Claim reviews
Metro’s claims of coming “mini ice age” have no basis in reality
CLAIM
"[S]unspot activity on the surface of our star has dropped to a new low. It’s feared this could herald the arrival of a uniquely grim ‘mini Ice Age’."
SOURCE: Jasper Hamill, Metro, 16 Nov. 2018
VERDICT
On BBC Newsnight, Myron Ebell falsely claims climate models exaggerate warming
CLAIM
"The rate of warming according to the data is much slower than the models used by the IPCC"
SOURCE: Myron Ebell, BBC Newsnight, 8 Oct. 2018
VERDICT
Ian Plimer wrongly claims that carbon dioxide emissions do not cause climate change
CLAIM
"there is no relationship between temperature and carbon dioxide emissions by humans[...] carbon dioxide has had a minuscule effect on global climate"
SOURCE: Ian Plimer, The Australian, 7 Aug. 2018
VERDICT
Ian Plimer incorrectly claims human-caused emissions are short-lived
CLAIM
"The atmospheric residency time of carbon dioxide is five years and it is quickly sequestered into plants, marine life, oceans and sediments."
SOURCE: Ian Plimer, The Australian, 7 Aug. 2018
VERDICT
President Trump’s claim that water supply policy has worsened California wildfires is baseless
CLAIM
"California wildfires are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amounts of readily available water to be properly utilized. It is being diverted into the Pacific Ocean."
SOURCE: President Donald Trump, Twitter, 5 Aug. 2018
VERDICT
Fred Singer incorrectly claims sea level rise is not caused by climate change
CLAIM
"Sea-level rise does not seem to depend on ocean temperature, and certainly not on CO2"
SOURCE: Fred Singer, The Wall Street Journal, 15 May 2018
VERDICT
Rush Limbaugh falsely claims there is no evidence of human-caused global warming
CLAIM
"There isn’t yet any empirical evidence for their claim that greenhouse gases even cause temperatures to increase."
SOURCE: Rush Limbaugh, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 2 April 2018
VERDICT
Breitbart repeats blogger’s unsupported claim that NOAA manipulates data to exaggerate warming
CLAIM
"NOAA has adjusted past temperatures to look colder than they were and recent temperatures to look warmer than they were."
SOURCE: James Delingpole, Breitbart, 20 Feb. 2018
VERDICT
EPA’s Scott Pruitt incorrectly suggests climate change might not be “a bad thing”
CLAIM
"We know that humans have most flourished during times of, what, warming trends. I think there are assumptions made that because the climate is warming, that that is necessarily a bad thing."
SOURCE: Scott Pruitt, KSNV NBC Las Vegas, 6 Feb. 2018
VERDICT
President Trump’s claim of growing ice does not reflect reality
CLAIM
"The ice caps were going to melt. They were going to be gone by now, but now they're setting records"
SOURCE: Donald Trump, ITV, 28 Jan. 2018
VERDICT