Your Television Loved Global Warming
I went into television in 1979, when I was 25 years old. The weather was cold, very cold. The winters of the 1960s and 1970s were some of the most brutal of the last century. And stubbornly, the cold would not release it’s bone-numbing grip.
Magazines sported stories of a coming Ice Age. The winter of 1976-77 was so cold that the state of Ohio virtually closed for the month of January. A great blizzard in January 1978 brought hurricane force winds and record snowfall to the Midwest. Just a few weeks later, another massive blizzard of historic proportions closed Boston and Providence for a week. Snow fell in Miami on January 19, 1977.
Energy conservation was all the rage. People were buying solar panels to put on their houses to heat hot water. Tiny little Japanese cars were selling faster than Japan could make them — not only for the fuel efficiency, but because they were all front-wheel drive, better for handling in the never-ending snowstorms.
The situation was alarming to some people. A select committee of climate experts came together in January 1978. They declared that there was no end in sight to the 30-year cooling trend.
The stage was set for news media to capitalize on these captivating weather stories — but it never happened to the degree it has today. Not even close.
There were several factors at work regarding why. First, there were only three channels on television. They were very competitive with each other, but they were all essentially printing money. NBC, ABC, and CBS controlled what the public saw and heard, along with the newspapers — which were thriving. The major media outlets were king.
Second, there was no internet. You got your news from the small group of information outlets, and that was it. It’s hard to imagine a world without blogs and websites freely writing and editorializing about the stories of the day, but this simply did not exist.
And third, there were no rapidly evolving technologies forcing change. Television, radio, and print were healthy and profitable. The marketplace was in their control, and life was good.
As the 1980s dawned, market conditions began to change. It started with CNN, ESPN, HBO, and The Weather Channel, among others.
The planting of cable TV across the nation was a double-edged sword for the traditional television networks. It gave them a much better and more consistent signal, but it also put a hole in their revenue stream. Total audience for the big three television networks peaked in the early to mid-1980s and has been falling ever since. Combine that with the internet, satellite TV, and expanded radio offerings, along with a myriad of other technological innovations, and today you have a much more complex and competitive marketplace.
How does this figure in with global warming? It all started in 1988, when Dr. James Hansen of NASA testified before Congress on a very hot summer day. He said global warming is real, is caused by human burning of fossil fuels, and is a danger to the future of the planet.
Overnight, everything changed.
Well, Mr. Horn, your perspecitve brings light on to a dark scenery. Hope your right… as it bodes well for when the old renew (our children). Interesting about this “transition” though; from victims to invictors. Couldn’t have coincided with the reagan years, hope not. unhealthy thought.
Three letters: PDO.
Frigging google it. Frigging wiki it.
It is multidecadal autooscillation of the Pacific waters, which brings to the atmosphere stored in the ocean solar heat in 30 years cold and 30 years warm pattern. From the beginning of 20 century it was warm, from 1940 it was cold, from 1970 it was warm, and now from 2000 it is cold again. Detrended from PDO oscillation, 20 century warming is minuscule 0.15 degree C, which could be 100% explained by more active Sun.
Current cold spell in Europe/Siberia is the consequence of the #2 ocean oscillation went into cool phase: AMO. Frigging google or wiki it.
About 85% of solar energy reaching the Earth surface is adsorbed into oceans. And oceans release this enormous amount of heat energy not uniformerly year over year, but in leaps and bounds.
And every such leap and bound is used by climate change fraudsters to scare and milk the public…
As a Buckeye who was in college in the winter of 1976-77, I can attest to the fact that the state basically closed down, mainly because the Ohio Department Of Transportation (ODOT)couldn’t even keep the interstates open. You don’t really grasp the concept of “road closed” until you see a wrecker that ended up in the ditch trying to get a semi-tractor out of same being pulled out by a pair of Army National Guard M-113 APCs. (This was on U.S. Route 33, just south of Logan, Ohio.)
As Mr. Horn stated, there was an effort to link the “coming Ice Age” to man-caused pollution at the time. And while it may have been weak in the broadcast media, it was anything but in the print media. Besides newspaper op-eds (usually written by someone from Greenpeace or the Sierra Club) there were endless magazine articles on the subject, especially in influential weeklies like “Time” and “Newsweek”. As for the “scientific” press, it was almost the only thing ever given cover space in the likes of “Science News” and “The Futurist”. (BTW, I was a member of the World Future Society at the time.)
And the basic layout of each article was always the same. (1) We are facing a new Ice Age. (2) It is caused by excessive gas emissions in the atmosphere blocking out the Sun. (3) Human industry and commerce are the source of those emissions. (4) Thus, such activities must cease instantly to Save Mother Earth.
