George Will of Washington Post changes the numbers on global warming

[BirminghamExaminer]

Last weekend, George Will, conservative columnist and naysayer on global warming wrote a piece about global warming in the Washington Post. Unfortunately, Mr. Will got his facts wrong. Will is in the fast shrinking minority of public figures who denies that global warming exists.

Will wrote:


"As global levels of sea ice declined last year, many experts said this was evidence of man-made global warming. Since September, however, the increase in sea ice has been the fastest change, either up or down, since 1979, when satellite record-keeping began. According to the University of Illinois' Arctic Climate Research Center, global sea ice levels now equal those of 1979."


Will used the above information to support his contention that the earth is not warming but the information he used is false. And the Illinois Arctic Climate Research Center wasn't happy about it. Here is what they posted on their website on Sunday:


"February 15, 2009
In an opinion piece by George Will published on February 15, 2009 in the Washington Post, George Will states "According to the University of Illinois' Arctic Climate Research Center, global sea ice levels now equal those of 1979.
We do not know where George Will is getting his information, but our data shows that on February 15, 1979, global sea ice area was 16.79 million sq. km and on February 15, 2009, global sea ice area was 15.45 million sq. km. Therefore, global sea ice levels are 1.34 million sq. km less in February 2009 than in February 1979. This decrease in sea ice area is roughly equal to the area of Texas, California, and Oklahoma combined.

It is disturbing that the Washington Post would publish such information without first checking the facts.

Not only did Will not check his facts, he also distorted the information available. He referred to the World Meteorological Organization or WMO having said there had been no recorded global warming for a decade. Will used a neat trick to support his argument but it's based on twisting the information.

To read the rest of the article and view a nice video, please click here. Comments are more than welcome.

Karen Harper
Birmingham Progressive Politics Examiner

[izquierdista]

1. He also changed his name

Long ago, he dropped the 'S' from in front of his name because too many people would throw his columns out with the hog slop.

[infidel dog]

4. Arrogant, pompous a**hole George S. Will should be buried alive in a 40 ton pile of elephant shit.

Of all the fascist editorialists afflicting the fishwrap today, George Will takes the f***ing cake. No words exist in English, Polish, Russian or Classical Greek to express the vileness of this smirking little worm. Disgusting, pretentious apologist for capitalist arch-criminals. Bourgeois-intellectual snob of the lowest order. George, why don't you pour yourself a glass of lye this evening instead of single-malt scotch. Better yet, develop a cancer that clings to and consumes your brain and nervous system like a hideous horseshoe crab. Die, George, in a screaming, shitting delirium a 55 gallon drum of morphine pumped straight into your femoral artery won't even take the edge off of. Do it soon, George. The people need a reason to smile when they read their morning news, now more than ever.

[DFW]

2. Thus has it always been with right wing "opinion" columnists

They bend facts to conform to their opinions instead of the other way around.

It's the only way they can justify the drivel they write, even couched in Will's
considerable erudition. But if you are looking for the number 5 and all you have
is 4, then you write that 2+2=5 and your problem is solved, reality be damned.

[BirminghamExaminer]

3. Anyone feel like leaving comments on the article, please do, I've got Trolls

who have posted how Global warming is some sort of conspiracy for monetary gain and whatnot. So please leave comments here:

http://www.examiner.com/x-1172-Birmingham-Progressive-Politics-Examiner~y2009m2d18-George-Will-of-Washington-Post-changes-the-numbers-on-global-warming

[hay rick]

5. Has Will or the Washington Post published a correction?

Will should stick to writing about things he knows something about- like baseball.

[bemildred]

6. Will has always been a lying hack, and a mediocre writer too.

There is no surprise here. I remember him sucking up to Raygun, who was the first utterly imaginary President, a product of "media engineering".