no such thing as global warming?

The Observer (UK) Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us

� Secret report warns of rioting and nuclear war � Britain will be 'Siberian' in less than 20 years � Threat to the world is greater than terrorism

I saw this yesterday, and expected it to be top story on CNN et al today ...but then I woke up and remembered that all the mass media news organizations are living in some other reality.

I guess here's some hard evidence of how the Bush administration has been preaching false science to support their agendas.

Update: There is some substance to the report, but the Guardian sensationalized it. I guess I need to beware of that organization as just as hysterical as their Fox "News" counterpart on the other side of the fence. The best analysis I've seen so far is over at BoingBoing.

Comments

[Sean]

Kudos for adding the update! All too often Weblog authors (including, maybe even ESPECIALLY, the most widely-read Weblog authors) don't check up on "facts" they repeat, and even refuse to correct exaggerations or even outright factual errors after being notified of them. Thanks for bucking the trend and understanding the importance of fairness and accuracy. If only we could make that the accepted practice and attitude among Weblogs, we might plug up that hole in society that newspapers once filled.

[jean]

yes, thanks dav. i'm in agreement with sean, that any clarity is useful in extreme statements. i've already sent boingboing to friends who were freaking out on the original story in the guardian. i commend you for updating!

[Dav]

Thanks guys. I toyed with the idea of just removing the post when I realized I fell for a ruse, but decided it was more valuable as a reminder to myself to not be slack in critical analysis just because something might support -my- agenda.

There's a good summary of the brouhaha in today's SF Chronicle too:

Pentagon-sponsored climate report sparks hullabaloo in Europe
But new ice age unlikely, Bay Area authors of study say

[Dav]

Oops, forgot I turned off HTML linking (damn you spammers). Here's the URL:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/02/25/MNG0O57R4R1.DTL