The arguments used today to promote “Anthropogenic Global Warming”, and the Draconian measures demanded to “stop” it, were first fielded in the 1970s to fend off a “new Ice Age”. Nobody bought it then, especially not after they noticed that the same people who were demanding an end to the use of oil were also campaigning against nuclear power. The conclusion people came to was that the “environmentalists” didn’t give a damn if they all froze to death. (And they were probably right.)
I don’t think anybody should buy their story now. It’s just the same anti-civilization obsession with a new label.
“Environmentalists” always demand the same thing- the end of civilization. The only things that ever change are their excuses for doing so.
clear ether
eon
There won’t be much mercy left for the Global Warming media shills when the fact that the earth isn’t warming sinks in.
The backlash is going to be so sweet. The CRU leaks are just a warmup, so to speak. My guess is that there is a lot more damaging information out there waiting, just waiting for the right time.
This certainly rings true, but is hardly limited to weather. News outlets will jump on so many different things and push them until they fade away or collapse under their own weight. Now we throw in Fox (and PJM), which push righty stuff with the same intensity. The sky is falling because a guy tried (and failed) to blow up a plane, terrorists are to be tried (some of them) in civilian (gasp) courts, and healthcare sausage is being made.
The Republic is obviously about to fall; spread the word.
I certainly sympathize with any weatherman who is forced by his producer to make a big deal out of 1-2 inches of snow. Here in New England, the Blizzard of 78 seemed to change things and any hint of snow coming sets the media world aflutter. Of course, the weather people know that it is a way for them to get the spotlight, which almost all media people (and most human beings, probably) love. The Weather Channel finds, creates, and runs specials on “dramatic” weather. Global warming is fun because it can be echoed in hot weather, mocked in cold weather, and used to bash lefties or righties, depending on which way the wind is blowing.
Right now it is blowing from the north, and it is damned cold, but we are essentially drama queens. It’s kind of the human condition, isn’t it? X% of us are immersed in our own lives and/or just apathetic and need soap-opera thriller murder treason stuff to get our attention, while another y% wake up in the morning already feeling that social, political, and/or environmental issues are oh so important, a crisis is at hand, and something must be done!
Ain’t it all grand?
Yep, and that’s why no one will see climate data like this on the mainstream outlets-
http://www.c3headlines.com/2010/01/as-of-december-31-2009-12-year-cooling-trend-is-now-1103f-per-century.html
Honestly, unless there is some type of emergency of national/regional/global proportions, Americans would be much better off, mentally and emotionally, if they turned off their TVs entirely when it comes to news.
I have lived through blizzards (Central Ohio – 1950, Omaha 1975, Denver 1982, 1983), tornados (Omaha 1975, El Dorado, Ks 1978), floods (everywhere)and various other weather related catastrophies all my life. I have determined that weather and climate were out of my hands. Since making that determination I no longer consult the obiquitous weather forecasts emanating from a myriad of sources. As my ancestors did, I simply adjust to the prevailing temperature…you know, simple stuff like wearing more or less clothing, allowing extra time to reach my destination or better yet, delaying my trips until a better day. I don’t buy houses with driveways and walks facing north; I don’t buy houses located on a flood plain or in an avalanche path; I don’t spit into the wind…you know, common sense stuff. And truthfully I’m more concerned about what nature has in store for me than temperature…things like volcanoes, earthquakes and itinerant asteroids give me the chills. It wasn’t climate change that killed the dinosaurs. And if you are paranoid about “climate change” or “global warming” remember you can just get naked in igloos or under umbrellas at the beach.
An excellent recap, sir. It seems that the main reason the many believers of AGW actually believe it is, they just can’t imagine why anyone would make up or lie about human caused global warming. Especially scientists and objective journalists. As we’ve seen with climategate and Copenhagen, it really is quite simple. $$$ and lots of it.
I used to enjoy nature shows but since this hoax I am turned off of them. They cannot make a single point without bringing up global warming. Even when what they mention is scientifically false.
The news shows are often just as bad.
There was a news program saying that the polar bears were killing and eating each other due to global warming. BUT it has been cooler this last decade!! Or CNN was promoting their program on “climate change” about how the Maldive Islands were going to be covered by the sea. They don’t mention that the sea levels haven’t changed or that the Maldives are actually sinking.
where is the critical thinking !
Excellent article, Mr. Horn.
I remember the coming Ice Age era well!
And I am sure they will swing back to that meme in a few years.
Hopefully the major media outlets will be long dead so there is no centralized propaganda organ for the alarmists.
