PSA 2: How Media and Fundies Distort Science

I was surfing the net this morning, catching up on the news that happened whilst I dreamt of electric sheep, and I ran across this article:

http://www.dakotavoice.com/2009/06/nasa-study-shows-sun-responsible-for-planet-warming/

"...more evidence that any warming occurring on planet earth is coming from natural sources and is cyclic in nature–NOT from the evil capitalism that Al Gore, the UN politicians at the IPCC and other socialists love to blame."

Hrm, that's interesting, and 100% contrary to most peer-reviewed studies so far. And NASA released this study? So I did a little poking around.

http://www.dakotavoice.com/about/

Dakota Voice brings news and commentary of interest to conservatives and Christians. While most news sites see events through a secular worldview, Dakota Voice strives to maintain a biblical, Christian worldview. Whether the topic is religious or political, we seek to bring you information and insight without the taint of liberal bias which dominates most of the information market today.

Now, science is really the closest thing I have to a religion, so I'm immediately suspicious that someone is cooking the books, so to speak. If NASA did a study that found the Sun responsible for the changes we've noticed since the Industrial Revolution, surely the news of it would turn up somewhere other than a news source that seeks to maintain a Christian worldview. So I clicked the source link and read that article too:

http://www.dailytech.com/NASA+Study+Acknowledges+Solar+Cycle+Not+Man+Responsible+for+Past+Warming/article15310.htm


'"Thomas Woods, solar scientist at the University of Colorado in Boulder concludes, "The fluctuations in the solar cycle impacts Earth's global temperature by about 0.1 degree Celsius, slightly hotter during solar maximum and cooler during solar minimum. The sun is currently at its minimum, and the next solar maximum is expected in 2012."'

0.1 degree Celsius, huh? That's like, a fifth of a degree Fahrenheit. That's some serious global warming there. I'd better kick up the A/C. But just for the sake of argument, let's just say good old Tommy might have been misquoted, and go to this article's source link:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080512120523.htm

"The fluctuations in the solar cycle impacts Earth's global temperature by about 0.1 degree Celsius, slightly hotter during solar maximum and cooler during solar minimum," said Thomas Woods, solar scientist at the University of Colorado in Boulder. "The sun is currently at its minimum, and the next solar maximum is expected in 2012."

Hrm, no, not misquoted. Oh but wait there's more:

Over the past century, Earth's average temperature has increased by approximately 0.6 degrees Celsius (1.1 degrees Fahrenheit). Solar heating accounts for about 0.15 C, or 25 percent, of this change, according to computer modeling results published by NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies researcher David Rind in 2004. Earth's climate depends on the delicate balance between incoming solar radiation, outgoing thermal radiation and the composition of Earth's atmosphere. Even small changes in these parameters can affect climate. Around 30 percent of the solar energy that strikes Earth is reflected back into space. Clouds, atmospheric aerosols, snow, ice, sand, ocean surface and even rooftops play a role in deflecting the incoming rays. The remaining 70 percent of solar energy is absorbed by land, ocean, and atmosphere.

"Greenhouse gases block about 40 percent of outgoing thermal radiation that emanates from Earth," Woods said. The resulting imbalance between incoming solar radiation and outgoing thermal radiation will likely cause Earth to heat up over the next century, accelerating the melting polar ice caps, causing sea levels to rise and increasing the probability of more violent global weather patterns.

Emphasis mine. Witness the transformation in time-lapse typography:

From the original source article we go from the wordy-but-accurate:

The earth is warming, the Sun contributes heat, but we wouldn't keep it if it weren't for greenhouse gases. We're currently 33% above the highest levels we've ever been able to measure and we have a fairly good understanding of the correlation between amount of GH gases in the atmosphere and temperature.

To the media-generated fake debate:

There's some debate about whether it's the Sun or greenhouse gases that's causing global warming

To nutjob:

Look how these evil scientists lie to the American public.

Oh I looked, DakotaVoice.com, you betcha I did. And guess who is lying to the public?