Claim reviews
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
Earth is not at risk of becoming a hothouse like Venus, as Stephen Hawking claimed
CLAIM
Trump's action could push the Earth over the brink, to become like Venus, with a temperature of two hundred and fifty degrees, and raining sulphuric acid.
SOURCE: Stephen Hawking, BBC
Published: 06 Jul 2017
VERDICT
Energy Secretary Rick Perry incorrectly claims CO2 is not primary cause of climate change
CLAIM
Most likely the primary control knob [on climate change] is the ocean waters and this environment that we live in.
SOURCE: Rick Perry, CNBC
Published: 20 Jun 2017
VERDICT
Breitbart falsely claims 58 studies refute human-caused global warming
CLAIM
'Global warming' is a myth — so say 80 graphs from 58 peer-reviewed scientific papers published in 2017.
SOURCE: James Delingpole, Breitbart
Published: 08 Jun 2017
VERDICT
Natural variability can not explain modern global warming, as Heartland Institute report claims
CLAIM
Neither the rate nor the magnitude of the reported late twentieth century surface warming (1979–2000) lay outside normal natural variability.
SOURCE: Craig Idso, Robert Carter, S. Fred Singer, Heartland Institute
Published: 30 May 2017
VERDICT
A lull in solar activity would have little effect on global temperatures; claims of “global cooling” are not based on science
CLAIM
Forward projections of solar cyclicity imply the next few decades may be marked by global cooling rather than warming, despite continuing CO2 emissions.
SOURCE: Craig Idso, Robert Carter, S. Fred Singer, Heartland Institute
Published: 30 May 2017
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
CO2 is a greenhouse gas that caused warming during past climate changes, notably as a feedback amplifying other factors
CLAIM
Increases in atmospheric CO2 followed increases in temperature. Therefore, CO2 levels could not have forced temperatures to rise.
SOURCE: Craig Idso, Robert Carter, S. Fred Singer, Heartland Institute
Published: 26 May 2017
VERDICT
Heartland Institute report’s claim that climate models are too sensitive to CO2 does not reflect evidence
CLAIM
[climate models] systematically over-estimate the sensitivity of climate to carbon dioxide ... and modelers exclude forcings and feedbacks that run counter to their mission
SOURCE: Craig Idso, Robert Carter, S. Fred Singer, Heartland Institute
Published: 23 May 2017
VERDICT