#7 Seamus. I agree with a lot of your common sense, but, of course, I don’t believe that you DON’T listen to weather forecasts. That’s not common sense at all. Despite all the blather about it, weather forecasts provide at least a POSSIBLE warning to get prepared. I assume that you like to know (or whatever yor equivalent is) if there is a likelyhood that you should get your firewood covered, extra water drawn into an emergency container or two, and cast an eye on getting the generator out if needed. There are nearby storm drains in the street which need to be cleared enough to accept water in a rain following a snow, extra doors I have to be ready to close off and firewood for my basement stove and the list goes on, given the prediction/possibility. I have been accused of enjoying bad weather, which may or may not be true, but I know that I do get an extra burst of energy in preparing for predicted dicey weather. Also, I am a windsurfer, so the wind forecast is important to me from May to October.
As for what my ancestors did, I am fascinated by such stuff, especially as it relates to gardening/farming, woodcutting, home industries, etc. But some of my ancestors died because the weather forecasting was pretty much non-existent, or in the recent past relied upon telegraph/radio reports. WEATHER RADAR is one of the greatest inventions of the last 100 years.
Poster# 2 might have a point-early season heat waves in the Sahara desert coincide with larger outbreaks of hurricanes in the Atlantic basin. Last time the temps in mid spring were above average across Northern Africa was in 2005-there were 26 named tropical storms in the Atlantic that year. Weather is all relative, the reasons Low pressure systems bring bad weather is that lows are inherently unstable-warmer at the surface, colder aloft. Too bad the “global warming” creeps cant figure out a couple of unchangable dynamics-pressure IS temperature(directly proportional) and air ALWAYS flows from higher pressure to lower pressure(the need to EQUALIZE). The global warming creeps also ignore WATER VAPOR(#1 greenhouse gas AND the earths “air conditioner”) and the relative number of sunspots(the maunder minimum). Whats disappointing is that these “scientists” have any credability at all. Weather is an inexact science, which makes any predictions about climate a fallacy.
Why is anyone surprised by this? The folks in the media have no scientific background, no desire for the truth, No desire to say anything that would upset their masters. They read script from teleprompters and for that they get paid a lot of money. They will do nothing to upset their lifestyle. They have to contrive crisis after crisis in order to keep the uninformed, unintelligent and unproductive glued to their idiot box to see what the next noble sentiment will pop out their mouths via the teleprompter. The network news has become sienfeldesque in its approach. Truly, a show about nothing.
As a climatology student in the early 1970s I saw plenty of peer-reviewed studies on the effect of particulates on temperatures. The scientific consensus included some passing references to the greenhouse effect of CO2 being insufficient to counteract this unstoppable trend. All we could do is shut down our industries, huddle together shivering, and hope…
Today the AGW issues is far more emotional, and in fact I think that “Climate Change” is a shorthand term for some sort of existential angst over living in a developed society.
Consider all the various groups whose agendas are served by promoting a climate of fear (anti-industrialists, tax collectors, media types, social activists, many religious denominations, grant-hungry researchers). Then consider the labels that get applied to those who express doubts (flat-earthers, denialists, oil industry shills). Mix in a decade of warming temperatures, let stand, then observe the rising panic.
Crowds succumb to mass delusion all at once, and that delusion is abandoned by individuals slowly, a few at a time. The entrenched interests aren’t going to easily let go of what they have accomplished so far. But when the balance of opinion tips against them, climatologists, environmentalists, the media and politicians will find their credibility shattered for at least a generation.
Wonderful article, Mr. Horn, and no argument on the science or your historical recollections of the 70s weather, which I lived through as a boy in Canada. I also received the New Ice Age preaching in school — authored by some of the same people who later became global warming zealots.
One small historical correction: The Japanese cars of the 70s weren’t “all front-wheel drive”. Two of the most popular imports of these era, the Datsun 510 and Toyota Corolla, were rear-wheel drive, the 510 until its discontinuance and the Corolla until its reinvention in the (late?) 80s. The Toyota Celica was also rear-wheel drive. Mazdas, then a niche brand with the rotary engine, were real-wheel-drive. (As was, of course, the non-Japanese VW Beetle.) As for non-econoboxes, the Datsun 240/260/280Z, one of the world’s few mass-selling sports cars, was also rear-wheel drive.
The general transition of Japanese cars towards front-wheel-drive came largely due to the Honda Civic, which popularized the transverse engine layout of the Austin Mini, launching Honda to fame and fortune and spawning a host of imitators. By the late 80s there were few remaining rear-wheel-drive Japanese models. This transition came during a period of warm, dry winters.
Post-2000, you also need to understand that climate was a great stick for first Al Gore and then all “Progressives” to beat on the GOP with. A story-line that is existentially angst-worthy, and can also be used to make Republicans look ignorant and evil, is more temptation than any media outlet could possibly resist!
