservative Media Research Center called attention to that Times article on Tuesday for one noteworthy section.
One of the effects of this unchecked warming pattern, the Times noted, would be a “continuing rise in average global sea level, which is likely to amount to more than a foot and a half by the year 2100. This, say the scientists, would inundate parts of many heavily populated river deltas and the cities on them, making them uninhabitable, and would destroy many beaches around the world.”
“At the most likely rate of rise, some experts say, most of the beaches on the East Coast of the United States would be gone in 25 years. They are already disappearing at an average of 2 to 3 feet a year.”
Doing the math: Those Atlantic coast beaches were supposed to be gone, or under water, last year.
Yet, as the MRC pointed out, the media, in the form of U.S. News & World Report, were encouraging people to hit the beach in May 2020 – in the middle of the pandemic.
That U.S. News article from last year highlighted 16 East Coast beaches, and noted that the 2,000 miles of coastline offered “activities for families, surfers, naturalists and other beachgoers to enjoy.”
The heat wave now gripping much of the West has rekindled the hysteria of the climate-change doomsayers.
And the same is happening on the other coast. In recent days Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and The Washington Post have raised the issue of whether climate change is responsible for the tragic collapse of the 12-story condominium complex in Miami Beach – even as it proves elusive to explain how climate change could have wiped out only half the building.
To counteract that bit of speculation, the “skeptics” at ClimateDepot.com have recently posted articles featuring scientists who argue the land is actually sinking, and that the seas are relatively unchanged over the past century.
But as that New York Times article shows, the climate-change lobby doesn’t have to be right; they only have to be loud – and scary.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Free Press.
Android Users, Click Here To Download The Free Press App And Never Miss A Story. It’s Free And Coming To Apple Users Soon.
Support journalism by clicking here to our gofundme or sign up for our free newsletter by clicking here