.
James Renwick
Professor, Victoria University of Wellington
Expertise: Large-scale climate variability, Antarctic climate
Details:
Hypothesis handle: JamesRenwick
Qualifying publication(s): see criteria
ARTICLES REVIEWED
Analysis of “Record-breaking climate change pushes world into ‘uncharted territory’”
in The Guardian, by Damian Carrington
— 22 Mar 2017
"The article clearly and concisely documents some of 2016's climate extremes and puts them in the context of the warming trend.
Analysis of “Why are climate-change models so flawed? Because climate science is so incomplete”
in The Boston Globe, by Jeff Jacoby
— 16 Mar 2017
"The facts given by the author regarding the skills of climate models and the state of the art are mostly wrong. The most important processes are not understood by the author and h..
Analysis of “U.S. scientists officially declare 2016 the hottest year on record. That makes three in a row.”
in The Washington Post, by Chris Mooney
— 19 Jan 2017
"The article accurately conveys the US agencies' declaration of 2016 as the hottest year on record. It provides some good background material on why the agencies' numbers differ sl..
Analysis of “Arctic ice melt ‘already affecting weather patterns where you live right now'”
in The Guardian, by Damian Carrington
— 21 Dec 2016
"The article nicely introduces some of the emerging science linking Arctic climate change to extreme weather at lower latitudes. There are no major inaccuracies and the author has ..
Analysis of “Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has worst coral die-off ever”
in USA Today, by Doyle Rice
— 30 Nov 2016
"This article is mostly accurate ... the frequency of massive bleaching events is increasing, will continue to increase in the near future, and these events do not need to occur an..
Analysis of “Amid higher global temperatures, sea ice at record lows at poles”
in CNN, by Brandon Miller
— 24 Nov 2016
"Well outlined and balanced article, describing the evident link between low sea ice and climate warming and the melt-albedo feedback, but also mentioning the role of weather and s..
Analysis of “The Phony War Against CO2”
in The Wall Street Journal, by Rodney Nichols and Harrison Schmitt
— 03 Nov 2016
"The article speaks about scientific questions under an "opinion" banner—as if questions about the role of CO2 in the Earth system could be a matter of opinions. For the major fi..
Analysis of “About Those Non-Disappearing Pacific Islands”
in The Wall Street Journal, by Bjorn Lomborg
— 17 Oct 2016
"This article is very interesting because it exemplifies a highly-misleading rhetorical practice that is effective, frequently used, but not easily recognized by the public: "palte..
Analysis of “James Lovelock: ‘Before the end of this century, robots will have taken over’”
in The Guardian, by Decca Aitkenhead & James Lovelock
— 07 Oct 2016
"Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence, and Lovelock has not even come up to the standards of providing what the scientific community would consider to be ordinary evi..
Analysis of “Disasters like Louisiana floods will worsen as planet warms, scientists warn”
in The Guardian, by Oliver Milman
— 18 Aug 2016
"this article does a good job reporting on the recent floods in Lousiana and, more generally, the climate-change-induced changes in the water cycle that underlie scientists' concer..
CLAIMS REVIEWED
Carbon dioxide emissions by humans are the major driver of modern climate change, contrary to Jerome Corsi’s claims in CBN News video
CLAIM
Carbon dioxide is not a climate heat driver; we had an ice age when the Earth had extraordinarily larger amounts of carbon dioxide; in the 1970s scientists thought we were going to have a new ice age.
SOURCE: Jerome Corsi, CBN News
Published: 05 Aug 2022
VERDICT
Climate scientists agree that human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are primarily responsible for climate change, contrary to claims in Clear Energy Alliance video
CLAIM
The scientific consensus on whether global warming is human caused is not 97 percent, it’s less than 1 percent. There is no way to measure the human impact on climate change.
SOURCE: Mark Mathis, Clear Energy Alliance
Published: 25 Jun 2020
VERDICT
Global warming has not “ceased”, as Heartland Institute report falsely claims
CLAIM
global warming ceased around the end of the twentieth century and was followed (since 1997) by 19 years of stable temperature
SOURCE: Craig Idso, Robert Carter, S. Fred Singer, Heartland Institute
Published: 29 May 2017
VERDICT
Climate sensitivity estimate given in Heartland Institute’s report is misleading
CLAIM
Doubling the concentration of atmospheric CO2 from its pre-industrial level, in the absence of other forcings and feedbacks, would likely cause a warming of ~0.3°C to 1.1°C
SOURCE: Craig Idso, Robert Carter and S. Fred Singer, Heartland Institute
Published: 02 May 2017
VERDICT
Wall Street Journal op-ed ignores evidence of negative impacts of increasing CO2
CLAIM
Increased atmospheric carbon dioxide has helped raise global food production and reduce poverty.
SOURCE: Harrison Schmitt & Rodney Nichols, The Wall Street Journal
Published: 02 Nov 2016
VERDICT