The typical journalist is of a profession in which the incurious abound. Moreover, they deal routinely with public policy without the most basic understanding of history, science, or economics. And with the legacy of the 60′s and Woodward&Bernstein, the profession has long put petty crusades before facts. Modern journalism is among the most ethically crippled of professions.
When the sheep-like public finally wakes up to the fraud that has been perpetrated on them, I hope that they take their vengence on those behind the issue. Al Gore, Phil Jones, Michael Mann, and James Hansen deserve a public whipping…on prime time network television.
The on-going temperature decline trend was predicted.
All average global temperatures since 1895 are accurately predicted by a simple model using the first law of thermodynamics and the time-integral (same as ‘running total’ if time steps are equal) of sunspot count. The standard deviation of concurrent measured minus predicted temperatures since 1900 is 0.064 C. There was no need to consider any change to the level of CO2 or any other greenhouse gas. Climate change is natural.
The model, with an eye-opening graph, is presented in the October 16 pdf at http://climaterealists.com/index.php?tid=145&linkbox=true. (One of the discoveries made during this research was the effective sea surface temperature oscillation. The integral of the PDO Index http://jisao.washington.edu/pdo/PDO.latest indicates a substantial measure of sea surface temperatures, as does ENSO 3.4, but not all so replace all references to PDO with ESST for Effective Sea Surface Temperature).
This model predicted the ongoing temperature decline trend. None of the 20 or so models that the IPCC uses did.
Dying media clutched at global warming as a way to stay afloat for a little while longer.
Oh dear, whatever will they do now, since AGW is taking it in the shorts? I figure they’ll come up with something, but technology marches on, and the era of blow-dried talkingheads and Pinch Sulzberger-type kingmakers is just about done.
well, you may not think it so, but there are many people that still think AGW is real. My daughter thinks that the recent news alleging climate fraud is the result of corporate interests pushing their agenda………
it is not over yet. the epa will do something soon, based on nothing real, but will expand government control through the need for epa permits to burn anything.
all in all the whole thing was very instrumental. problem is that if something real happens, nobody, including myself, will be inclined to believe the government, or any scientist working for the various agencies. H!N! pandemic? lie, hyped beyond all reality. next one might be real, and many will not do anything recommended by big sis. this is the problem. government is losing all credibility.
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Global Warming is real and will result in steadily rising surface temperatures.
But, don’t worry about it … … the invading Martians will Terraform the Earth to -40C, eliminating any effects of AGW.
Or, maybe a giant asteroid will crash into Earth, destroying all life, so it won’t matter what the temperature is.
Or else, the Day of Armageddon will arrive.
Armageddon sick of all this nonsense.
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I would like to correct the author about cable channel pioneers. It was Ted Turner’s WTCB, offered free to any taker, that revolutionized Cable TV. You could pick up the Atlanta Braves, who became “America’s Team” nationwide and see all kinds of cheesy ads out of Atlanta (does anyone remember “Unclaimed Freight”?), because no national advertisers could conceive of the value of the exposure. It was also Ted Turner who first capitalized on 24 hr. news during the first Gulf War.
Also, in the mid 60′s, I was taught the “Ewing-Donne Theory”, where warming would open up an arctic passage, which would then propel new centuries of glaciation due to excessive arctic snowfall. Go figure.
When push comes to shove, the 550 or so folks in D.C. that think they can dictate to 300 million are going to find out, possibly in a rude fashion, that America doesn’t work that way.
For those too young to remember the Blizzard of ’77 go to my website http://www.whitedeath.com and watch the video and check my pics. We knew we were about to be hit by a disaster because it crossed Ohio and was heading our way. Art Horn is not exagerating.
Please check my frostburn pic and make sure that this doesn’t happen to you.
Beware of snowflakes!
Erno Rossi
George Koch: this book? “The Genesis Strategy” by Dr Stephen Schneider
or ..”The Cooling”, Prentice Hall, N.J., USA, 1976.
“To capture the public imagination,
we have to offer up some scary scenarios,
make simplified dramatic statements
and little mention of any doubts one might have.
Each of us has to decide the right balance
between being effective,
and being honest.”
Dr Stephen Schneider
( in interview for “Discover” magagzine, Oct 1989)
Snow fell in Miami on January 19, 1977.
I was in Florida that day and yes, it snowed. IIRC, there was snow on the ground in all 50 states that day and it even snowed in the Bahamas. That was the day before Jimmy Carter was inagurated president. Now, statisticians tell us that “correlation doen’t imply causality”, but I think God was sending us a message.