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Richard Betts
Professor, Met Office Hadley Centre & University of Exeter
Expertise: Climate-vegetation interactions
Details:
Hypothesis handle: Qualifying publication(s): see criteria
ARTICLES REVIEWED
Article in The Guardian misleads readers about sensitivity of climate models by narrowly focusing on single study
in The Guardian, by Jonathan Watts
— 18 Jun 2020
"The article correctly reports that the most recent versions of some climate models estimate more warming for a given increase in CO2 concentrations. It is also correct in highligh..
Claim that human civilization could end in 30 years is speculative, not supported with evidence
in IFLScience, by James Felton
— 09 Jun 2019
"The report this article is based on describes a scenario which is unlikely, but several aspects of what is included in the report are likely to worsen in coming decades, such as t..
Breitbart article baselessly claims a study of past climate invalidates human-caused climate change
in Breitbart, by John Nolte
— 11 Apr 2019
"By the reasoning of this article, if a rock rolled down a hill three million years ago, no human can be responsible for rolling a rock down a hill today. The fallaciousness of thi..
The Australian publishes “deeply ill-informed” opinion on climate by Ian Plimer
in The Australian, by Ian Plimer
— 09 Aug 2018
"This article is an amalgamation of logical fallacies, misleading talking points, and downright factually incorrect statements regarding the physics of the climate system. Every ta..
Guardian coverage of essay on potential of future “hothouse” climate is generally accurate, but misstates some details
in The Guardian, by Jonathan Watts
— 09 Aug 2018
"The article reasonably summarizes a new study published in PNAS, which describes the potential of tipping elements to enhance climate warming and the potential for the Earth to tr..
2017 is on track to be among the hottest year recorded, scientists are not as surprised as ThinkProgress article suggests
in Think Progress, by Joe Romm
— 21 Jul 2017
The scientists who have reviewed the article confirm it accurately reports that 2017 is on track to being one of the warmest years on record. Reviewers note this wasn’t as unexpe...
Scientists explain what New York Magazine article on “The Uninhabitable Earth” gets wrong
in New York Magazine, by David Wallace-Wells
— 12 Jul 2017
"While it is clear that ongoing warming of the global climate would eventually have very severe consequences, the concept of the Earth becoming uninhabitable within anywhere near t..
New York Times series accurately describes research on Antarctic ice sheets and sea level rise, but highlights uncertain studies
in The New York Times, by Justin Gillis
— 23 May 2017
"Generally scientifically sound, but caution should be displayed before basing discussion solely on a single modeling study, especially when it incorporates fundamentally different..
Analysis of “…in many ways global warming will be a good thing”
in The Telegraph, by Bjorn Lomborg
— 09 May 2016
"This article presents a highly biased view of global warming, only presenting the “positive” aspects of it. As the author is criticizing media doing the opposite (always showi..
CLAIMS REVIEWED
Facebook meme incorrectly claims past climate variations contradict human influence on current climate
CLAIM
The idea that 'climate change' is new or is caused by Humans is nonsense.
SOURCE: Anonymous, Facebook
Published: 13 Jan 2020
VERDICT
Non-peer-reviewed manuscript falsely claims natural cloud changes can explain global warming
CLAIM
During the last hundred years the temperature is increased about 0.1°C because of carbon dioxide. The human contribution was about 0.01°C.
SOURCE: Jyrki Kauppinen, Pekka Malmi, Paul Joseph Watson, Summit.news, Zerohedge
Published: 12 Jul 2019
VERDICT
In popular video, Dan Peña falsely claims humans aren’t causing climate change
CLAIM
Fifty-five thousand years ago the whole world was 2°C warmer than it is today[...] It's all cyclical; [human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are] not a fart in the wind. Sea level rise is not going to happen.
SOURCE: Dan Peña, "Ivanka_Trump" Facebook account
Published: 07 May 2019
VERDICT
Some extreme weather events are clearly becoming more common, in contrast to Lord Lawson’s claim
CLAIM
The IPCC, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which is sort of the voice of the consensus, concedes that there has been no increase in extreme weather events.
SOURCE: Nigel Lawson, BBC
Published: 10 Aug 2017
VERDICT
Lord Lawson falsely claims that global temperatures have declined over last decade
CLAIM
according, again, to the official figures—during this past 10 years, if anything, mean global temperature, average world temperature, has slightly declined
SOURCE: Nigel Lawson, BBC
Published: 10 Aug 2017
VERDICT